venlafaxine withdrawal- please help!!

Thank you for this. I hope you continue to improve. All the best to you.

Stick with it. Don't give up. I'm on day 21 ( three weeks clear of V) I still have withdrawal symptoms but it is anageable. You will be much better off without it. The worst thing for me was trying to come off and giving up, and then I needing a higher dose to keep the withdrawal away. This is a bad drug. You have come this far, don't give up.

Hello, I have just read this and has made me feel better, I posted on another discussion that I am going to try and come off V as I have been on it for nearly 20 years (except when pregnant), so far I have got down to one table (75mg) every other day, I am seeing GP on Friday to discuss my next option!

I hope like others my sex drive returns !! and I lose weight!

Reading this has given me hope, I know it isnt going to be easy, but am determined to crack it!

Hi,

It's quite interesting what you've been saying about GP' s not recognizing the withdrawal problems. I take 325xl along with Carbamazopine as a mood stabiliser and Quetiapine, along with a load of non psych meds. A few weeks ago I went through a crisis, and in my wisdom decided I didn't need any meds at all so stopped everything. Come the start of day 3, I was on the sofa, unaware of much going on, in agony, shaking like a leaf and in a mess. My husband had become very worried by now, as had my GP who appeared (yes a home visit), and basically gave me a choice take them or be sectioned! She said that stopping my meds was dangerous, and in particular the Venlafaxine!

When I was back to being a bit more rational she said that if I really wanted to come off them whilst she didn't recommend it at the moment, she would help me but that when I got down to the 37.5 mg, she would move me across to the non xl, and reduce it slowly from there. She also told me that out of all the meds I should never just stop the venlafaxine as the withdrawal symptoms could be dangerous to me (maybe because I have had some strokes, have hypertension etc?)

She is clearly aware of problems.......

I'm new to this site and hoping for some knowledge from the people in the same boat as opposed to the doctors who got me in this mess.

I was put on medication for panic attacks when I was 25. At the time I was so relieved to have something stop the attacks and let me lead a normal life again that I didn't question it. Unfortunately now it's 7 years later and I'm on 450mg per day Venlafaxine (prescribed more than the legal recommended daily dose. Supposedly 375mg is the max a person should have per day. I am not a unique or scary case. Why did my doctors get me on this dose and this medication?) Apart from making me crave chocolate, gain weight and feel fatigued constantly, i feel like im not me anymore. I've tried to reduce before but the withdrawal is something I don't even have words to describe. The brain zaps, what felt like Chronic Fatigue, the crying, the despair, arhg... I'm reducing again by a smaller dose this time and doing it much slower. But even reducing by 37.5mg ONE day in the week (not everyday- just 1 day!) and I wake up drenched in sweat and am incredibly tired. It overwhelms me how long it will take.

I don't know how this happened to me. When you explain how you feel to doctors they just try to up your medication! I used to be a fit, healthy, social, happy, attractive 24 year old. I'll be 33 this year and none of the things I was at 24. I've gone up 3 dress sizes, my skin is terrible, I'm in an unhappy relationship and not sure if it's my fault (I don't think it is to be honest). My self esteem and energy levels mean I don't want to go out much anymore. This isn't what I thought my life would be.

I think Molly is onto someone regarding the manufacturers. I'd join you. This medication and the doctors I stupidly trusted have got me to a place I am struggling to get out of. I was pregnant a few years ago but sadly i.knew straight away I couldn't have a baby develop normally with the dose I was on. I tried to come off the medication at the time but the withdrawal was probably doing even more damage. . I thought I was going to die. At the time I would pray to die in my sleep.

I would really like to have a baby and a family in the future but would never have a child while my mind, body and brain are as they are now.

If I had of known about the withdrawal from this I never would have taken it.

There's no way doctors know about this as they wouldn't prescribe it so readily if they did.

Has anyone else ever been on 450mg a day and successfully come off?

Hi fellow Ven withdrawers. I'm on day 2 of no mg. I have been on 150mg daily since January last year, after moving onto Ven as Citalopram just didn't seem to be working anymore. I've been on AD's constantly since 1997, with a brief break in 2006 when I came off them (and was so happy that I had) but crashed and hand to go back on them. I've suffered with all sorts of mental health issues for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to come off Ven as I hated the side effects - nausea being the main one. I'm emetophobic (fear of vomiting) so that side effect just made me more anxious in case I was sick!

GP prescribed me Sertraline but I had to come off Ven first. I went from 150mg to 75mg and stayed at this dose for 5 days, then down to 37.5mg. I felt more 'alive' as soon as I came down to this dose and apart from the brain zaps and bizarre dreams, didn't really have bad withdrawals. With this clear mind I've decided to try and 'fly solo' if I can (and not start on Sertraline).

After 5 days at 37.5, I cut the tablets in half and just had that daily, for another 5 days. Friday 17th I took nothing. I've had the sweating, shivering, trembling, dizzy, brain fog. Last night I was awake till 3am, then again from 5.15 till 6am when I took a Phenergan (for the sedative effect). Woke again at 840 and have been awake since.

I have felt tearful (at the most ridiculous things) today, more than I have been through all the years on AD's. When my sister died, although I felt sad, I couldn't cry - that's just NOT normal is it?

Reading others' horrendous experiences of coming off, I think I'm having it fairly easy (so far......)

Good luck to everyone who is going through their own journey.

I just wanted to share with everyone trying to come off Venlafaxine a site I've just discovered. It's called theroadback org

It is a site to help people cope with withdrawals from coming off their medication. I was only made aware of the site yesterday so I can't vouch for it just yet but from what I've read so far I have help it can help me.

I recently read 'Potatoes Not Prozac' and I fully recommend it to all. ESPECIALLY if you are someone who craves sugar. I joined the forum of people slowly tapering off sugar and they led me to the website with the program to support coming off strong medications.

I'm learning a lot at the moment and I have found lots of support from the above mentioned. The other book I've also read recently is called 'A Dose of Sanity'. It explains why all the doctors (wrongly) put us on these medications. I wish I'd known all this 8 years ago but better late than never.

Hey,

Iv been taking 225mg a day for 2 years since the birth of my son and am now on day 2 of no venlafaxine. This afternoon I starting getting the withdrawal which I can only describe as feeling very wobbly on my feet, hot swats and racing heart beat.... (Please excuse the spelling) this has slowly got worse as the evening has gone on..... I didn't suffer any sort of things when reducing the dosage only a little tearful now and then and a little short tempered.....

How long will this last? Is there anything I can do that will stop or ease this with out going back to see the GP.

I really want to stop taking this and feel foolish for having these problems from stopping.

X

I must say that I'm amazed that nobody seems to be testing or trying my method, posted earlier, and all of the people posting are going through the horrors of simply reducing the quantity of pills/capsules on some kind of schedule.

Seriously. Read everyone's post. You cannot get free of this awful drug by simply "cutting back" on how many or how frequently you take a dose -- unless, of course, you want to endure hell for months.

The only way off of this crap is a super-gradual dosage reduction over a VERY long time. There is no shortcut. None.

I'm off this crap now and had zero withdrawal symptoms. None. Nothing. Read what I wrote above. It takes more than a year. Get over it. Just do it.

If you are in a part of the world where you cannot acquire capsules, you'll have to find a compounding pharmacist to crush up the tablets and load the powder into reduced dosage capsules. If you are in the capsule world, it is really simple to weigh out the little drug pellets and follow my directions.

Good luck.

A friend of mine asked her dr. For Prozac to help get off the effexor. This helped her greatly. She first used 20mg and then 10mg to get off. So hang in there there is hope.

It's now day 11 of being off Ven. All physical withdrawal symptoms have stopped apart from a few mild brain zaps.

Emotionally however, I'm blubbing at anything. My poor boss had me wailing down the phone at him this morning. He's really supportive and said it's like the 'well' where my emotions have been kept for years has had the lid lifted off!

I'm so glad to be off them and clearly very lucky that it hasn't taken me a year, like it has for some people. x

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this site and have been very interested to hear what you all have to say. Learning to accept having a mental health issue can be very tough, making you 'different' to other people. The positive side to that, for me anyway, is learning to embrace my difference, love the quirkiness that is 'me', whilst accepting that I also need to take medication to tone me down, even me out and lift me up!

I was diagnosed Bipolar seventeen years ago having previously (all my adult life) suffered from and been medicated for severe depression and anxiety states. I have been taking 800mg Lithium and 300mg Venlafaxine for the past sixteen years. I have continued to have depressive episodes but these have been a lot less disabling than previously but now, since giving up work 2.5 years ago I have not had a single episode and am pretty balanced.

I now feel I want to come off the Venlafaxine as I feel I no longer need it and am heartily sick of being fat and not being able to keep weight off when I lose it, no matter how hard I try! I also want to know 'what I'm like' without this drug as it's so long since I was unmedicated I'm not sure 'who' I am anymore. So with my GP's support I am going to come off Venlafaxine but stay on the Lithium and see how it goes. From reading these forum posts it seems that most people expect to come off Venlafaxine very quickly. I know I cannot do that as even small changes in dosage of my meds has a substantial effect on me! So far I started by reducing my dose by a quarter, ie 75mg for one month. I did have discontinuation symptoms for about 2 weeks, beginning a few days after I started the reduction but only mild. These were not sleeping as well, sweats mostly during the night and waking in the middle of the night with a bad headache that didn't respond to paracetamol and was still there in the morning. So far so good! After a month of that I have made another reduction, only 37.5mg less this time but it still means I'm taking almost half the dose of Venlafaxine I was originally on. I have been doing this for just a week now and so far the side effects, again mild, are aching joints and some sleeplessness/headaches. I will continue like this for two months before I attempt to cut down again.

If successfull it will probably take me at least eight months to fully come off but I consider that time very well spent if it means my side effects are minimal and I don't get catapulted into a depression! After all I've been on the stuff for 16 years, what's one more?

Slow and steady wins the race!! x

I was on 150 mg effexor xr and followed the 10% tapering method by Dr. peter breggin which really helped me with not getting severe withdrawal symptoms , but as I am a approaching the last 25% i started getting horrible withdrawal symptoms of extreme anxiety and getting easily overwhelmed and irritable plus seeing no point in life , by coincidence I took 1000mg 3 times daily of evening prime rose oil i took efamol brand but I'm sure others will work and like magic by the 3 rd day it all disappeared and i got back to my old self. I discovered that many people take it even men for withdrawal and depression etc

I was on 150 mg effexor xr and followed the 10% tapering method by Dr. peter breggin which really helped me with not getting severe withdrawal symptoms , but as I am a approaching the last 25% i started getting horrible withdrawal symptoms of extreme anxiety and getting easily overwhelmed and irritable plus seeing no point in life , by coincidence I took 1000mg 3 times daily of evening prime rose oil for Peri menopause , i took efamol brand but I'm sure others will work and like magic by the 3 rd day it all disappeared and i got back to my old self. I discovered that many people take it even men for anti depressants withdrawal

Hi I would just like to say that I was on Venlafaxine 75mg for just over a year. I was prescribed it for hot flashes after I had a hysterectomy. I came off it 3 weeks ago- stopped cold turkey. I took my last tablet on Friday and felt good over the weekend but Monday at work I started to feel ill like I was getting the flu. I ended up having the rest of the week off because I felt crummy, my symptoms were - really bad sinus headache, flu like symptoms, foggy fuzzy head feeling and slight zapping sensation in my head also if I moved my head my eyes didn't seem to follow until a few seconds later! Feeling really bad lasted 5 days and after that everything slowly started to improve. I went back to work the following week and felt ok in the morning but really tired in the afternoon. This is my third week now and I feel pretty good, just about back to normal. I know I was on a low dose compared to some people but I would just like to say that stopping the tablets was manageable and if you are on the same dose as me I think if you stick with it you will hopefully be fine like me in 2 to 3 weeks.