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I have been on Effexor XR for the last three years as part of a migraine treatment regiment.  One year ago I moved to Austria and my migraines have literally disappeared.  I spent most of 2006 and 2007 either bedridden or in the hospital due to the severity of my migraines.  In the last 8 months, my Austrian doctor has been able to SLOWLY reduce the number of daily medications I take. (I started with 15 pills per day!)  Now, I am totally med free!  I was on 300mg of Effexor XR per day and reduced by 75mg every three to four weeks.  Four days ago I stopped taking the 75mg capsules.  I feel like I am losing my mind.  I was on some pretty harsh drugs for my migraines and the withdrawal symptoms from the other drugs were almost non existent.  Day 1 of being "Effexor Free" I felt awful.  I am having nightmares, nausea, vomiting, hot flashes and sweats, my tongue and mouth get numb and tingly in waves throughout the day, drowsiness, SEVERE AGITATION, dizziness to the point of almost passing out, and my brain is doing something crazy too...it's nothing I ever felt before and I don't even know how to explain it but it's affecting my eyes, ears, and balance. It's so bad that I am considering starting the pills again.  I advise anyone who is going off of this drug to really consider what they are deciding.  I have never felt this out of control in my life.  I got alot of benefits from being on Effexor, but now I'm just hating it alot.