coming off venlafaxine?

Hi

Can I just explain what my doctor told me when he put me on ven approximately 2 yrs ago, he said the main reason was to make the patient 'feel better' initially, tho he said the next most important point was to keep the patient on the drug for long enough so as to forget the old 'depressed' mindset we are in. Once that feeling is gone then we can make inroads to a brighter future without the help of the drug.

I don't know what anyone else is thinking at this time but the withdrawals are quite a hurdle at this 'delicate' stage of the process.

Our medical knowledge has come a long way with these drugs as let's face it they work fairly well, you would think the most important job now for the pharmaceutical companies is helping us to survive and thrive without them...... Or would that be too much like endangering their businesses??? Just a thought

Hi again, I lied, that was one of the worst times of my life, I had forgotten how 'bad' it is having a brain that goes round and round and round, and the high & low moods. the worst part was/is not sleeping well for days. this coincided with family commitments, my performance review at work etc, honestly it was hell. I think now though after 3 weeks or a month, the withdrawal has eased back. but sleep needs to come right and that for me is THE most important healer. stress brings back those symptoms. the doctor said I should have (had) a plan coming off them, I agree now. anyway word of wisdom - don't do it over performance review, family commitments, or in fact, mid winter. expect to be extremely sad, jittery, hot/cold, bowel stuff, sleep issues etc. DO get to meditation classes anyway (don't wait just do em now!), plan to get out and about every fortnight or so - i.e. out of the city, do something grounding. take a bath every night to help relax, double your usual relaxing time, go to bed about an hour earlier before you get to the impossible to sleep stage. A must is learning to deal with difficult people as issues are amplified with little sleep. Give yourself a time by which to reassess how its going (I reckon I'll give I another month). tell friends what you're doing (coming off meds) cos its scary seeing that their friend isn't as ok as previous. and for work, tell HR. word of warning it doesn't do your opinion of your boss any favours, or your self esteem or paranoia, especially with performance reviewing (hate performance reviews anyway so this is normal)! if you thought you had self esteem issues before - you'd better start to work on yourself well before you quit venlafaxine! I am sure this will be worth it but I did enjoy being a bit more numb before. oh well. onwards and upwards. good luck all.

Hi again, just an update on how I'm feeling 2 weeks into withdrawal. The brain 'zaps' have all but disappeared & when I do have 1 they'r not anywhere near as severe as in the beginning, lessening in quantity & severity. Still having trouble falling asleep & 2-3 hours later I'm awake again (the brainwaves app' has saved me & I believe I have had double the sleep with this app' at least! but the ear-phones keep falling out, need a better pair!) pressure in my head is controllable now it's only bad when extreme tiredness takes over. I will cry at the drop of a hat & find that I cry more about sad things done to those around me, but get angry when the bad is aimed at me. I tend to snap in anger which I am conscious of & am trying my best to patient & not too hard on myself or loved ones. Having some negative feelings about work, yep same old!!! All said! I think I'm doing ok finally! Oh also I've worked out why we over-eat on this medication - has anyone out there noticed that while on ven' you don't notice pain? I was severely sunburn last summer but didn't know til I looked in the mirror - no sting at all - well the only way that I can describe it is that, as you don't feel pain, you also don't feel fullness. Very strange....might I also say that all my old joint pain I've had over the years is back with a vengeance! Thanks for reading.

First time I've ever posted on a forum so here goes. I've been on Ven for 11 years and I've not suffered with

depression since 2003. I have to admit it saved my life, but that was just the start of the journey! I've posted

This advice for the sake of all who have been taking this tablet

I've finally come off the drug and I'm okay, but it's no easy task, to come off it you have to want to beat it, just

like the illness it suppresses! At my peak I was on 300mg a day, and it's taken me the best part of 10 years to beat the side effects. But please don't think it will take that long to come off it, but you have to be patient and

Most of all very strong!

In my experience The doctors who prescribe it have little or no understanding of how to withdraw you from it,

I've tried the suspension fluid but with only 28 days supply you haven't got the professional knowledge to

manage it. I've had to do it myself and trust me it's been trial and error.

You can never just stop taking this drug, trust me I've tried unsuccessfully on several occasions and failed!

I ended up with my own programme, I can't say it is the panacea but all I can say is it worked for me. I literally had no idea how to do it, so I just did it slowly, too slow really as I didn't have the courage to jump the final

hurdle, but trust me when I say you can do it!

My plan is not rocket science, you have to reduce its intake in stages, braking down each tablet until finally I was on one quarter of the 37.5 mg tablet. I tried to stop that but the side affects we're just terrible, the brain

zaps, my bad temper, at times I felt like I was going to explode with rage. There were aching joints and head

aches. That's when the penny dropped, apart from the temper the symptoms were very similar to flu! And for all the ladies out there it was definitely a man flu :-))

That's when I came up with a flu type tablet, nothing special just go to boots and look what they have, there's loads to choose from. They stop the brain zaps, the headaches, the aching body! Don't get me wrong it wasn't plain sailing but stick in there it will work. Please bare in mind I was literally on bits of dust stuck to my

finger before I managed to finally make that leap. I was frightened to death and it's took me three weeks to

Come through it, but I'm here, in one piece and feeling a whole lot better. My mind feels clearer and my I feel

much more relaxed, the sense of relief is incredible!

You really have to want to do this, I nearly went back to the docs but resisted going down the easy route of

continuing with the medication. Trust me when I say you can beat it, but you have to want to in the first place. I took too long but you can do it quicker with the above info. Set yourself and plan and a target, but don't beat yourself up. There's no quick fix with this drug, but stick and you'll beat it!

Coming off Ven is no easy ride, it's hard work and you will feel dammed awful, but the end result is worth it.

Hello. My GP put me on venlafaxine for very mild depression and neuropathy one week ago. It has helped my neuropathy, but always nauseated, shaking, and tired, not sleeping, but tired. I want to get off it. Do you suppose I will experience the same withdrawls those listed above only being on it for 6 nights? 150 mg hcl er. I'm thinking of splitting a capsule tonight just in case, I do not want to have brain zaps and all the other things listed above. It is horrible that they don't put that info in the Rx information. Thanks for sharing.

If you want my honest advice, bin it. Fight through the mild depression. There's no doubt it works but it's a very addictive anti-depressant. After 6 days it's doubtful that you'll have any withdrawals. Good luck

Thanks spyke. I took 1/2 the crystals of one capsule last night and already feel so much better. I've done more this morning than I did the last 7 days on this stuff! No shakes, no stomach ache, and I slept over 5 hours, not the 2 from the last week. Thank goodness. I'll have to find a better treatment for neuropathy cause I'll never do this stuff again. Very helpful forum. Good luck to you all!

Hi again, having survived the withdrawal, I've gone back on, THANK GOD for these drugs. My depression was real. Sleep didn't get much better, I lost weight and couldn't improve my brain even though I was going for 15 minute swims most days, went back for counselling, and work stress and family drama calmed down.

Seriously I was surviving less and less well, getting more paranoid and anxious, hiding at home and having completely irrational thoughts out of nowhere, "I may as well be dead" and waking up angry and crying. it was HORRIBLE! I decided enough was enough. it was destroying everything I valued in life.

Although the side effects were gone which was nice, (no ringing in ears or constipation) LIFE IS TOO SHORT to make it any shorter or be miserable! ahhhh back on venlafaxine I feel so normal, I cope, I don't think everyone is out to get me! I love the things I love - hey I can think in positives!!!

Thank goodness there are options of medication. it's a personal choice. I felt so much sadness and learned so much about mental health by being the 'experiment' to myself - and I'm really really glad I do not have to try and exist without chemicals to balance my poor brain. would I come off insulin if I had diabetes? heck no. not sure why I thought antidepressants would be different...

So, awesome job and full strength wishes to anyone who is happy without drugs - and yay for me to have options!

Hi, Lisa you did so well coming off them but I completely agree we need to do what's best for us to try to enjoy life. I finally found a medication which suited me after the adverse reaction I had to taking venlafaxine nevermind the horrendous withdrawal. And now I'm starting to rebuild my life, I don't spend all my days hiding in the dark wanting it all to end. I still have bad days but they aren't everyday anymore and if stopping my medication meant I went back to that place I would definitely restart/continue. I've already lost too much of my life to this illness.

Hi, Lisa you did so well coming off them but I completely agree we need to do what's best for us to try to enjoy life. I finally found a medication which suited me after the adverse reaction I had to taking venlafaxine nevermind the horrendous withdrawal. And now I'm starting to rebuild my life, I don't spend all my days hiding in the dark wanting it all to end. I still have bad days but they aren't everyday anymore and if stopping my medication meant I went back to that place I would definitely restart/continue. I've already lost too much of my life to this illness.

Hi, Lisa you did so well coming off them but I completely agree we need to do what's best for us to try to enjoy life. I finally found a medication which suited me after the adverse reaction I had to taking venlafaxine nevermind the horrendous withdrawal. And now I'm starting to rebuild my life, I don't spend all my days hiding in the dark wanting it all to end. I still have bad days but they aren't everyday anymore and if stopping my medication meant I went back to that place I would definitely restart/continue. I've already lost too much of my life to this illness.

Hi. Thought I would seek advice from the real professionals and not just those that sign off prescriptions. I have been on ven 225mg for 4 years so far and over the last 11 months have tried twice to come off it cold turkey. First time I lasted 48 hours before I could feel myself welling up at everything and anything, this was not a nice feeling. Then came the bad thoughts and jitters. So I started to retake the tablets again. Today I am 3 and a half days in, symptoms are not good but so far no bad thoughts. Although I can not sleep or rest. I constantly feel agitated and have very weak feeling legs. I'm desperately trying to sit the next few days out but am concerned that the SH may restart. How long have people had to wait till the storm passes and they see the sun?

Hello, Well I am probably an old timer at this. I have been on some form of medication since my 20's for chronic depression. For about 15 years I have been on effexor 300mg, the max they like to put you on. I was on 37.0 extra once. They have also ad other drugs to the regime during winter. I decided in January of 2013 to get off this drug as I felt it was no longer working, ah the suggestion of topping it up with some other crap. I declined, so with psychiatrist and gp knowledge I began to taper down dropping 37.5 mg for one month to six weeks depending how I was feeling and what was going on around me.one a month. My weekly withdrawals seemed to get better. I am now only taking 37.5 mg per day and still feel the threat sometimes withdrawal when I still try and miss a dose. I am fearful of the last stepping off but it is better this way than the severe heart palpitations I had on them. You can die on this drug going cold turkey, that is a promise...You have to wean, and not rush. As I have been weaning I have also been dealing with how to cope and paying more attention to my speech, my language, my moods, my negative thoughts and retraining my brain to look upon the more positive sides, it doesnt always work but. In two weeks I will be free of all drugs and I did not take their suggestion of taking elevil or valium or prozac to wean off. I will be free and if despair comes again I will be ready mentally..Keep yu posted what freedom I already feel the fog has lifted

Hello, Well I am probably an old timer at this. I have been on some form of medication since my 20's for chronic depression. For about 15 years I have been on effexor 300mg, the max they like to put you on. I was on 37.0 extra once. They have also ad other drugs to the regime during winter. I decided in January of 2013 to get off this drug as I felt it was no longer working, ah the suggestion of topping it up with some other crap. I declined, so with psychiatrist and gp knowledge I began to taper down dropping 37.5 mg for one month to six weeks depending how I was feeling and what was going on around me.one a month. My weekly withdrawals seemed to get better. I am now only taking 37.5 mg per day and still feel the threat sometimes withdrawal when I still try and miss a dose. I am fearful of the last stepping off but it is better this way than the severe heart palpitations I had on them. You can die on this drug going cold turkey, that is a promise...You have to wean, and not rush. As I have been weaning I have also been dealing with how to cope and paying more attention to my speech, my language, my moods, my negative thoughts and retraining my brain to look upon the more positive sides, it doesnt always work but. In two weeks I will be free of all drugs and I did not take their suggestion of taking elevil or valium or prozac to wean off. I will be free and if despair comes again I will be ready mentally..Keep yu posted what freedom I already feel the fog has lifted

Hello,

I have read the first page of this thread and I wanted to offer some advice to people trying to come off venlafaxine, I have been taking ven for over 6 years and for the last 2 I was on 300mg a day, a very high dose. I had tried to come off the tablets 2 or 3 times in the past but the withdrawl was too bad. This last time I read some of the forums from the US and lots of people recommend taking benadryl the antihistamine to combat withdrawl and also I don't think cold turkey off such a high dose is a good idea. You can do it fairly quickly but to just stop will likely make the withdrawl worse. I started by taking 300mg every other day, then after 4 wks i went down to 225mg every other day and so on in 75mg increments. i also took benadryl when i felt particularly bad and this helped a lot. There are no contra indications for benadryl and ven and I don't think there has been investigations into why this helps but my advice would be to give it a go and wean yourself off over several weeks.