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why come off it?

Posted , 8 users are following.

Neil1982
Neil1982

I have been reading a fair few posts about Ven and a lot of people have been slating it, and coming off it etc. I found it to be an amazing drug it was a saviour for me. I tried just about every other Med going. I was originally on 300mg and gradually reduced down to 150 due to having other meds. I had a few withdrawal symptons My Psych wanted me to be on 75mg, but I swear to god I couldn't cope going lower than 150, so he agreed to stay on a minimum of 150. I am just interested to know if people are coming off it due to horror stories about it, or if it doesn't work for them etc

 

1 like, 16 replies

16 Replies

  • linda73099
    linda73099 Neil1982

    Posted

    Hi Neil,

    I am coming off Effexor mainly because my stressors that had caused my depression are mostly gone. I now accept that my 35 year old drug addict daughter will always be a drug addict and that is not my fault, my parents are dead, I no longer have any communication with my siblings. Interested now to find out if I am depressed! Yes I agree it is a good antidepressant. I just have a 'thing' about taking meds and the affect they have on my body.

    Linda

    • Neil1982
      Neil1982 linda73099

      Posted

      That's interesting to hear. Thanks for sharing that :o) Depression is a nasty illness. There were times i felt guilty about everything. and then other times I couldnt give a tinkers toss about anything or anyone other than me. It wasn't like I was deliberately trying to be selfish, but like you know it cuts you off from the world. You want people around you, and when they aren't you want them.

      To be honest, I really don't care if they are having an effect on my body. I don't mean this in a morbid way, but if I was to die now tomorrow or next week I know i would have been happy up to my death. not being on them I know that I would have been miserable and wasted my life if that makes sense?!

    • valerie48279
      valerie48279 Neil1982

      Posted

      Do you know I feel like that. The meds kept me well for long periods. Sometimes I wish I hadn't tried to reduce them. I am suffering terrible panic at the mo and have gone back up to 75mgs. What is the maintenance dose do you know? Hoping they will kick in cos can't exist like this much longer! Thought I was being clever.
    • Neil1982
      Neil1982 valerie48279

      Posted

      The pattern i have noticed is, People seem to be feeling better after a while on a certain dose, then they decide to play about with it by lowering it in the hope it will back still feel better, but it takes a while for the illness to rear its' ugly head again, and bang, It has you!!  Same as Blowing up a balloon. You add air to it and get it to a certain size, it looks ok, but you think, nah maybe one more puff, and then pop. Balloon is destroyed. Does that make sense?
  • diane13750
    diane13750 Neil1982

    Posted

    Hi neil, I was on 75mg for 7mths to get me over a bad time loosing my mother, and recently had a good think about coming off venlafaxine, I thought that as I felt really good for a while, I didnt see any reason to keep taking them, it has worked for me, i have been 19 days off of them now, and im feeling really good, in saying that the first 2wks were horrendous,withdrawal symptoms from venlafaxine were unbearable, if it was that bad for me after just 7mths of taking them, what must it be like for the many other people on here with stronger doses and a longer period of time on these drugs, every person is different and all have a story to tell on their journey to getting to a better place in life, hope you follow your journey and come out a better person..all the best to you neil...
  • sue34151
    sue34151 Neil1982

    Posted

    Hi Neil I have been on venlafaxine for around seven years and am trying to come off them. They have helped me enormously in that time, got me through some really bad times, but just lately I have felt numb to everything around me, I can't remember any happiness or excitement for many years it all just seems to go over my head and I would the chance to see if without medication I can be different. I have taken antidepressants for over thirty years, originally to help me get through very stressful times when my then thirteen year old son started using drugs and running away from home now he's forty and still on that style of life I have and will be there for him but I accept that is his choice and I can't change his life or keep him safe. For many years I blamed myself for not being able to get him free of that way of life but I now accept that I did my best. I have always thought that I would be able to stop medication at some time and now feel this is the time although before I thought I needed it forever.

    i admit that some of the posts worry me but some are really enjoying life without meds I'm hoping that will be me

    sue

    • Neil1982
      Neil1982 sue34151

      Posted

      Hey Sue, thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear  about your son.Must  be heartbreaking ... 30 years on meds?  I was just about still in nappies then. Good luck with everything :-)
  • jehnyahl
    jehnyahl Neil1982

    Posted

    I was on 225mg. It's not a horror story, I'm just coming off it because after a few months the side effects of this one aren't worth the benefits. It's making me excessively sleepy, to the point where I've been missing ~70% of the day due to being passed out on my bed. What works for one person doesn't work for everyone.
    • Neil1982
      Neil1982 jehnyahl

      Posted

      yeah I quite agree, I have tried all sorts. The reason I started this post was just to gauge other people's opinions of it and why they are coming off it
  • claire1979
    claire1979 Neil1982

    Posted

    Hi Neil 

    I started to come off Effexor 150mg mr in March this year as I have been on it for 15 years without a break & my body had become immune to the drug. I think I had become more addicted to the drug & wasn't benefiting from the drug itself. I had high aniexty levels to the point it took me 15 years even to walk around the block alone. I feel I have benefited as now I can manage walking round two whole blocks alone, even when I was on the drug I couldn't do that. I am still on 37.5mg but I do feel so much better in myself, I feel more alert with it if that makes sense. One thing I found was I was back in touch with my emotions, I was told that the drug shouldn't have any control of a persons emotions, for to me I think I am more aware what I say & how it effects other people too. It's been a very slow process weaning off the drug I have tried quite a few times in the past & failed, it's not the nicest of drugs to wean off. Also the amount people are expected to drop each time is a silly amount usually about half, for me that was impossible. Like I said I was on 150mg modified release this time I asked my Dr if I could have a 75mg modified release & a 37.5mg so I dropped to 112.5mg from 150mg. I then dropped the 37.5mg tablet when I felt ready enough to do it, leaving me on 75mg. I was stugggled with taking the 75mg in one go not good in the mornings at all. So I took 37.5mg one at night & one in the morning. I then dropped the 37.5mg in the morning & now just take 37.5mg at night & feel much better in the day. I also didn't drop every two weeks as most Drs suggested, I did it when my body could cope with the withdrawl symptoms. In all it took me 7 months to get down from 150mg to 37.5mg. I will remain on the 37.5mg as a safety net.

    • Neil1982
      Neil1982 claire1979

      Posted

      Amazing how you said your body has become immune to the drug. I mentioned that in passing to my GP that i felt likke that too and he said it is impossible!  Sometimes it really does feel like you are banging your head on a brick wall
    • linda73099
      linda73099 Neil1982

      Posted

      Hi Neil, of course your body can develop a tolerance level for the drug as in any of them. Heroin addicts for example need more and more to get the fix they want. Then if a purer lot of the drug arrives on the street they overdose. Sleeping tablets are the same. People take them for years and they don't work after about two weeks, they need more and more to get them to sleep. As I say my dose was 450 grams a day, one of the highest I've seen. A psychiatrist wanted I up the dose as she felt and so do I that it was not as effective anymore. I refused, there are many variations on this drug and certainly Effexor will not be effective for everyone. Or the side effects will be too harsh for people to put up with it. Totally your choice. You can of course always get another opinion. Week 1 finished in my cutting back with dare I say it no I'll effects. And my excessive sweating has ceased. For the first time in about 20 years I was able to spend 2 days without a towel around my neck and being wet due to sweating.
    • Neil1982
      Neil1982 linda73099

      Posted

      I was changed from 2 x 75mg of Ven x 2 a day to 150mg of effexor twice day, had an allergic reaction to that. But again they wouldn't have it! It wasn't until I lost it BIG time with them to stop messing my meds about that they put me back on multiples of 75mg Ven
  • michelle54608
    michelle54608 Neil1982

    Posted

    Hi Neil

    I decided to come off the Venlafaxine to see what life was like without anti depressants. The drugs made me feel completely numb, like a walking zombie. They also completely removed my sex drive and relations with my husband really suffered because of it. I am in week 2 of having awful withdrawls having completely finished the Venlafaxine. I am really scared about how I am going to feel but I just want to try coping without drugs. I am glad that they help you and wish you all the best.

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