coming off venlafaxine?

hiya seany

ahhhh thats different, you know what to expect, thats the main thing, the withdrawl can be very frightening for anybody that hasnt experienced it before, you have thats ok then.

i must say i didnt taper it as i was advised to, like you i just wanted to get it over and done with as quick as possible, try and keep reminding yourself that your done with this crap drug, it really does make you feel better, it sure helps a lot to have the support you have, what a shame you didnt make it last time you tried, after 2 weeks you were very nearly there, this time dont forget that

again good luck, im sure youll do it this time, keep us posted

Ken ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best of luck Seany, I had to do it alone with no support and no idea what was going to happen and yes psychochief it was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. However, I made it through somehow. Try writing down exactly why you are doing it and if you feel like giving up you can get it out and remind yourself. Looks like you have good support and perhaps you can plan something nice to do together when you are complete because this going to hard for both of you and a shared goal or event can be a useful motivator for both of you. Let us know how u are getting on or if u need any help. Oh and travel sickness tablets were a massive help if u get dizziness and sickness!!

Thanks allot that really made me smile it really helps allot.

todays the 1st day of my side effects my brain fizzes are only little but I have lost a little bit of hearing in my leftear but thThanks again for your kind words I will add travel tabletats all I have for now I'm sure my dreams are going to keep me occupied tonight ha ha they are either very vivid or very disturbing we will see ha ha.

s to my survival shopping list:O

I meant I will add it to my survival shopping list lol

First time on this forum I am on ven too 150 mg and started to take 50 mg trazadone tonight. I hope things improve for you Seany. Everyones experiences make me feel less isolated

My gp said he would not be comfortable giving me anything stronger than fluoxetine he referred me to the psychiatrist she told me about the side effects of venaflaxine but the mess I was in meant I didn't care. I was a bit suicidal at the time. I hav had lots of unpleasant side effects, constant mild migraine, eye pressure, tinnitus, dry mouth, crazy dreams etc but now easing a bit. Trazadone may help me sleep. I am not looking forward to coming off the ven so appreciate this support forum.

Hello Notsostrong This thread is helping me allot aswell I wasn't going to post so much but it really is helping me. I'm never going to be angry at the doctor for putting me on venlafixine in the 1st place as it has allowed me to get into work move towns and best of all meeting my wife so its never going be something I would regret. My gp said he wouldn't put me on anything else but I think thats what I prefer.

I have the same symptoms today with the pressure in my head I am very dizzy aswell. We will see what tonight brings but I have had a few coedine that have made me drowsy anyways

I wish I had some of this trazadone stuff anything to help me sleep ha ha. I have some pare valium that I might have to turn to next week 8)

Hang in there you will get there in the end

Im Seany's wife and would just like to say thank you to the people that's replying and to the people that's previously shared their experiences on here for other people in the same situation to read and learn from.

I cannot imagine how hard it is for people to go through this and as much as I love and will support my husband through anything I could never fully understand what he is going through as I have never been there myself

I really wish all the best to everyone on here and hope you've got a lot of love and support helping you through x

This forum has realy helped me. Haven't known what is wrong with me but this helps it all make sense. I ran out of Ven after taking my morning dose on Saturday but couldn't get prescription until this evening (Monday). This morning I started to feel incredibly sick and was experiencing vertigo like feelings and dizziness. Very twitchy and 'confused' and feelings of motion sickness. The headache has been awful.

Now, having read this thread i feel scared and don't know what to do next. I've only been on Ven (37.5 2x daily) for 6 weeks after switching from 40mg Citalopram for 7 years as it didn't seem to be 'doing the job'. I've got 2 pre school children (4 and 1) and working 3 days a week in a new job that i can't afford to leave or take time off from as I've only recently started it (left my last job because of stress and anxiety!!).

Not even sure when I was taking the Ven it was any better than the Citalopram at the end, but hard to know as my mind's so mussled at the moment.

Am going to go back and talk to my GP as not sure what to do....

*muddled

Beckgirl take a deep breath and try to evaluate what's happening. Look for any positives, are you feeling ANY benefits yet? There does seem to be a quick reaction when you miss a dose, it has for me. I've been on the stuff for 8 weeks and know that just being half a day late can have an effect on me. I'm an old geezer and don't expect a quick recovery. Although I have quite a few side effects I have noticed the depression being pushed back. I've decided not to get hung up on them, and to worry about coming off the ven when the day comes. I find confusion is worsened by anxiety. I don't have the nausea stuff so can't comment

Some take travel sickness remedies I read. Ask your dr if you haven't already been but I would say NEVER take medication based on a forum thread playing with fire. Ouch

I have taken Venlafaxine for over 20 years and am now on 300 mg and 50 mg of trazadone at night. I would love to come off them just to know what normal feels like. I tried to come off very slowly 2yrs ago, got down to 75 mg & tried to commit suicide. Will I ever be able to give them up?

Hello guys I havnt been able to post as my withdraw has been pretty bad and it was impossible for me to come one here it was day 3 when things got really mental.

*my head is like an electrical storm i keep getting zaps one knocked me to my feet in the shower

*My whole body was aching from top to toe

* I keep getting muscle spasms especially in my stomach which it making me look like im having a fit

*My brain wont function aswell and the pain in my head is bringing me to tears. Also I'm super emotional anyways the smallest thing bringing me to tears. like the lord of the rings music ha ha

*My nightmares are unreal and im paralyzed so I cant snap out of them, even tho I'm screaming in my sleep and whispering to my wife to say to help me but she doesn't move so i dont know if this is a night terror or if it real

* I was getting scared at little things because i have superhero hearing and can hear the fan in my computer that is allway silent my dog bobby breathing across the room

* I was vomiting allday aswell as diroeah

Day 4 ... The vomiting had gone but allot of the rest was still there it just wasnt as vicious as the day before

I know I have wrote allot about the negative experiences that I have had but I think it is important as it does not stay here for ever I am now on day 6 and most of the wort ones have gone and I am left with

*Brain zaps most of the day

*Getting very sad crying at random times

*Losing my temper with loved ones as I am frustrated and the pain in my head is unbearable

Some tips I have found------

1. Quells travel sickness tablets really stop the brain zaps but I have ran out

2. if you are having trouble sleeping find a constant noise that will drown them out. Like a fan or white noise app on your phone. A more extreme way was me trying to sleep in the pare room with my head propped up again the dryer that did help but I dont think it was safe

3. Dont rush yourself to do the normal things that you were able to do before as it is not your fault that you're not getting better so soon take your time.

4. nytol helped but I had to take 4 tabs for them to work.

5. If you have any coedine that is good too. But these are things I'v tried at a last resort I'm sure allot of other things help aswell

@glochessum you will be able to get over this you might just have to have a few attempts please keep hope and you will get there in the end. Always remember you have forums like this to talk about things but if you ever want to chat add me on facebook Sean Sefton.

One more thing type SSRI withdrawal into youtube ''you're not alone''

Sean (slowly getting there)

hiya seany

well your getting there, well done, all i want to say is be carefull with the over the counter meds as they can be not as harmless as they might appear to be, particularly when mixed together.

with the support from your wife that you obviously have (well done mrs se), im sure that you will succeed this time, the worst is over, it might not seem like it, but i assure you it is

keep up the good work,

Ken~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that will teach me to not sort a new prescription in advance! That was an awful experience. I now have 'spare' tabs planted in ever bag I possess, car, work etc in case I should ever forget a dose again. Back to feeling relatively 'normal' again.

It does worry me that a planned withdrawal from Venlafaxine may be so traumatic and am planning to visit GP to discuss soon. Overall, I feel that I'm functioning and dealing with day to day much, much better since taking Ven compared to the last few months of takiń Citalopram so know it is a positive. It just didn't feel that way at the start of the week when I was in accidental withdrawal. :-)

Hi all, well, i`m on venlafaxine and have been for10yrs plus and i`m dreading the day I come off them, in fact, I really dont think I can, have tried a couple of times and it was pure hell. I`m currently on a relative small dose compared to some others, but, saying that, i`m on 150mg a day of the xl variety. Dont really know what else to write, but feel free to reply, thanks.