Never…NEVER…take Effexor XR.  Not only do the side effects nearly cancel out the benefits, but withdrawal from it is like a living hell.  The "brain shivers", the cold sweats, the cloudy mind, the dizziness, the constant desire to shove a knife through my temple…I can't believe this stuff is considered a medicine.  I might as well be coming down off of heroin…at least that way doctors would take me seriously.

Richard I am sorry that you are having to deal with this… thank God the once or twice where I was on stuff like this I never had this issue…. especially when I found out later that one of them was where you were suppsed to be gradually taken off it and I just went off it quick cause I hated how it made me feel dead….

What would you take it for?  Sinus?  Congestion? Cough? Flu?

Coming of Paxil is just as bad… Nathan's forgotten his for a few days and it's a nightmare.

Yikes….please be careful!

I remember when Jenna went off a few of her rx's she had a tough time. Now she's back on one of them in a very low dose because of grad school stress.

Chip was on this after his mom died and he stopped taking it on his own.  The side effects were terrible.  Exactly what you described.

Wolfy it's an anti-depressant.  I originally took it to stop my constant, intense dreaming at night.  It worked really well to curb that, but it made me sweat all the time and it really puts a damper on the sex-drive.

My doctor wasn't really helping much, so I decided to just wean myself off it.  I think I'm going to try to find some herbal supplements to stop the crazy dreams.  I found something with serotonin that seems to help a little.  I almost broke down and took the Effexor again yesterday because the brain shakes were out of control and my dreams the night before were horrifying.

Dar - it's amazing the number of people I see on the internet that describe the exact same effects.  I couldn't even try to explain "brain shivers" to someone, but when I saw other people mention it I knew exactly what they were talking about.

wow Richard.. that has got to be not very nice..
sorry.. I aplogise, I did not know what type of drug it was…
hopefully something herbal might be able to help you… have you spoken to a "naturalist"?

No need to apologize, Wolfy.  Unfortunately for the small amount of trust I have in doctors, I have less trust in professionals that deal with alternative medicines.  I've come to realize that when it comes to the brain they're all just guessing.

I've been taking St. John's Wort and Passion Flower for the last couple of days…seems help at least stabilize my emotions.  The brain shivers have almost disappeared, thankfully…but the mood swings have started to show up.  The other night I cried while watching Kung Fu Panda.  I've also found a pretty decent natural "mind relaxer" which seems to have helped curb my dreams.

You need a midwife.

I sure as fuck do.

I didn't say "midwife in heels and a g-string". 

I didn't know they came any other way.