venlafaxine withdrawal- please help!!

Hi TG, im sorry you had a bad time coming off venaflaxine but you are a star sharing your awful experience, asking for help and advice, I 'm so glad I've found this site.

I've been on venaflaxine 150mg for over 5 years and weaned myself off to 75mg about a year ago. I was advised by my dr a month ago to come off these drugs, he said oh yeah stop taking them this weekend! I'm weaning myself off slowly and God it's been hell, dizzy head, the only way I could describe how I felt was like my eyes & brain was catching up slowly in my head when ever I moved my head, horrendous headaches, nightmares, vomiting, aching, hot & cold sweats, fidgety, my face has been twitchy, I've been crying and argumentative..... If I had a gun I'd of shot myself. I haven't taken any now for a few days and I'm still vomiting. I just want to wake up and feel normal for once. I hope that anyone who's trying to come off this drug comes onto this site and can speak to the people that have/are experiencing these effects. 

Good luck to us all :-) xx

Hi,

I was on Ben for 2 years at the same dos sage as you. I came off in June and would not want to go through the withdrawals ever again. I found this forum and discovered from someone else's post that Benadryl with Acrivas helps with the brain zaps, calms anxiety amongst other benefits as well as having no ill effects when i came off them after about 6 weeks. Hope this helps. They are worth a try because they do no harm. 

So sorry to hear this but have courage. I believe that you have come off of the venlafaxine much too quickly. I was on the same dosage for 8 years and it took me six months to come off. I did not go down another 37 1/2 until the symptoms had eased off from the one before. Remember that each time you drop one you are going off of a larger percentage. The last one has been the hardest. I have been off of it for a month now and still have some side effects and expect to be another 6 months before I begin to feel normal. Some people take at least a year to get off of this miserable drug. Don't hurry but know that if I can do it at almost 80 so can you. Waiting to hear how you are doing. It may be better to talk to you doctor and work out a plan to take a little for a while longer.

Good morning,

After being on effexor xl for 12 years. I have been

off

Of this drug for 5 months. I am feeling my emotions again the good the bad and the ugly. I decreased about I'm loosing weight, alert no more sweating, being like a slug, sleeping all of the time and have my energy back. I went through hell and back getting off this drug. The Brian zips (benadryl is good for that) to nausea, diarrhea, Uncontrollable fits of crying, constant buzzing in my ears and all of the of the other withdrawal symptoms that a heavy drug addict would have. Even worse. Make no mistake at the time I was prescribed the drug it did help me. But I am at a different time in my life.

You need someone by your side while you are going through this. I think the depression and the United controllable crying was the worse for me.

B12, omega 3 and other brain healthy vitamins and minerals will help. It takes time to get this crappie drug out of your system. Take the time. It will be worth it in the long run.

Hi all. I tried to come off Venlafaxine a couple of times but had to go back on them due to the horrendous withdrawels that were also being mistaken for depression and was told I would never be able to come off them. After research I realised it was just withdrawels and also Prozac can help with coming off Venlafaxine. I went to my doctor with this info who agreed that Prozac can help and I've been off Venlafaxine now for 10 months. I still had withdrawel symptoms but not as bad as trying to come off Venlafaxine alone. I did ween off them a lot longer than was suggested by the doctor as I felt 6 weeks was too short from what I had read on forums and websites that it could take a year or more for some depending how long you've been on them. I was on anti depressants for 13 years but only the last 3-4 years on Venlafaxine. I just went on how I felt. If I felt I was experiencing bad withdrawels I just kept at that dose until I felt more stable to decrease it again. It took about 4 months. Hope this helps x

I just want to say thank you to you and all on this forum. I thought I was going completely nuts , actually considered backer acting myself, not realizing that all I was experiencing is due to withdrawals from this horrible medication. Thank you and tomorrow I'm gonna start giving Benadryl a try; crossing my fingers it helps. For the first time in a very long time I'm crying tears of relief.

Hi, retired, unregistered pharmacist here and I may be able to help here but please do not ask me for advice. 

Having just read this thread I would like to educate. 

All drugs have two names. They have a BRAND name.  They also have a "drug" name. The drug name applies no matter what the Brand.  The BRAND name and the drug contained can differ over the world.   Therefore if we are talking of a BRAND we should always mention the drug name with it so we know what we are talking about, e.g. there is a Brand called Benadryl and it contains diphenhydramine in some countries and (from the thread) it may contain something else that I have never heard of from somewhere else.

Always look for a desription like "prologed release" or "sustained action" etc. and mention that too.  

About the drug venlafaxine.  

Some brands of it in the  capsules contain beads like hundreds and thousands. To help vary the dose, the cap of the capsule may be pulled off and different numbers of beads taken.  The venlafaxine in the beads is released slowly through the coating of the bead for prolongation.  The beads are all the same. 150mg capsules contain twice as many as 75mg capsules. The capsule itself is merely a container for the beads. 

 

This drug was so awful for me, I find it hard to believe that family doctors (and even psychiatrists) perscribe it all over the place as if it's candy. I was put on it at 16 (and was on it til age 26) and was sick from there on out, but I couldn't get off of it no matter how hard I tried for the longest time.  I've been on everything from a 300+mg down to the 37.5. Ever since I went on it, it was bad news for me. Yes, I felt less anxious, because it blocked that - but I felt ten times more depressed than I ever did before. I was also always feeling physically sick to my stomach, but at the same time feeling ravenous - it gave me this insatiable appetite some days, and others I couldn't stomach anything for days on end. This resulted in frequent vomiting (not by choice), as well as binge eating, and major fluctuations in weight (I was both very underweight and very overweight while on these meds and have had zero problems with either of those things since stopping).  It seemed like I had no feelings, really, and no concept of what my body was trying to communicate to me.  Everything was numbed out.  I rarely cried, and if I did it was usually in anger and frustration when trying to come down or off from the meds.  The most frightening side effect each time I tapered down (in addition to the other side effects like lack of concentration, headaches, extreme fatigue, brain pops, visual disturbances, etc) was my anger.  I almost instantly felt extremely angry to the point of rage every time I didn't get my medication on time or missed a day.  I am not an angry, raging person and it really scared me considering I had to go to work and interact with people every day and I wondered if I would just lose it on someone and end up unemployed.  I would snap at my partner, my mother, my friends. This always led me to go back up on my dose so I could get on with life and not be afraid of myself.  But I was then left to enjoy no emotions, 30-40 lbs in excess weight, constant dry mouth, low or non-existent sex drive (and extreme dryness down there too), and just a general sense of low energy and disinterest in everything around me.  I had no motivation to do anything.  The only thing that worked for me in freeing myself from this trap was to switch medications and taper from there.  After several unsuccessful attempts at kicking the last 37.5 mg (or even maintaining it at that low of a dosage), I asked my doctor to switch me to something else.  I was given Cipralex (Lexapro/escitalopram) - can't recall the dose.  When I started taking it, all my side effects from venlafaxine got even worse.  Without changing my diet at all, I gained 30 lbs in 2 months.  I weighed myself one day and immediately flushed all my pills in an impulsive decision.  I had a panic moment (and I don't advise flushing your pills!) but it seemed to be the turning point for me - I quit cold turkey and didn't have any of the scary side effects I did when coming off venlafaxine. I never would have been able to just stop the venlafaxine, I think I would have had to stay indoors for a month if I tried.  After stopping the Cipralex I just felt very emotional for about 2 weeks - like crying at cute kitten pictures, silly sitcoms, anything and everything.  But that quickly subsided as well and I was able to be medication-free. I now use other techniques to control my depression (exercise, diet, etc). I realize that being medication-free is not for everyone, but if it's the withdrawals that are stopping you, perhaps a switch to a different medication and then an attempt to taper off might assist. Believe me, I tried everything before that as well! Good luck!

PROZAC! Trying to get off of venlafaxine was hellish for me. I felt a depression deeper and an anxiety more intense than any I had ever felt before I started taking it. What made it worse is that these feelings were occurring simultaneously (mixed state). It was pure anguish, I couldn't do it. Then, my doctor prescribed Prozac for the withdrawal and it works like a charm. I was originally on 225 mg of venlafaxine and have weaned down to nothing using 20 mg/day for three days then 40 mg on the fourth day. Then, I continue in that manner. That's where I am at this point. I don't plan on stopping the Prozac for quite a while because I know the withdrawal can last months and I don't want to feel that way for even a second. Supposedly, getting off the Prozac is easy/easier.  Hopefully, that helps. I just can't imagine having to go through that for several months.

From reading this thread it seems that both Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride and Phenylephrine Hydrochlorid may help with Venlafaxine withdrawal. In the UK the former ingredient is in Sudafed non drowsy decongestant tablets and the latter in the ordinary Sudafed (i.e. not non drowsy)

I have cut down to 37.5 of Venlafaxine over approx two months and two days ago stopped altogether in order to start on Mirtazapine. I thought until reading this thread I was getting terrible side effects from the Mirtazapine but now I realise it's more likely to be Venlafaxine withdrawal.

I have had chronic sleepiness which probably is the Mirtazapine but the mood swings and 'electric shock' feelings are more likely to be Venlafaxine withdrawal and they have been very bad.

After reading this thread I remembered I had some Sudafed tablets in a drawer (Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride) and so tonight I took one. Bingo! The electric shock feelings drastically reduced and my head felt like someone had gone in and removed all of the cotton wool and I can finally think more clearly. I will have to be careful as Sudafed isn't great for people with high blood pressure like me but for short term recovery this may well be the solution until the Venlafaxine is out of my system.

To be honest when I was younger I used to take Sudafed recreationally to give me a feel good buzz when socialising so I guess it's no surprise it has similar trates to Venlafaxine.

I think when talking about what has helped people with Venlafaxine withdrawal, it will help if people stop talking brand names such as Benadryl and refer only to the active ingredient which is anyways listed on the packet.