Effexor free for third trimester - success stories?

[waterlight]

This is my first time posting!
A little bit of background: I'm 31 weeks preggers, and have been doing really well throughout the pregnancy. My baby (girl!) has been tracking normally on all of her vitals, measurements, etc.
Before I conceived, I was on 150mg of Effexor for generalized anxiety disorder. I have been on varying doses of this drug for over 7 years. I've always wanted to go off it (my life is 360 degrees from where it was 7 years ago) but after a few attempts, the withdrawal/discontinuation symptoms were always too intense. Something I was never told when I first went on the med, was it's almost impossible to get off of it. If you've tried it, you know what I'm talking about.
So, for the first trimester, I stayed at 150mg. For the second, I went down to 75mg. Everything I've researched suggests being clear of the med for third trimester, so I titrated down to 37.mg for a while, and am on Day 5 of being Effexor free. It has NOT been easy, but I've also been using natural alternatives to getting through withdrawal/discontinuation, many of which are great for baby anyway based on the research I've done: Omega 3's, calcium, exercise, meditation, yoga, high protein, acupuncture, to name a few. A strong spiritual practice has also been a life-saver, as has the support of my hubby.
The most important thing to me right now is staying positive, believing in myself, and reading all the success stories I can find about mamas who have said ciao to Effexor.
If you have any advice and/or success stories to share, I'd love to read them!
Much love to all!

[lyterae]

I went cold turkey off of Effexor, not on purpose but it happened anyway... It took me about a month or my head to clear entirely, but it was wonderful once things were finally clear. Thinking back I think that the second week was the worst of it and then it gradually improved.

[waterlight]

Thank you so much lyterae! It is so helpful to hear that you got off it okay!

[lifeguard]

I went off it cold turkey while pregnant. I had a few rough days but overall I'm happy I did. I fully expected to need to go back on it after ds was born but he's almost 2 & I'm still effexor free.

[Baby~Braatens~Mama]

Congratulations on successfully weaning yourself off! I know that it could not have been easy. Keep up the great work you are doing great!

and Congrats on you LO!

[ejg123]

I was on effexor for years and went off in pregnancy. It was like two steps forward and one step back and I cried a lot, but eventually I did it. In retrospect, I sometimes wonder if the increased stress was worth it. My reading of the litrature is that the risks to baby are rather minimal at low dosages, and that has to be balanced with the risks of increased maternal stress. However, if you are sure this is right for you, it IS doable! Sending encouragement from someone who did it.

[waterlight]

Thanks you guys - you are all such an inspiration to me. I'm truly grateful for this community! I'm feeling really good and strong at the moment. A bit of the dizziness typical with Effexor withdrawal, but your stories are so encouraging. I can do this! :-)

[lrgs]

I wasn't pregnant when I went off Effexor but I went off 75mg cold turkey (which I shouldn't have done.....should have weaned myself off) so I know exactly what you mean about the withdrawals and how hard it is to come off. I also didn't know about this before I started taking it and really wish I had............I had a hard time coming off it. I felt like I was seasick for about a weak....dizzy, nauseous, lightheaded. I actually refused to drive for the first few days when I stopped taking it. The good news is the second week was better and a lot easier to handle then the first week. Anyway...just wanting to wish you best of luck.

[waterlight]

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement and support. Today was the first day without any kind of crying spell. Apparently random crying is part of going off Effexor - although it could be preggers hormones too I guess.
I did feel a bit panicky at our Bradley Method class last night (our teacher was going over interventions like epidural, induction, etc - a few of the dads looked a bit fainty and panicked too :-) Next week's class is about C-Sections, so hopefully I don't get too freaked out by that.
I'm so glad to be feeling good, happy and healthy without Effexor, and the brain zaps/dizziness are getting less bothersome every day.

[lyterae]

Originally Posted by waterlight

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement and support. Today was the first day without any kind of crying spell. Apparently random crying is part of going off Effexor - although it could be preggers hormones too I guess.
I did feel a bit panicky at our Bradley Method class last night (our teacher was going over interventions like epidural, induction, etc - a few of the dads looked a bit fainty and panicked too :-) Next week's class is about C-Sections, so hopefully I don't get too freaked out by that.
I'm so glad to be feeling good, happy and healthy without Effexor, and the brain zaps/dizziness are getting less bothersome every day.

I'm so glad it's going well!

[spedteacher30]

I went off of it before getting pregnant. I weaned off and my psychiatrist offered me a month of Prozac to cover the symptoms, but I never filled the prescription.

I did find that it helped to take sudafed while weaning--I think that the SSRI increased my blood pressure and then going off of it, I was having issues with my blood pressure getting too low (I have extremely low blood pressure normally) and the sudafed helped raise it.

Anyway, I was med-free for about 6 months before getting pregnant, and then was med-free through pregnancy and 3.5 years of nursing. I went on Zoloft about 3 months ago because my anxiety was getting bad.

I also remember that the brain zaps came back weekly on Tuesdays (which was the last day I took a pill) for about 6 weeks.

[rparker]

Not Effexor, but I did quit Zoloft at the start of the second trimester with my first pregnancy. (Well I was tapering off while TTC, quit when I got a positive pregnancy test, went back on after a week or two because I was miserable, then quit again.) Zoloft isn't as notorious as Effexor for causing withdrawal, but I tried to quit it several times before becoming pregnant and always failed because the rebound depression/anxiety was too much.

It was really unpleasant finally quitting it while pregnant, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I've been off of it for over 3 years now and I doubt that I'll ever take another SSRI because quitting is so difficult. I'm still frequently depressed/anxious, but I can cope. FWIW, breastfeeding seems to have really helped to stabilize my moods which was an added benefit that I hadn't been expecting.

[waterlight]

Day 10 effexor-free

Day 10 Effexor-free, and feeling better every day. I'm using the coping skills I've learned in hypnotherapy to help with anxiety here and there - my DH can't believe how much the hypnotherapy is helping. I'm so grateful for it!
A few brain zaps still, but I'm hopeful I'm through the worst of it.
I'm hoping to stay away from SSRI's for the rest of this lifetime. They really helped me when I needed it, but I didn't like having to stay on them because withdrawal was so traumatic.
Focusing on natural alternatives (continuing with hypnotherapy, acupuncture, supplements and nutrition, exercise) but it's also good to know there are alternative drugs to Effexor like Zoloft.
I'm hoping that breastfeeding will work for me and my baby.