Venlafaxine withdrawal serious problem

I think the important thing to tell yourself is that you are not alone on here. Lots of people can understand exactly how you are feeling. I've found the supportive messages so encouraging.

I really hope you can get through this. Stay strong & take care.

I switched between the generic and effexor depending on what the pharmacist had in stock and not noticed any difference - that may just be me, i know different people react differently to these things.

I was on 150mg and decided i wanted to come off as i feel well and settled etc.. I have tried a couple of times before and reduced too fast and had all the horrible side effects you describe - horrible!!!!

I am now reducing very slowly (i'm weighing the beads out and so far have reduced from a total weight (i.e. all the beads) of 500mg, to 460mg. That has taken me about two months. I've still had withdrawal symptoms but much less debilitating that when i've reduced faster.

Do you actually want to reduce your dose? Having followed the advice of my GP before and failed to come off i've learned that I actually know myself better than they do - both in terms of how i feel in myself, and in how my body handles dose reductions. It's hard but stick toyour guns - if you feel you need the venlafaxine they should be supportive of this.

Best wishes,

Lucy

Having said that I withdrew last year on advice of my doctor as I had taken anti depressants for 20 years.  Venlafaxine is very, very difficult to withdraw from without getting withdrawal symptoms, as you have found.

It took me 10 months to withdraw so I would not get withdrawals, and it worked.  I had gone cold turkey once before on Venlafaxine so know what it is like.  You have to withdraw really slowly.  Eventually I had to go on the generic tablets after 37.5mg dose as they come in piils.  I got a pill cutter and then cut the pills into smaller and smaller doses over months.  I went from 150mg to 75mg to 37.5mg, alternating them as doctor directed, then I worked out for myself how to cut the pills.  It did work, but a long slow progress.

Hope you feel better soon.

I took Venlafaxine for nine years, and it was a godsend to me at the time.

I am now back on antidepressants, but this time Sertraline.

I don't really understand how the generic form can be different from the Effexor version, as the drug is the same chemical - but it may be that the fillers and preservatives and so on that go with the drug itself may be different, and alter your absorption of it, or whatever.

Either way - it is really important that if you try to stop taking it, that you do so in very small increments, over a long period of time.  I completely agree with Anne (below).  Cold turkey is not the answer!

I also think Lucy has given you great advice.  If you feel well when you take the drug at an adequate dose, then why stop?

During the time (about two years) between my stopping Venlafaxine, and starting on Sertraline, I had a series of stressful experiences including having breast cancer and the loss of my Dad.  One thing and another caused me to have a complete breakdown last Christmas.  How I wish that I had stayed on the Venlafaxine long term!  I recovered remarkably quickly, however, and my GP feels that I should stay on an SSRI forever.  I don't feel there is anything wrong with this, really, as any side effects or other problems are far outweighed, for me anyway, by the onset of severe depression. 

Depression is a dreadful illness that is difficult for people who have not experienced it to understand, and that includes doctors.  Only you know where you are along the scale of it, and it is important to have a supportive and empathetic doctor.

I wish you happiness and health, and send positive feelings to you through the ether. 

Take care & best wishes

Manda

PS - You English is fantastic!