going cold turkey from venlafaxine

sounds similar to me! im on dy 3 and feel crap but not as bad as i thought, hoping it dosent last long and thinking positive. good luck keep us posted xx

Hi Mrs B , I realise this is an old post, I am scrolling threw so my posts trying to find answers . What happened after your day one cold turkey ?

Day 4 cold turkey from 300mg ven day 1 ok day 2 cry sleep the zaps head banging . Day 3 same as day 2. Day 4 don't move...eyes head hurt still crying and angry dizzy . Any thing like your symptoms? Day 5 should be going out of the house don't think it's going to happen ? Any advise would be welcomed . Hope you are well x

Hello debra  I was put on 150 mg of ven per day two months ago and the side effects are so bad I've decided to stop taking them.  I'm interested in how you got on as you said day 4 your withdrawal symptoms were still getting worse.  I am on day one of cold turkey.  I've been very dizzy and not up to doing much but okay other than that.  Can anyone please share their experience of just stopping their original dose and especially anyone who managed to stop cold turkey?  I am furious I was not warned by my doctor about the side effects of ven, or of how horrid it is to come off it.

Hi j01933.

Day 13 and I had excruciating cold turkey withdrawal symptoms. Everything, aching all over. Fevers. Shivers. Vomiting. Diarrhoea. Brain zaps. Anxiety depression severe nightmares lucid dreams but I can say that today is honestly, the best I've felt in years. Day 13 (Friday the 13th) is the turning point all. Those revolting medications the doctors put me on for my broken neck and then for my depression and anxiety were just a bandaid and a cocktail of toxic that I did not need or want in my system any longer. It was easier for the health professionals to write prescriptions,than to help me personally. I absolutely admire anyone that has the strength to do this cold turkey. I have read quite a few forums on it and this forum is the best by far I found taking the fish oil capsules plus a daily multivitamin plus a couple of antihistamine type tablets got me through the worst of it. Spent the whole of last week in bed, didn't get out of bed until about Wednesday of this week and today is Friday. Just know that you can do it. I didn't think I could but I did it and I will never never never go back I'm so proud of myself. I am so proud of people around me even though they didn't know that I was doing it I just said I was fluey they stood by me because I wasn't well so even though they didn't realise they were standing by me because of the withdrawal symptoms they thought I was just very ill and still and looked after me. But I am positive I've turned the corner and I'm going to be a Effexor free forever. Not only have I come off the Effexor I have also come off Lyrica. Xanax. Valium. OxyNorm. Physeptone which is a form of methadone. I wish you the very very very best of health and good luck and have a strong mind just get passed it. I occasionally have a few of the brain zaps but that's about the last of it and everything is really settling down and tonight will have a best night sleep I've had in ages cheers to all

Hi there den-cold-turkey,  I very, very much appreciate you sharing your experience with me.  It just makes me feel so determined to continue cold turkey and get through the withdrawal period.  I'd much rather get this horror over and done with, rather than have it drag on and on living with the side effects of ven while I slowly reduce the dose.  I will get some fish oil, multivitamins and antihistamine to help.  I think you are incredibly strong to persevere through the worse of the symptoms and get yourself off medication that just wasn't working for you.  I'm so happy that you are feeling better and it is so helpful for me to hear that I'm not the only one experiencing this.  Today is day 2 and I've had chills, sweats, terrifying nightmares, tingly lips, sudden dizzy spells, nausea, brain zaps and sudden bursts of crying. But I can do this!  I've cancelled 'life' for a week or so and just told friends and family I was suppose to do things with that I am coming down with the flu, since I currently can barely stand up.  I'm hoping you slept well on day 13 and to hear that someone has made it through cold turkey and is improving will keep me sustained and determined to get through this and out the other side.  All the very best to you and again, thanks heaps for sharing - it's been a comfort.

Hi j01933,

So glad that I can give you the encouragement too keep going. Yes, slept great. Today, being Saturday, and day 14, it was a lovely sunny day, so, for the first time in 2 weeks I went out for a walk. Felt a little weak & light headed, but, loved it. Then I drove, 1st time in 2 weeks also, to my chemist. I always leave my prescriptions with them, and asked them to please rip them up. The pharmacist was so supportive and she said my eyes were clear and sparkling, and, looked happier than she'd seen me in 2 years. She then told me that she feels that Doctors are continually writing more and more prescriptions for Effexor each day. Not only that, she only sees that the doctors continually increase dosages, instead of being real health professionals, and, help people instead of shoving this vial medication down people's throats. I walked out of there with a smile. I came home and took advantage of my new clarity and washed my car. Not done that in months. I have noticed that today the brain zaps have definitely decreased. I'm not saying that I'm totally through the withdrawal, but, I feel 90% better than I did for the first few days. I was only the phone to a friend yesterday and I laughed harder than I have in years. The black fog cloud that was engulfing me has definitely lifted. I wish you all the very best of luck, you can do this. Take it one day at a time, that's what worked for me, I hope it works for you. I honestly never realised how detached I was from life until I got off the meds. Life - bring it on !!!!!!! 😉😄

Well, it's day 24 of being Effexor free !!!!!!!!! The only bad side affect is insomnia, but, I'm trying a few natural remedies. I have my life back. I would never recommend this insidious drug on anyone. The withdrawal was a nightmare, literally. The pain, runs, vomiting, chills, fever, depression, brain zaps, vertigo, lethargy, tears, shaking,nightmares, etc, pretty much gone (just a few brain zaps, maybe once a day - if I notice them). I am emotionally learning how I really feel again. I've laughed til I've cried a couple of times. Friends and family say I seem lucid, clear eyed, happier. I blamed the whole withdrawal on a bad flu. I take my fish oil and vitamins each day. Some days are tougher than others, but, they are getting less. I most certainly would not recommend that going cold turkey is for everyone, but, it was the way I did it and I feel so proud. Hope this gives others hope xx

Greetings

I joined this site just so I could reply to you. You are giving me so much hope. I've been on this junk for 10 years and am on day 3 of going cold turkey. So far this process has been brutal to say the very least. I have realized the pain I am feeling both physical and mental makes me realize how numb I have been in recent years. I hope you are still feeling well. Thank you for your post. I was losing hope but I think I can do this now.

Thank you for your post! I do not want to take this drug anymore, I have 22 diff pills that have been prescribed to me from my psych, and I am sick of it. Venlafaxine I have been taking it 5 years now and I want off, today is day one and I feel anxious, headache and can't focus.  Tomorrow I am going in to see the psycho that thinks I need all these meds.  I have been taking one day and off one day, but I plan to stay off of it, wish me good luck my insurance went off and I will not burden my family with all these med costs,, they might as well put me in a mental institution if I get that bad.  my baby carries her vitamins and says she needs to take her meds like mommy... that makes me depressed.  Thank you for your words of encouragement a new year time for a change and live life...Thank you Lord for raising my co-pays God knows what he is doing.   

Hey Debra, just wanted to connect because your experience sounds close to mine and I need to feel normal! Lol. Im 24 and coming off cold turkey 300mg. No taper at all. Im not usually the side effects type: I’ve been on a lot of meds and have a lot of self control, but THIS IS INSANITY! I’m On day 3 right now; no moodiness, but blurry vision, constant brain zaps every time I move my eyes, that sometimes feel like painful carpal tunnel From my brain to my palms, toes, or forearms. For the last two nights, I’ve been waking up at thousand times a night was insanely scary or crazy dreams, and drenched in freezing sweat, so not sleeping either. This morning my throat and voice box wouldn’t connect with my body until about a half hour ago, and still not totally. I’m all squeaky 😂 Man, this one is throwing me to the tornado! Sounds like your experience was similar maybe???

 ***** I’m trying to figure out how long the intense symptoms will last. Im assuming another at least day or two of feeling exceptionally terrible like this. As soon as it slightly subsides I have to return to school, but I know I can’t be in cosmetology school cutting clients hair next to their face with sharp scizzors and brainzaps!!! Haha

Thanks if you reply, so much!! It’s been a long time since these posts but I just hope for normality and a time frame.

It was about a month after I started to feel ok again and 2.5 months for the final brain zaps to disappear. I know what you mean about the nausea. I lost so much weight I was surviving by drinking cups of milk. Hold in there it does get better although might not feel that way right now. You can get anti sickness tablets from your doctor that might help

Thank you!  I will put a call into my doctor today and see about the anti sickness pills!  I definately will not starting taking the ven again.