Posted , 6 users are following.
Been reading all the comments about coming off this medication :-(
Missed 3 tablets last week, and gone to one a day from this Saturday, getting brain snaps and feel like I'm shaking, starting this Saturday taking none, I have 2 weeks off work, I'm very worried :-(
0 likes, 4 replies
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barbchristine rachy7878
Posted
Hi Rachy,
I am on Venlafaxine and it has been an absolute life changer for the good. There are lots of bad comments on here but don't let them get you down. Is there a reason you are going off your medication so quickly? To go off I tappered very slowly - over a course of 3 months just to go from 75mg to 37.5mg - I was very successful with little to no withdraw. Is going off slowly something you can do?
sandra1165 rachy7878
Posted
You should try Banadryl with Acrivas. It helped me when I was coming off Ven. I was on 225mg and came off them over 6 weeks. I was the closest to suicide I have ever been. Taking this allergy medicine let me sleep and all but stopped the brain zaps. There was no withdrawal from this medicine so it was a win win situation.
phyllis11904 rachy7878
Posted
Take care,
Phyllis
betsy0603 rachy7878
Posted
Sorry, rachy, but you are setting yourself up for failure coming off so fast. Ven is ruthless in withdrawal. I came off too fast and didn't really notice too much up front, but first the cog fog/memory issues started, and then hot flashes with burning skin sensation, and then months later, extreme anxiety/depression the likes of which I had never before experienced. I ended up back on and presto, all the symptoms disappeared within an hour, like a heroin addict getting a fix! You must go slow to let your nervous system adapt back to working without the drug, with the minimum of disruption. It is very common for WD to hit very badly at about 6 months out, and patient and doctor think "relapse" and "must need to stay on medication forever." This is not the case, just nervous system out of whack from too fast taper or cold turkey! I have slow tapered down to 13 mg very successfully. Yes, everyone will say that is nothing so why not just jump off? Well, a research paper shows that even at that dose, one's serotonin receptors are still blocked by about 65%! To jump off from there means huge destabilization! So tip-toe I go. Frustrating at times, but necessary. If you have the type with beads, you can remove 10% per month.