venlafaxine withdrawal- please help!!

Good news, at least for those who can manage it. After having been on Effexor XR (Venlafaxine) 225mg for 13 years, I have been completely off for about 5 months.  I had terrible zapping, not just in my head, but in my body and arms/hands.  First just the head for 3 months, a glorious 2 week break with minimal zapping, then full on body zaps.  I'd had enough.  I had previously been on Trazadone 150mg and wanted of that as well as the Effexor at the time.  

With almost a full month worth of Trazadone left, I did some dosing research and decided to try taking only 75mg daily, at night.  No more zaps.  Trazadone is not a SSRI, it 's a MAOI, I think it's referred to, anyway, it has improved my overall well being.  No side effects as it's a pretty low dose other than slight drowsiness.  I was taking it to help me sleep before I quit it.  I had been feeling like I might do a nose-dive, as I had last time I got off anti-depressants, but the Trazadone seems to have headed that off.  In my research, I found that pharmaceutical companies press doctors to give every depression patient SSRI's, but only about 30% of people who are depressed need any seratonin boosting.  Unfortunately, they have no way of measuring these chemicals in a living person.  Stanford University in California, in the US, has been doing some amazing research in this area.  A machine has become commercially available to specially trained physicians that send magnetic impulses to a particular area of the brain that is believed to be the root cause of most people's depression.  It's like a pin-point MRI.  Unfortunately, the doctor here, in Las Vegas, NV, that provides these treatments says most insurance companies refuse to cover the procedure.  It takes, I believe, 6 weeks of daily, 1 hour sessions to essentially cure depression in appropriate subjects.  He charges $6,000 for the full treatment.  They've submitted the request to my insurance, but I'm not holding my breath.  At least some progress is being made to get people off the medication roller coaster so we can stop being guinea pigs.  He said the patients he's treated have noticed a new sense of well-being and happiness.  I was right there in the room with it and wanted to experience that so badly.  If a miracle happens and my fairly crappy insurance does end up covering it, I will definitely let everyone know.  For now, at least we know that help may be on the horizon.

TG, I hope this information helps.  I don't know if Trazadone is safe for during pregnancy.  It seems like when I was pregnant, many years ago, all I could have was pseudafed or tylenol, no chocolate : ( or caffeine.  They keep changing the rules.

I am still plagued by my frustrating typing errors, spelling mishaps, and lost words, though the lost words isn't happening as much now that I think about it.

I stopped taking venafaxiline on Christmas after 5 years of 225mg's went down gradually, but still feel like death. I just took a benadryl per online advice hope it helps. How long before I can actually function? Very tempted to go back on them not sure I can do this anymore.

Hey all, thank you so much for sharing the symptoms and such when coming off of venlafaxine. I figured I should share my experiences coming off of this drug in the hopes that it'll help someone else, especially since I had trouble finding info on people coming off of this drug when they had only been on it for a short period of time.

I had been on venlafaxine XR 225mg for six months, and with changes in my life, decided it was time to come off of it. I did this without my doctor (probably not the best idea) by trying to taper off. I did this way too quickly, from 225mg to 150mg. And instantly felt some withdrawal symptoms (light headed, dizziness, tingly skin). The second day on 150mg I felt pretty awful with severe headaches, nausea, sweating, fast heartbeat, and feeling like I was gonna pass out. At this point, I could no longer move around without feeling like I would pass out and I had some brain zaps. I continued on the 150mg until most of my symptoms went away, didn't learn my lesson, and went down to 75mg every day. My symptoms were pretty much the same, except now all I wanted to do was sleep and my skin was itchy, and it left me bed ridden. My mind also felt like it was delayed, where my body would take a few steps forward and my mind wouldn't arrive until a few more steps later (if that makes any sense).

I decided I wanted to be done with it and couldn't afford to be in bed, so I started to do the 75mg every other day, and then went down to 37.5mg every other day. It took me about 1.5 weeks to get to this point. Then in the middle of the night, I all of a sudden felt this cloud lift away and I could think so much more clearly. That's when I stopped the venlafaxine completely. It is now day 6 of me completely off the drug, and I'm finally starting to feel alive again. I no longer need to sit down every five seconds, I don't sweat, feel nauseous, have itchy skin, etc. I still have a very faint headache and some very spaced out brain zaps, but I think I will be back to myself within a few days. Bonus, my energy and sex drive are already back!

I guess being that I was only on venlafaxine for 6 months, that my recovery time was much shorter than typical? And I'd guess it would vary depending on the person.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone with how you probably don't want to taper off this drug, and what you might expect coming off of it if you had only been on it for a short period of time. (Although, I do think that doing an every other day thing was the most helpful for me getting over my symptoms...not sure how other people feel about this).

Hi.

There is only one way to come off Effexor. And that is by tapering off it by 37.5 every two week. I have come off Effexor and am withdrawal symptom free. That is the fast you can do it. Slower is also possible.

Let me start with a little background. I’m 27 and have been on anti-depressants since my parents got divorced when I was 17. Follow that with a less than great college experience, and I needed them to stay stable. I went through a number of different ones- Paxil, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, etc. I was put on Effexor about 6 years ago when my Cymbalta stopped working. I started at 37.5mg and then increased to 75mg. Two years ago, I had moved to a different state, had a stable job, and had friends for the first time in ages, so I had my doctor reduce my dose back down to 37.5mg. I thought about tapering off of them for over a year before I finally did it. 

I did it without physician supervision, because I had to switch doctors and my new one flat out told me she wasn’t comfortable with anti-depressants or changing doses. I feel I have a good grip on my reality and know when my moods are out of whack, I’m hyper-aware of any behavior that’s not right, so I felt confident I could do it myself. I would NOT recommend going it alone unless you are very comfortable being honest with yourself about your mental health status.

Before I discuss my methods, let me preface this by saying I exercise 5-6 times a week (running, barre, TRX), I developed a meditation habit starting about 8 months ago, I eat well, I don’t drink very much and I am very self-aware. I feel that the exercise and meditation are the main reasons I was successful in tapering off Effexor. Avoiding alcohol also helped. You have to have some kind of support system, and people aren’t always the best method. I am not a doctor, but I STRONGLY recommend developing healthy habits before trying to taper yourself off these meds. The reason I ultimately decided to taper off was because I developed these habits, and secondary were not wanting to be on a drug unless absolutely necessary and apathy that came with being on the drug (I hadn’t really cried about anything in years). 

I tapered off my Effexor over 10 weeks beginning in late June 2016. I realize this was FAST by all accounts. I created an Excel spreadsheet that indicated my dosage for those 10 weeks. I was on capsule form, so I literally counted out beads from my capsules for the first few weeks. I removed 4 beads from each capsule every week. Once I got about half way through (~5 weeks in), I started dumping the beads out of the capsule and making sure there were the same number in each dosage for the remainder of the taper. It was tedious. It was annoying. I had to restart my counts multiple times. But it was worth it. 

Side effects: The first few weeks, I had a pretty consistent headache. I forced myself to workout through it (I only recommend this if you’ve been a consistent exerciser prior to the taper). The endorphins helped immensely throughout this whole process. The headaches eventually subsided, but I had near constant stomach upset and diarrhea for the remainder of the taper and for a few weeks after I was off the medication. It wasn’t so bad that it impacted my daily life, but I don’t remember having one normal bowel movement the whole taper. I had night sweats for the majority of the taper, even with my bedroom way colder than usual. I only ever had one “zing” moment, a few weeks in. It was a bright white light took over my vision for a few seconds and then it passed. 

The biggest side effects were mental. I was very, very apathetic towards my job, and sometimes towards life in general, or I was overly emotional and cried over minor things. I was paranoid, I wanted to get back together with an ex-boyfriend, I picked a major fight with my boss and am surprised I didn’t get fired. I was overly sensitive to criticism, felt unmotivated to do anything and wanted to eat my feelings (which I totally did). I would settle into a funk that would last all day. If some of these things sound contradictory, it's because they were! Just the yo-yoing of my emotions was enough to make me think I was crazy. 

But through all of it, if I just stepped back for a minute and reminded myself that this was the effects of tapering and not my real self, it made it better. I had to remind myself 20 times a day that I wasn’t crazy. And I credit meditation with getting me through this. 

I’m not going to lie, it was awful. I didn’t feel like myself and I questioned my decision to try to get off this drug. A lot of my thoughts seemed to point to reasons I should stay on the drug. But I needed to see for myself what difference it would make to be off of it. I was tired of a drug numbing my emotions. I felt it was a reason I couldn’t connect in relationships. 

But it’s worth it. All of the hell was worth it. I’ve been off the drug for a month and a half, and I have my emotions back. I cry at sad commercials. I find more things funny. I can feel for the first time in forever. Yes, I still have low moments, but I exercise regularly and mediate every night, and I feel those two things are very beneficial for my mental health. I don’t feel like a person can taper off this drug without doing anything else to take care of themselves mentally. It is SO IMPORTANT to be aware of your mental health and habits, and do things to remain stable. Getting off this drug isn’t a magic cure-all, just like being put on it isn’t. you have to take care of yourself mentally as well as physically. The two go hand in hand. 

I know my dosage was lower than most, but it was still a tough ride, so I understand what others are going though. 

I am so glad I did this, so all I can say is if you really feel like you don’t need this drug anymore and you want to taper, do it SLOWLY and stick with it. But also be honest with yourself about whether there’s a reason you should remain on them. And always, always talk to you doctor first! 

Hello all: Came across this website/thread after seraching 'venlafaxine withdrawal'.  I've been on it a couple of years (225mg) or so for anxiety disorder, and of the c 4 standard ADs typically prescribed, which I've taken over some 15 years, believe this to be the best (ie, the one that makes a noticeable improvement to my condition).  Stupidly I ran out of it while away from GP (not for the first time) and again experience the following unpleasant WD symptoms after 3 days: teariness (and some tears) - when I NEVER cry; nausea; sweating particualrly in bed at night; and vivid, unpleasant dreams.  The overwhelming sympton is profound sadness and morbid thought (though I have never been to any degree seriously suicidal I have wished simply 'not to be here'.  It's horrible.

Thankful can start to resume intake later today and can't wait as the last two days has been pretty horrible and felt like far longer.

I visited the site to see what others experience on WD - and at least some of my symtoms are experienced by others.

I wish you all the very best in dealing with this wretched disease...

 

Hi . I have been on 225mg for a couple of years and overall I have been on Venlafaxine for three years.But Iam now being weaned off it.,so iam going from 225mg to 150mg which started yesterday,very tired ,shivering and  headaches .My psychiatrist? has been excellent .

I feel ya, i have been on venlaxifine 300mg per day , The kids recently bought a bug home i was sick for 48 hours meaning i couldnt keep my meds down. I went into withdrawal , sweating rediculously, brain zapps which are horrendous nausea, shakes tremors hell. I know how it feels. The positive note is your down to lowest mg which is great. Im also told the last 37.5 is the hardest so absolutely break it in half s No harm done and a weeks nothing in the scheme of things . Good luck with your decision.. feeling tearfull is part of that withdrwal its serious medication. I leave meds at friends family so if for some reason im stuck out i have options. Can fully understand why you have had enough. Your close to achieving it god bless

Ten years after starting venlafaxine I am finally weaning myself off. I felt like a zombie most of the time, I found no joy in anything, I had zero energy all of the time and the night sweats were unbearable. Along with no libido and constant brain fog to boot....

I am on day 9 of my weaning programme, the doctor's suggestion wasn't any help whatsoever, and I am taking a quarter of a 37.5 mg m/r tablet. The doc wouldn't prescribe the liquid version as it was enormously expensive.

Withdrawal is hell. The brain fog is scaring me it is so bad. I'm exhausted half the time and then I become hyperactive and have to do things at full speed which then exhausts me and gives me terrible eptopic heartbeats. Even thinking is hard work as I can't think straight. The only respite is sitting in a chair in complete silence and staring into space. Plus I have become very light sensitive and sunlight is blinding me.

I actually feel like I am losing my sanity. This is quite a terrifying experience, this whole withdrawal thing. These tablets are evil!