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venlafaxine

Posted , 5 users are following.

diane13750
diane13750

Hi,im new to this forum stuff so please be patient (no pun intended)with me, my gp put me on 75mg venlafaxine about 6mths ago, I had gone through a lot before hand,my lovely mum passed away over a year ago,then I had surgery for hip replacement etc,etc, any way it all seemed to have caught up with me somewhere down the line,I became very emotional, so off I went to my gp for some advice about my feelings and he prescribed me ven captials to takecut a long story short,I felt a lot better over the coming months so decided to go cold turkey and cut them out alltogether,very stupid thing to do,this is my 5th day and am getting bad withdrawal symtoms,day 1 was ok,then steadily go worse,I can put up with the nausea,skitters,confusion,vivid dreams,could cry at silly little things,wow didnt realise I had so many symptoms,but the thing I cannot deal with are the so called brain zaps in my noggin!!! How bazaar the medics dont tell you about that side of it,im really hoping there is a light at the end of the tunnel....if any one ever says to anyone who suffers with depression to"pull yourself together and get on with your life"needs to walk a mile in there shoes first!! Wow feels good getting that lot off my chest,putting your feelings into words is the first step to getting better,hope I havent bored you peeps with my sounding off?

1 like, 17 replies

17 Replies

  • vicki08466
    vicki08466 diane13750

    Posted

    Diane,

    Have faith, it does get better. I have been off of this nasty drug since February, and have never felt better. If you have to go back on the meds don't feel defeated, this medication should be lowered very slowly. Take other's in this forums advise of excercise, Fish Oil and Benedryl, this helped me so much. The brain zaps do go away. Seriously Keep your chin up you can beat this!!

    • diane13750
      diane13750 vicki08466

      Posted

      Aww thanks vicki,its very comforting knowing that I will come through this,I will try what you said and keep posting my results,feel better for your reply thanks again....
    • amanda77263
      amanda77263 vicki08466

      Posted

      Hi just wondering how long the zaps last until gone totally. I've been off meds two weeks now they've lessened but still getting them 

      Thanks

      Amanda

    • vicki08466
      vicki08466 amanda77263

      Posted

      Amanda,

      I would say about a month, They will get less and less as you go on. Good Luck.

  • amanda77263
    amanda77263 diane13750

    Posted

    Hi Diane I know how you feel, came off them totally last week and the zaps were horrendous. By end of week was shaking and sweating like a junkie,  couldn't stop crying and felt was going crazy 

    But I persevered and now it's been 9 days. Zaps much less and feeling better. 

    At height of withdrawal a friend advised "try meditation it's mind over matter" she certainly won't be making that comment again! !!

    Good luck and well done xx 

    • diane13750
      diane13750 amanda77263

      Posted

      Thank you for your coment amanda,forgot to mention the sweats on top of menepause malarky too, had to laugh at the end of your letter about meditation,cant wait to reach my 9th day,will keep posting ....
    • amanda77263
      amanda77263 diane13750

      Posted

      Good keep posting as when it gets bad no one can truly appreciate how hard it can be unless they've experienced it.

      Keep strong 

  • tunamancali
    tunamancali diane13750

    Posted

    Hi Diane, I thought I would just stop "cold turkey" myself. I guess thats when you know there's gonna be a fight. I was getting real dizzy / sweating all the time / your brain can really mess with you / eye site was getting worse fast. Ringing in my left ear / never even thought about sex. Start off slow like take 15 little beads less for like 2 weeks. You need to see how your body reacts. I was taking 150mg for almost 10 years. Until 8/3/14, I started tappering off slowly. Certain times faster then other times. Long story short, I am only taling 9mg, and decreasing by 1mg a day at this point. I have plenty of capsules of this crap left that will be meating the toilet soon. There are horror stories on alot of meds. This med has a bunch. I will not tell any horror stories. You can do it. I did it. God has been there with me the whole time. I had been on my knee's crying out for God to help me get off these pills. He has been there with me the whole time. I feel like I have gotten my life back again. I joke around and laugh alot now. My old personality is back. Yes Omega-3 / Benadryl , actually ~diphenhydramine HCI is the ingredient. I am not able to exercise at this time due to back issues. Tomarrow I will be 56, and I feel great ! I can go laugh with my kids / grandkids . .  .  . God has been good to me even though I went though a divorce / Lost my job of 25 years / my sister passed away 2/27/12. Dr's told me now wasn't a good time to get off them. I figured never is really a good time. But at some time I needed to so I did. God Bless. You CAN do it
    • diane13750
      diane13750 tunamancali

      Posted

      Hi thanks for your support,It does make you feel better knowing that your not alone out there,you tend to think that you are,ive looked back at my blog and didnt realise the bad spelling mistakes so im putting that down to the way im feeling,ive heard about omega3 and benadryl, so am going to give it a try, today ive been fighting off a bad case of nausea the worse yet and hope I dont have to have a conversation with the porcelain bowl,it would be a waste of my lovely meal,so thanks again tunamancalli for your kind words...take care...
    • michael_37726
      michael_37726 diane13750

      Posted

      Hi Diane 

      I have got down to about 15 mg a day from 275mg three months ago it was hard at first felt really ill for the first couple of weeks so tryed Benadryl and omega 3 and also B6 and that really helped I'm starting to feel almost normal now and have got back to work also. Three months ago I would never of beleved it if someone told me I would be back to work as back then I didn't have the energy to get out of bed and just wanted to die. So it takes a bit of time but things do get better believe me

    • diane13750
      diane13750 michael_37726

      Posted

      Thanks for your advice michael,im 7days into withdrawal symptoms and brain zaps havent been too bad today,can feel slight emotions coming to the surface,exstream sweating still but only a week so am trying to go with the flow,your encouragement has helped I thank you for that....
  • anne240
    anne240 diane13750

    Posted

    Hello Diane, having quite Effexor once before cold turkey, this time I took 10 months to withdraw, and that way I did not get any withdrawal symptoms.  Yes the brain zaps are indeed very difficult to deal with.  They will gradually ease.  I admire that you are coping so well with all the other withdrawals.  I agree with everything you say.  You sound a lovely persson.  I am an old lady who has struggled with depression for over 20 years.  Managing without any nmedication now and hope that continues.

    Take care

    • diane13750
      diane13750 anne240

      Posted

      Oh bless you anne,such kind words of wisdom thank you,I hope you can also put your demons to rest,life can be so cruel making us suffer as we do,but these things are put to try us so what doesnt kill us can only make us stronger, as the saying goes...all the very best to you,you will be in my thoughts,take care.....
  • diane13750
    diane13750

    Posted

    Hi, just up dating how I feel after stopping ven meds, well its my 9th day without the tabs and the brain zaps are still there but much better at dealing with them, nausia pops its little head up every now and then but also is much less than couple days ago, upset tummy is the same as the beginning, and the hot flushes seem the same, im well use to those with the menopause and after 11yrs of it so I should be...the light at the end of the tunnel seems brighter, theres hope for us all peeps, you just have to stay strong....
    • anne240
      anne240 diane13750

      Posted

      Thank you for your nice message.  I do hope you are feeling better now.  Let us know how you are.  
    • diane13750
      diane13750 anne240

      Posted

      Hi anne, thank you for thinking bout me, im 2wks now without my meds, and im feeling good today, fingers crossed it stays that way, I find myself singing around the house, so thats a good indication, as for hot flushes, well that goes with the territory, I can deal with them, hope you are well? Will check into hear again soon...take care...
    • anne240
      anne240 diane13750

      Posted

      That is really good news Diane.  Well done.  Although Effexor took away depression and anxiety, I find it is the anxiety that has returned now.  I am finding it difficult to deal with.  Glad you are singing.  I must admit I do go to a singing group and enjoy it, but seldom listen to music on radio at home.  Perhaps I should.  Keep in touch.
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