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venlafaxine withdrawal- please help!!

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tg
tg

Hi there, ive just joined on here to get some advice and support... i was prescribed venlafaxine xl (modified release) 10 yrs ago for severe depression after my daughter was born, over the years this has been increased to 225mg a day. My partner and i want to have another baby and was aware of the effects venlafaxine has or could have on a unborn child so i went to my psychiatrist to ask for there help to come off it, they drew up a plan where i would gradually reduce my amount by 37.5mg each week. This was 6 wks or so ago and am now on day two of no venlafaxine what so ever.... but im suffering really bad withdrawal symptoms.... excruciating headaches, shaking and shivering, nausa. This evening i had a major breakdown and couldnt stop crying. I had to be prescribed diazepam! I feel worse as each day goes by, dont think i can do this for much longer if this carries on.... i really want to get off this drug but i dont know how long the withdrawal will last and when ill start to feel better, does anyone have any ideas??

I feel like im in living hell at the moment...i have been feeling so bad that ive been house bound now since i started this regeime, i just need to know when its goin to end.

13 likes, 509 replies

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  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    (I believe) US Benadryl has a different active ingredient from that that's sold in the UK but regardless if a generic Antihistamine can help some patients then that's cool smile
  • mollysox
    mollysox

    Posted

    I really feel this is an evil drug to come off. My psychiatrist gave me no warning and my GP doesnt seem to know what I am talking about. Miss a dose then its brain zaps, flu like symptoms. On it my heart all over the place, bad tinnitus, dry mouth and my optician says it is causing dryness in one eye. I hate the drug but can't get off it. Thought about writing to the makers to tell them to add a warning. Really don't know what is worse, my lifelong depression or these vial meds.
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 mollysox

      Posted

      Wow, you just confirmed my experience!  I had dry eye in one eye for quite awhile and nothing the eye doc prescribed helped!  I went off Ven too fast last year and I think the dry eye went away during that time, though my memory of events sucks!  I had to reinstate Ven at 37.5 mg not realizing I was in protracted withdrawal, just thought I "needed" this med, and though the dry eye hasn't returned completely, it does occur now and again. 

      I am doing a slow taper off.  I hadn't heard about Benedryl helping.

    • lesley96722
      lesley96722 mollysox

      Posted

      all the makers are interest in is making money and would not listen. This very EVIL DRUG should never be given in the first, in my opinion it does more harm that good, ok when you are taking, then misery, for how long, who knows! 
  • pixz
    pixz

    Posted

    I too have been dismayed by my doctor's disbelief about my side effects in spite of me being able to prove it to her, and horrified by what I've read on several forums re not only withdrawal symptons from this drug but also side effects experienced. I am grateful to everyone who has shared their experiences on these forums and only wish I'd started checking them out a long time ago. If I hadn't by chance had to take my Venlafaxine prescription to a different pharmacy and thus been given Venlafaxine by a different manufacturer, I would never have experienced instant relief from all the neck, shoulder and back pain I had been suffering from - and I did go back to the Venlafaxine from the usual manufacturer just to test it out because I couldn't believe it myself. The only reason I hadn't associated these symptons with the drug was because the job I had been doing was a job where back ache was a common occurence and I had had back problems before (and ironically, after what I read on other forums re other anti depressant drugs I had been taking then, I'm now thinking it was those other drugs that gave me those back 'problems' rolleyes)I am now tapering off the drug and am grateful for the posts on this forum as now, armed with more facts, I am prepared. I will post how things are going as the weeks go by. I also read about the low dosage of Prozac being used to reduce withdrawal symptons after the final dose of Venlafaxine on another forum.
    • patti83405
      patti83405 pixz

      Posted

      You experienced back pain from the name brand Effexor, or the generic Venlafaxine?  I've been taking the name brand Effexor XR for about 13 years.  Was switched to the generic when it became available and had personality changes-for the worse, so switched back to the name brand.  

      I've had increasingly bad back pain for quite a few years and figured it was carelessness or age-related (I'm 54 and injured my back when I was 20).  Now that I'm off the Effexor, my back pain has increased and I've started getting the brain zaps worse, again.  I'm seeing a neurologist in a few weeks and would like to let him know, if Effexor has caused back pain in others.  I injured my shoulder, moving, about 1 1/2 years ago and it never healed.  I laid on it oddly the other night and I've been in horrible pain since, with increasing brain zaps.  If it's all related, Effexor is a really, really, bad drug to have on the market.  I've posted in previous responses other side effects that haven't gone away, yet. 

  • johnaboyy
    johnaboyy

    Posted

    Hi pixz,

    I would try the benadryl when coming off the venlafaxine. My Mrs used it when coming off the venlafaxine and had NO WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS at all. We had been trying to "wean" her off the venlafaxine for a couple of years, with terrible results with withdrawal symptoms. I read on other forums and on here about the benadryl. My Mrs is now free of ALL anti-depressants and a very happy lady. She did have a couple of tearfull days but, she took the benadryl capsules and within 4 hours she was fine.

    She has never looked back since coming off the venlafaxine and she has lost nearly all of the weight she put on when taking the venlafaxine.

    Some good exercise will help when coming off them as well.

    I now have back the Beautifull and lively wife i had before she went on the venlafaxine and although she still has the depression, she and i have learned to cope with it without the dreaded anti-depressants.

    John.

    • jaye76671
      jaye76671 johnaboyy

      Posted

      Hi john I been off for 2 months and an havin a mer of a time could you tell me witch benadryl you used as im desprite to give this a try to see if it settles down my withdrawal symptoms. .
    • michelle54608
      michelle54608 jaye76671

      Posted

      hi there,

      I am currently having a nightmare of a time coming off the Venlafaxine. I have reduced it gradually over 2 months but finished completely about a week ago. I am currently bed ridden with flu like symptoms and have been having awful dizziness, head aches, uncontrollable crying, mood swings and suicidal thoughts. It is utterly terrifying how extreme these symptoms are and it only makes me certain that I have made the right decision to come off the Venlafaxine. 

      Just wanted to ask how you are coping and let you know that there is someone else out there who is going through a similar experience.

      After reading all the comments on Benedryl I got my husband to buy some today so fingers crossed.

      take care

    • linda73099
      linda73099 michelle54608

      Posted

      Hi Michelle, I hope the Benedryl works for you. I am going at it very slowly, I will say that Effexor is a very good antidepressant, just like most medications, we forget to ask sometimes if we still need it. I am a nurse in aged care and I'm always asking doctors "but why are they on 6 tablets for high blood pressure?" Most common cause of falls in the elderly. Also amuses me now that they just remove the antidepressant as unnecessary. Now I know why their dementia increases!!
    • michelle54608
      michelle54608 linda73099

      Posted

      Hi,

      I am not quite sure what your message is trying to say. That I shouldn't be coming off the medication? If so then that is surely a personal decision and not one to be questioned by a stranger. I posted on this site to chat with people going through similar experiences and I am disappointed that this is the first response that I have had. Believe me I have thought long and hard about whether or not to come off the venlafaxine. I really do n

    • michelle54608
      michelle54608

      Posted

      I really think you should be careful responding in such a way. I found it confusing and upsetting.

    • linda73099
      linda73099 michelle54608

      Posted

      Hi Michelle,

      I am sorry I did not mean to upset you. Quite right it is everyone's decision as to whether they stay with the anti depressant or try to come of it. If I'd had any inkling of how hard Efexor was to come off, I would never have started it. I doubt though that I would still be alive. I've been on it for well over 15 years, suffering the side effects. The worst side effect for me has been the sweating. I sweat to the degree I change my clothes up to 3 times a day, I wake at night sopping wet and need to change the bed etc. after seeing just about every form of specialist doctor re the sweating, we have discovered that I don't have various types of tumours, etc. when I say sweat my entire body seeps water, I literally look as if I am melting. 

      My choice to come off the medication has been mine and mine alone. My GP supports me fully as he has with other decisions. 

      Yes this medication has awful side effects but any medication working on brain chemistry will. It's a matter of keeping yourself informed and making your decisions. I will not denigrate any one who stays on the medication. As an antidepressant it is effective. Every medication we take has side effects, so informed decisions are required.

    • catblackalex
      catblackalex michelle54608

      Posted

      Hi Michelle54608, I haven't read any further down so I apologize if you've posted since, but I wonder how you are doing? I'm on my fourth day of no Venlafaxine after cutting down over three months. The first day was fine, the second day and onwards, have seen me groveling around the house (I live alone) trying to look after myself. Brain zaps are phenomenal, headache, nausea, dry retching, crying ... I just took an antihistamine, which hasn't done much so far.

      This is an awful drug to get off, I've been on it for about five years and decided to come off it as I got sick of the numb feeling - or perhaps its lack of feeling that I've been experiencing. Couldn't get myself off the couch or find any joy in anything ...

      Guess there is light at the end of the tunnel ?? Unless its a ruddy great train waiting to flatten me sad

      Feeling miserable !!

    • patti83405
      patti83405 catblackalex

      Posted

      Are you going cold turkey?  You have to gradually, and I mean gradually, come off this stuff and it's still not easy.  Just quiting could set you up for some other problems.  There is a light, but it's a long ways off.  Don't let yourself fall into the "pit of darkness" as I call it, on the way there.  Please have someone check in on you on a regular basis.  At least for me, suicidal thoughts have been a fact of life.  They've just been at varying degrees.  Getting off this stuff can be really depressing, on top of the depression!  Just be careful and take care of yourself.
    • Mimi_J
      Mimi_J linda73099

      Posted

      Hi Linda73099.  I have recently come off Venlafaxine after being on anti depressants for 18 odd years. My Doctor brought me down very slowly. The main reason for stopping the drug was because for the last 5 or 6 years I have suffered from major sweating. I have tried everything else and the last resort was to stop the Venlafaxine. I have been drug free since the end of January 2016. But, I still suffer from sweating on some occasions. I wonder, if you have stopped sweating and how long after stopping the drug did this happen?
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