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Withdrawal success!

Posted , 20 users are following.

Sparklewhizz
Sparklewhizz

I'd been on Venlafaxine for 2.5 years and came to the conclusion with my GP that I was only on it now as the withdrawal symptoms of even missing a dose meant I was staying on them. I came down to 75mg twice a week over a year and three weeks ago I was ready to come off them. I had read a lot if information on forums and I was pretty scared and apprehensive.

i did have brain zaps for 5 days and bad vertigo for about two weeks. I had insomnia and I was very tearful over the slightest thing. I was unable to drive for two weeks.

I took travel sickness tablets when I needed them and they really did help - despite what the pharmacist said!! I also started taking fish oil and vitamin B, again , seemed to really help.

its three weeks today since I took m y last tablet. I feel wonderful. For the first time in 2.5 years I feel like I am seeing things though my own eyes. I smile a lot more and I really appreciate everything in my life. I look forward to things and I enjoy the company of friends and family.

i still get the odd bit of vertigo, maybe a few seconds every few days and I still have some insomnia. Others than that, I'm off it and so very relieved I am. When I went on Venlafaxine, my GP didn't tell me how awful it could be coming off it.

good look to everyone coming off it. Put your mind to it and you will do it. Just allow yourself time off work and be prepared to be housebound for a while.

 

5 likes, 104 replies

104 Replies

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  • Hiness58
    Hiness58 Sparklewhizz

    Posted

    Okay, so I'm hanging in there.  Since I've been working from home, my lack of nomalcy hasn't been a big deal, but I have an interview on FRIDAY!!!  I can do this, right???  I think getting out of the house talking to people will be good. Hopefully won't cry !
    • KimPH
      KimPH Hiness58

      Posted

      You can do it!!  Try to focus on the content of the interview and nothing else.  Like you're not you for that time.  Best of luck!!!!
  • Hiness58
    Hiness58 Sparklewhizz

    Posted

    I think after talking with my husband, he and I both feel like that as long as this one company will let me work from home, I should do that.  Eventually they will decide it's not working and THEN I'll look for somethiing different. After trying to think about getting  dressed for an interview and driving the hour to the place on Friday, it threw me into a tizzy and I don't need "tizzy" right now.  SOOO I'm going to back out and hopefully they won't hate me. 
    • KimPH
      KimPH Hiness58

      Posted

      They'll just have to get over it!  It's about you, not them. biggrin

      I posted a link earlier but it seems to be hung up in "moderation" on this website.  Check out The Road Back. You can google it.

    • Help_Needed
      Help_Needed Hiness58

      Posted

      Hi Hiness58

      i am unsure where you are but in the UK they have a "Duty of Care" policy where you hav certain rights especially when it comes to well being.  As long as you have a doctors certificate your employer must allow you time off for recovery.  They however do not have to,pay you.  There is a thing called

    • Help_Needed
      Help_Needed Hiness58

      Posted

      Oops...there is a thing called Statuatory Sick Pay (SSP) which does give the the equivalent of around £80 per week. It's a bit like welfare. I decided if I did not take time off I was in risk of losing my job because productivity would be zero and disturbance within the office higher than required.
  • Hiness58
    Hiness58 Sparklewhizz

    Posted

    Helpneeded - there is probably a way I could have taken some time off. But who KNEW it would be this bad????  In the US, some jobs might let you take and come back, and others might let you take it and NEVER come back! 

     

    • KimPH
      KimPH Hiness58

      Posted

      It's tough here in the US to get that much time off.  We generally have very limited vacation time.  It's not even an option to take a long amount of time off. sad
    • Hiness58
      Hiness58 KimPH

      Posted

      Yes, we would not have jobs.  You just kind of "fake it till you  make it" if you can!
    • KimPH
      KimPH Hiness58

      Posted

      I've had to tell my boss and he is very understanding thankfully.  He's very openly sarcastic and he had nothing witty to say when I told him, so that's a good thing!

      I'm faking, I'm faking!

    • Hiness58
      Hiness58 KimPH

      Posted

      I'm sure by now if I was working in the office, they would have been "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???"  Im sure some folks would be like "maybe you should stay ON the drug".   I did tell my one manager what was up and her son has been on and off different things, so she knows how hard it can be.  I just got a chance to take a couple of days off, so I'm going to take it.  I may run out of vacay days, but since we moved to this new house, I really have not felt good enough to get anything done, or it's the weekend and the hubby and I have things to do. Hopefully the sun will stay out.  We're in foothills of NC and it just finished 6 days of NO SUN and rain.  Talk about DEPRESSING! 
    • KimPH
      KimPH Hiness58

      Posted

      No sun on top of it all!!  UGH!!  We had a day of solid rain yesterday and I called in sick and slept most of the day.  It felt SOOOO good!  Feeling a little better today, but it seems the dizzies are in full force again.

      I suspect my boss' wife has been on/off anti-d's.  He didn't let on, but I just got the feeling he understood.  I know it seems like the obvious solution to just go back on them, but NO WAY!!!  I can't see an entire lifetime of being the product of some drug that alters my mind and body so dramatically.  If that were the case, I'd be doing drugs that made me feel REALLY good!!  LOL!!!

      Your house stuff will be right there when you're ready to get it done.  My step-mother told me once that no one has ever died of a dirty house and I'm sticking with that!!!  I actually had my sister come clean for me last week. I paid her to do it.  My mother-in-law was coming for a visit and I just couldn't bring myself to clean!

      I think today marks day 21 off the junk for me.  Still moving forward no matter what!

    • Hiness58
      Hiness58 KimPH

      Posted

      21 days!!!  WOO HOO!  I need to go and count on the calendar.  Of course my mind was woozy, I did mark it down as I went to every other day of 37.5, but I'm not sure when I said "to hell with it" and  just stopped! 

      OH!  I wondered if everyone else could just sleep and sleep and sleep. I'm having such a terrible time getting up.  I'm sleeping pretty well!  BOY, my sister in law is a neat freak, I think I should pay her to come clean.  It's a new house, how dirty could it be?  HAHAHAHA!  We have FOUR dogs and THREE cats !! OH MY!  But thank GOD the hubby isn't freaking.  He's very understanding of all this and is proud of me for sticking it out. 

    • KimPH
      KimPH Hiness58

      Posted

      I've always been a big sleeper but I've had terrible bouts with insomnia throughout the years too.  Lately, it's more the insomnia so it felt really great to catch up on some lost sleep yesterday.   Has anyone else had that urgency feeling?  Seems like I have to pee every 5 minutes!  That keeps me from going into deep sleep a lot lately too.

      We have 4 parrots (2 big, 2 little) so I can totally relate the messy house due to pets!  My cockatoo thinks I buy her food to throw on the floor.  I haven't found a way to make her understand how wrong she is!! LOL!!

      Let us know when you figure out how many days since you quit.

  • Hiness58
    Hiness58 Sparklewhizz

    Posted

    Forgot to ask.  I am 56 so I am having hot flashes A LOT.  But of those of you that are younger, is this maybe part of the withdrawals and not all "being older than dirt" related??
    • KimPH
      KimPH Hiness58

      Posted

      I'm 48 and haven't started menopause.  I AM having hot flashes and I definitely attribute it to the withdrawal.
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