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Success with venlafaxine withdrawal

Posted , 77 users are following.

oz82
oz82

Hi guys,

After 6 long years on venlafaxine, I have finally gotten off the drug. I don't know if this will be of any use to anyone, but I wanted to share some hopeful words and tips for anyone trying to come off of this nasty medication. I should clarify, however, that I am not angry for having been put on this medication, as I am sure it saved my life. That being said, 6 years, 225mg/day and an additional 20kg later (!!! just awful !!!) I am so glad to be Effexor free.

The details:

I was taking Effexor XR and had been on my maximum dose for 3.5 years. Prior to that I was on 150mg for about 2 years. I took 3 x 75mg capsules every morning as a once a day dose. Taking three tablets was initially to save money (for some reason it was cheaper here in Australia to do it that way) but it ended up having the extra bonus of making withdrawal easier.

What worked for me may not work for everyone, but this is the approach my GP and I came up with. Most was my own plan, based on what I found worked, but my GP gave me the initial "tablet dropping" idea and trusted me to take it slowly, listen to my body and see her as needed. It worked very, very well, with minimal side effects. If it helps even one of you it will be worth having posted this.

First things first:

1. Make sure you are taking care of yourself and are in a good place emotionally before even contemplating withdrawal.

2. You are going to need supportive people around you- I don't know if I could have done it without my boyfriend. Tell your family/friends AND DOCTOR what you are doing. This is crucial. You may also want to tell someone you trust at work what is going on, so they know why you may seem a little dazed every so often.

3. Make sure you are eating really well. I switched to a vegan diet about half way through and, although this is not for everyone, this made withdrawal so much easier. I am sure the huge amounts of vegetables made a difference. I especially noticed that days when I ate lots of sea vegetables I coped best with symptoms, so consider working them into your normal diet.

4. Take a multivitamin and drink lots of water. At least 2 litres a day. This will help minimise the horrible nausea you will probably experience.

5. Drink ginger tea/use ginger. This is also for the nausea and I found it was essential in the days after stopping completely. It really does help. I also wondered if some people might find a prescription for maxalon or stemetil helpful, as the nausea and dizziness was the worst for me.

6. Get lots of sleep. I mean heaps of it. Anyone who has withdrawn from this med (or even skipped a dose!) knows how tired you will get.

Now the tablet reduction:

I started by reducing my total weekly dose by 1 tablet per week (taking 2 tabs one day and 3 every other day) for a few weeks. This sounds like nothing, but even this produced quite bad side effects at first (teariness, exhaustion, dizziness and nausea). Only when I was comfortable (ie no side effects) with this dose regimen did I move on.

Then, I took 2 tabs instead of 3 on two days a week for a few weeks until I was comfortable (making sure to space the 2 tablet days out, eg Sat and Wed). Then I got into the habit of taking tablets as follows. I made sure to plan/write all of this down on our calender beforehand, to use as a guide and make sure I didn't mess it up:

3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2 etc for about 3 to 4 weeks

Then:

3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2 etc for about another 3 weeks to month.

Then:

3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, etc for about a month. Then when I got to 2 tablets (150mg) a day on every day of the week I rested on that for quite a while (mostly as I was nervous about going too fast). Then, I did a pretty much similar thing to get down to one tablet a day. Then the same to get to 37.5 mg. I actually stopped pretty abruptly from the 37.5 mg stage, as I felt entirely ready. After that I had about 5 days of feeling pretty crappy, with symptoms as above, then I started getting better. Day 3 with no drugs was the worst for me.

So, in the end, it took me about 8 months to go from 225 to nothing. I know that seems an eternity, but I think that is why I coped so well. Five days after dropping from 37.5mg to nothing, I had almost no symptoms. Seven days later I had none. Even if you take nothing else from this, please know that it is possible to get off of this nasty drug BUT you must be careful, listen to your body, do it with support from those around you and in communication with your GP.

Good luck to all of you

xx

biggrin biggrin

17 likes, 204 replies

204 Replies

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  • lynn67615
    lynn67615 oz82

    Posted

    I am going to start tomorrow going down from 75X. I am going to take one full 37.5 xl + half of another 37.5 XL so the jump won’t be so great. Hope this works. I am also on 10 lexapro

     

  • fleur83875
    fleur83875 oz82

    Posted

    Hi all.

    I am new to this site and am hoping someone can assist me.

    I have been on 300mg of Venlor, one brand name in South Africa, for around 4 years. I have previously been on other antidepressants for close to 20 years.

    The venlafaxine was prescribed for PTSD, major depression and anxiety disorder.

    Since starting this medication, I have suffered from terrible headaches, all day, every day.

    I want to come off of this drug and have read a lot regarding tapering/weaning off of it.

    My 10 year old son died 6 months ago of SUDC and I am obviously grieving terribly.

    I can't stand the headaches anymore. I became addicted to opiate painkillers and had to go to rehab to come off of them.

    I take paracetamol and ibuprofen now, but they don't really work.

    I am concerned about my emotional health as a result of my child's death and am not sure if I should start coming off of the Venlor at the moment.

    I am in a catch 22 situation.

    I would value any advice or personal experiences that may help me.

    • Keep_trying
      Keep_trying fleur83875

      Posted

      Hi,  I just read your post tonight.  I am truly sorry for your loss ,  and although I may be able to offer some 

      practical help -  I think it might be a suggestion for you to speak to a bereavement counsellor.  Perhaps 

      its not the best time to reduce the medicine at the moment.  Do you feel that your G.P. COULD support 

      you more in this matter, are they fully aware of your circumstances. 

      I shall have a little think - and get back to you.  Perhaps drinking lots of water or juice may help with 

      the headaches too.  These are just things I would probably do.  Are you sleeping , eating and taking

      medicine at the same time each day.... looking after yourself will be the first step in your mental health

      apart from your sad situation.  I hope you have friends and family nearby too. 

    • Emirray
      Emirray fleur83875

      Posted

      Hi I’m not a doctor and I cannot really give much advice or even begin to imagine what you have been going through. 

      But I am a sufferer of headaches frequently (worse since I was on my medication haven’t had one since been off fingers crossed) 

      Keep yourself overly hydrated and try to get to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time too. If you feel tired don’t allow the groggy feeling have a cup of coffee. I find coffee helps me when I feel a headache coming. Also exercising frequently works wonders and sometimes something sugary can help to really kick the headache! 

      Take vitamins too they are my saving grace. 

      I hope this helps and I don’t know you or anything about you, your life or your situation. 

      I just want to tell you that you are a strong, brave and wonderful human being. You have gone through what I can imagine as a lot of s**t but you are still breathing and you are still strong. People like you are an inspiration to the world and you should never forget that. The demons you are battling now will get worn out eventually and you will be so much stronger for it. People don’t become strong from not fighting! So stay strong if not for me or anyone else do it for yourself because you have a right to be on this planet! 

      P.s I don’t know if you are in a position to have a pet but animals really help me when I get headaches and when I have bad days. I don’t know why but their prescience dulls my headache which sounds weird but it’s the truth! 

      You take care of yourself. 

  • Keep_trying
    Keep_trying oz82

    Posted

    Would love an up date, as would a whole lot of people who were inspired with your posting so long ago. 

    Hope you are in a good place now after coming off Venlafaxine.  However, it is no shame if not as some 

    of us will have depression repeated more than one in our lifetimes. 

     

  • carole76433
    carole76433 oz82

    Posted

    I was put on Venlafaxine 150 mg and I have been on this drug for 8 years since my previous partner was found dead.

    Anyway I have decided to come off them? As what’s the point of just taking them for the sake of??

    So I suggested to my Doctor that every Day I would take 150mg then every 2 days in between taking 75mg then after 2 weeks I’m now taking 75mg for 3 days in between 150mg then maybe trying every 4 days and so forth, however for days I’ve had like a very stiff neck and pain headaches every day and feeling sick all the time, and I’m off my food which is a good thing as I may lose weight hopefully?? But most days I’m feeling so low I don’t have the energy to do anything?? I hope I’m doing this right?? As my headaches are awful??

    Has anyone experienced the same sort of thing coming off these tablets???

  • lucy15240
    lucy15240 oz82

    Posted

    Thank you so much for writing this piece, when you begin your withdrawal journey, all there seems to be is frightening accounts of terrible side effects lasting for years! I too had been on 225mg XL of Venlafaxine for 3.5 years and was more than ready to stop it. I reduced from 225mg to 187.5mg for a month, then 150mg for 2 weeks, 75mg for 2 weeks, 37.5mg for one week and then stopped. It was only when I stopped completely that I got the side effects. I am now on day 5 of total withdrawal and, although I still have some dizziness and still can hear my pulse in my ears (weird), my nausea has almost stopped. I have had diarrhoea and one day of crying non-stop and was just about to start worrying that this was never going to end, when I came across your post. I am now hoping that by day 7 I will start to feel normal again. I have lost weight, feel sharper in my mind and more alert even though I am tired and every now and then very sleepy!

    Here's to a life without Venlafaxine and thank you again for posting such a positive outcome to your cessation of this awful drug!

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