Effexor withdrawal -- cold turkey or tapering off?

I'm desperate to get off of Effexor, and have an appointment with my doctor to discuss options. However, my doctor has consistently struck me as not very well informed about side effects (he got me on this in the first place). After research here and numerous websites, I see that the tapering process is always recommended over cold turkey. The tapering process is a long period of moderate discomfort as opposed to a brief period of severe discomfort (I've experienced this when I've run out previously -- climbing the walls after24 hours). However, I'm the "pull the band-aid off quickly" kind of patient. I can endure great pain for brief periods much better than slow, grinding discomfort. I'd rather be back on my feet sooner than later, if possible. Are there long-term effects of cold turkey or does it pass? Any advice or first person experiences? Will I need to be inpatient in some sort of detox setting? If tapering, how can I stay functioning thru discomfort? Any info appreciated.

I'm not a Dr but I have been through what you're talking about and trust me you do NOT want to stop cold turkey! I don't know who told you tapering was a slow grinding process but when I did it, it wasn't nearly as bad as stopping suddenly. (which I tried once) I was total nut case on effexor! This drug is dangerous in my book! Just simmer down and take it slow. I've heard of some people having much worse symptoms when stopping suddenly than before they started it! These symptoms included suicide, self mutilation, deep depression just to name a few!

I wish you all the best and God bless!

Don't cold turkey. I have been off and on Effexor 2 times as it is the ONLY antidepressant that works for me. Tapering can be very painless but it does take some time. When I went off the symptoms were dizziness, brain shivers, bowel problems,
and all over "out of body" experience. However, I didn't taper. It caused me to have to shut down for a couple weeks. Some say that switching to Prozac, low dose, plus a short term tranquillizer is the trick. Then you go off prozac slowly as it is not as bad of a withdrawal. Another is just to wean down to 37.5 tabs then take them every other day and then half them and continue until you are down to 1/4 tab. I haven't done this but I have read message boards where people have been successful doing one of these two things. Good luck.

I took Effexor for a long time before it stopped working for me. My doctor had me taper off of it, to avoid the withdrawal effects. I felt no bad effects while tapering off. I took another antidepressant at one point (Paxil) and quit cold turkey and it was a bad experience, due to the withdrawal effects. There shouldn't be any reason you would need to be in a detox setting like inpatient care. I would say that if you do experience any withdrawal effects, talk to your doctor about how to handle them. Hope this helps.