Venlafaxine withdrawal - there is hope!
Posted , 71 users are following.
I've previously posted on another discussion thread about coming off venlafaxine - I was about to take the plunge myself - but rather than re-post on that thread I thought I'd start a new one to give my account of my experience and I hope a chance of light at the end of that awful tunnel for others.
Diagnosed with clinical depression many years ago most of my adult life has been spent on one or another SSRI - finally arriving at venlafaxine ten years ago as nothing much else was helping. At this time my mood was scraping the bottom of the barrel - emotionally I was empty & swung between desolate and merely oppresively sad.
I can't completely right off vnlfx - it did lift me initially and give me motivation, but unfortunately over the years the efficacy weakened and therefore the dose I was taking increased - until at the beginning of 2012 I was on 300mg daily.
As I progressed through last year it became obvious that not only was vnlfx not helping me in anyway, it was also producing some alarming side effects - these had crept in slowly over the years and I had been so caught up with my mental health I hadn't noticed. Forgetting a dose resulted in the most debilitating nausea, dry mouth and brain zaps - I began to fear going away and forgetting my medication or not being abe to get to the pharmacy for a prescription and running out. All the time I continued presenting myself as a contented, together, capable professional woman, and as any of us who suffer mental illness know, this 24/7 act is absolutely exhausting. By the autumn of this year I was sleeping in huge chunks. The sedative effect of the drug combined with being asleep being an excellent way of hiding from my problems, I found it all to easy to succumb to sleep. I'd sleep for ten hours solid at night, then wake for a few hours in the morning, feel sleepy and give in - only to wake again briefly during the evening before the cycle began again. Luckily working a shift pattern as well meant I could get away with this, but my non-working hours were spent asleep & hiding from the world.
I don't know why the lightening bolt hit, but once day I became aware that this was no quality of life & went to see my GP about withdrawal from vnlfx. I must emphasise here that my GP has been wonderful during the entire time I have known her, and I'm aware that I'm lucky to be in this situation. She was aware of anecdotal evidence of vnlfx withdrawal syndrome and we made a plan for a very slow dose decrease - suffering such marked side effects when late taking my meds meant that we were expecting a tough ride.
I cannot emphasise too much just how important it is to go slowly slowly slowy, and to reduce your dosages by tiny amounts. Each time I cut down too quickly, or reduced the dose too quickly I'd be pole-axed by side effects and mental disturbance. A couple of times I did think about giving up, and remaining on vnlfx for life - but the thought of returning to that hideous emotional no-man's land was enough to motivate me to pick up & go back to the previous 'good' dose again & persevere. The key stage was probably getting down to a quarter of a 37.5mg tablet (told you the dose reduction needs to be minute!) and then my doctor adding in fluoxetine 20mg for two weeks before I took the plunge and took my last ever dose of vnflx. That was over six weeks ago and the relief I feel now is immeasurable. I now have clarity of thought and emotion to the extent that I can't ever remember having before. Don't get me wrong, I'm still clinically depressed, there is no magic wand, but I feel just like I have been released from venlafaxine taking my mind prisoner. I don' t think that unless you have experienced this drug first hand you can possibly imagine just how much it really ***ks with your mind - absolutely terrifying.
Key to my success has been managing to find a therapist that by some fluke I have a superb connection with and weekly sessions with her have been more valuable to me than any drug ever has. I expect to be seeing her for a very long time to come - to reiterate i'm by no means 'cured' but am happy at last to be back in control of my mind.
Happy to pass on further details of what worked for me on my withdrawal - I kept a diary, helps you have faith to get through the bad days - but please don't expect miracles, I know that just because it's worked for me it may not suit anyone else.
But - please do have hope! I was one of the many in despair on here a few months back not ever being able to see a way to get free of this hideous drug, but I've done it, so it can be done
xxxx
14 likes, 115 replies
space-cadet-64 annasch
Posted
I have been depressed on and off for most of my life, and for the past 3 years I have been taking mirtazapine and venlafaxine. With the depression in remission, I recently stopped both drugs.
The thing about venlafaxine is that it has a very short half-life, measured in hours rather than days or weeks, meaning that our bodies clear it out of our systems very quickly, which in turn means that our brains notice a significant rapid change when we miss a dose or for that matter, reduce the dose quickly.
I agree wholeheartedly with Maureen45116's post a few months ago in which she wrote: "Go very, very slowly. Drop your dose slightly and then live with it for a couple of weeks. Then drop again.", and then later in the same post " I recommend taking an anti-anxiety med. It will reduce some severe symptoms. Stay in touch with your doctor. "
This approach will greatly reduce the speed at which the drug level reduces in your body, so you will probably be affected much less by the dose reduction each time.
I first tried to stop venlafaxine without GP/psychiatric/drug support. This failed. I ended up in A&E begging for help with the resulting anxiety. I could no longer sleep, I was glancing around in fear, paranoid, with brain zaps, shaking, unpleasant thoughts racing around in my head, in a state of panic, crying. It was absolutely horrendous.
Second time round, with an approach similar to Maureen45116's, things were much easier. I went back to the GP and asked for referral to the psychiatrist because I had other issues and also wanted to stop the mirtazapine and venlafaxine.
The psychiatrist's plan was:
* Introduce a drug from a different family altogether (specific to my case, to manage bipolar tendencies and reduce the risk of recurrence of depression)
* Gradually stop the mirtazapine (not nearly as difficult as stopping the venlafaxine)
* Take sleeping tablets (zopiclone) as necessary to help with the mirtazapine withdrawal
* Very gradually reduce the venlafaxine
* Take anti-anxiety tablets (diazepam) as necessary.
This all sounds like an enormous amount of fuss, but it was fairly easy to manage, and only temporary.
To stop the venlafaxine from 225mg daily, I reduced it in cycles, gradually over a week by a small amount (about 25% of the previous week's dose), then waiting a week at the new dose before repeating. Reduce, level out, reduce, level out.
I chose to make smaller reductions each time so that toward the end of the process I was still only making a small change relative to the last 'levelled out' dose. The whole process took 3 or 4 months (i.e. 6 or 8 reductions).
To start with, I had mild anxiety, mild brain zaps and tearfulness during the 'reduce' weeks, and used diazepam at these times. During the 'level out' weeks the symptoms disappeared and I did not need the diazepam. The withdrawal symptoms changed in nature when reducing the smaller doses toward the end of the process, less anxiety, more tearfulness, but still quite mild. Again this settled down during the 'level out' weeks.
Here I am, a month or so after stopping, taking neither mirtazipine nor venlafaxine, nor the sleeping tablets, nor the anxiety meds.
pixie22 space-cadet-64
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jaye76671 annasch
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KimPH jaye76671
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jaye76671 KimPH
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as ive got some out of control ones an ive been off for 6weeks now but the anxiety an panic attacks an memory decline are still big..along with tearful mornings...im worse now than I was before this medication they want me to go onto another med now an im way not into it as scared of side effects...did you try any sort of supplements??
KimPH jaye76671
Posted
I startede taking fish oil around my 4th week off, but I didn't take it every day so I can't really say it worked. I've heard it does help with some of the symptoms, but I can't remember which ones.
I've been off for almost 2 months now and I only get small amounts of dizziness once in a while. I do feel kind of depressed lately though and I'm completely freaking out about that. I don't ever want to take any meds for depression again. I have no reason to be depressed either. All is well in my life. I quit smoking a 4 months ago and I've been smoking once in a while again. I'm really mad at myself about that so maybe that's making me depressed.
I just know it's been a long road to get off this crap and I am not ready to go back on anything....ever again.
Did you taper for long, Jaye? Are you in touch with a psych practioner? There may be something you can take to lessen the anxiety and panic that may not have severe withdrawals like ven.
anne240 KimPH
Posted
So pleased yo9u are doing well. Like you say you do not want to take meds for depression again. Don't beat yourself up about having the occasional cigarette. You cannot do everything at once. Give your body time to get over stopping the Effexor. You are doing well.
anne240 jaye76671
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So sorry you are getting the bad withdrawal symptoms. They will gradually decline.
jaye76671 KimPH
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jaye76671 KimPH
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KimPH jaye76671
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KimPH anne240
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jaye76671 KimPH
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anne240 KimPH
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cathy1949 KimPH
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kristie92614 anne240
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Just read your post about getting off effexor without withdrawals. Could I get info on how you did it?