Venlafaxine my first 14 days without
Posted , 7 users are following.
As promised here is my experience so far, first a bit of background. I had been on venlafaxine for 17 yrs my wife tells me and when I was initially put on it I do believe it helped get me through a life crisis. I had always been worried about stopping for the fear of withdrawl after being on 225mg for so long, I did try cold turkey al the withdrawl like brain zaps etc appeared with a crash in mood, I went to my Dr and told them and they suggested weaning off to be honest I was glad to have a dose just to kill how my head was feeling. Here is the doseage reduction I did.
1 month at 150mg
2 months at 75mg
1.5 months at 37.5
This may benefit others coming off as soon as I got down to 75mg I started taking cod liver oil capsules 1 a day every day, no withdrawl, and the same effect when I got to 37.5mg. I am aware that although I am stopping venlafaxine that does not mean I should stop antidepressants as when I was on 37.5 although no withdrawl my mood was sinking with the doseage so under the advice of my Dr I started on sertraline. The first week of no venlafaxine I has some very mild brain zap bouts, but I have to say the second week none. The sertraline has picked my mood up and although it is still early days I do feel confident enough to say I am free of it. I am not saying it is gospel but I have a feeling the omega 3 in cod liver oil has done the job for me. From reading the forums here that seems to be in some cases the difference between what some have done and what I may have discovered may work for others.
What I have said is not medical and I am not qualified to give advice all I can do is share what has worked for me, and that may not always be the case. My advice is to always go through your Dr and consider if you want to give up venlafaxine that it does not cure depression and other illnesses it just fogs it, do not feel ashamed to admit you may still need to go to an alternative medication. For me sertraline is working well, for you it may have to be something different. I want to thank you all for your helpful posts and will be looking in regular to see if I can help. God bless you all.
2 likes, 8 replies
Sukiwarrior simon3164
Posted
Thank you for letting us know how you are doing I am so pleased you are doing well on the Sertraline. I am following a similar roas as you and will be off them by April when I shall also try the sertraline when I get down to the lowest dose. I am taking strong super omega 3s, 2 twice a day rather than the cod liver oil as I believe they are better for depression.
Keep well and have a good Xmas.
Suki.
anne240 Sukiwarrior
Posted
lucy159 simon3164
Posted
anne240 simon3164
Posted
I was on Sertraline before I was on Venlafaxine. For the first time in 20 years I am not on an anti depressant. Hurrah. Well done, and I wish you well.
ncoules49 simon3164
Posted
So glad to heare you are doing well. Thanks to everyone I think a small group of us have been commenting on this site for a while and it is great to hear from all of you and that you are doing well. I am 10-11 weeks off of Effexor or I guess V and am doing better every week. My husband helped me reduce off the effexor XL about -10% every 10-14 days and am finally off Completely.Not without a bad day here and there and a little depression or anxiety. Anxiety was what got me on the drug to begin with. Like you it helped me through some really tough times in my life. But it is time to be drug free. I also take b complex and omega 3 thanks to all of you suggesting it. Some times I freel that I have aquired some habits being on the Effexor. Maybe letting go of the things that made me anxious. I don't know. I think maybe its too soon to tell. The depression is what gets me. Can anyone enlighten me ? Any thoughts?? I guess I'm having to deal with life now.
Anyway thanks to all of you for sharing. It has really helped.
lucy159 ncoules49
Posted
But what you say about 'dealing with life now' is, i think, really important. Just because you're off the tablets doesn';t mean everything is easy...life still goes on and difficlt things happen. I think one of the characteristics of depression is that people tend to run away from or suppress bad feelings. And so i think that when recovering it's important to remember that feeling things - sad, unhappy, happy, everything...is ok...it's ok to cry when you're really upset...it's the crying that moves you on to the next emotional stage of what you're going through - it is in no way an indication of being depressed (in itself). I've had periods of depression coming off the drug and they are so different from when i'm upset about something - and i make a big effort to allow myself to feel as upset as i am feeling about genuinely really upsetting things because thats what my mind and my body obviously need.
ncoules49 lucy159
Posted
Maybe I am grieving, sad and in paion with my foot.OMG I will get through this!!
linda13954 simon3164
Posted
Thank goodness I was only on the antidepressant for 6 months or so, and the dosage was 150mg. Stopping cold turkey is easy when your prescription isn't renewed on time. I am sure the withdrawals could have been much worse.
It has been a week since I quit taking it. I still get nauseated and headaches something I am willing to live with knowing that it is temporary.
Hope all is going well for you at this time. Keep us posted. I'll try Omega-3, it sounds like a more natural way to handle depression.