View Full Version : withdrawing from venlafaxine
Hi all,I guess I'm looking for encouragement really.
I've been on 225 mg,then went to 150"" then 75 then 37.5 - then 30mg, and now I'm quitting completely !! My first day of nothing - I'm in bed with what feels like a really bad cold, shivers,muscle weakness,sickness,absolutely vile temper,snapping at everyone,being horrible to everyone.I've had two lemsips,and have a supply if 5mg diazepam at the ready.
That's it !! I was just hoping for some support,tell me I'm doing the right thing,( my doc surprised me,as I rang him today,telling him how I felt,and he told me to go back in them again !!) - ermmmmmm,no thanks,I want off them !!
Hi Mike,
I'm taking venlafaxine at the minute but I've come off them twice before so I know it can be done. It's a matter of sticking it out - the worst is the first 3-4 days then it just gets much easier until it's fine after a couple of weeks.
Whether or not you're doing the right thing coming off them, only you can judge that. See how you feel in a few weeks and you'll know much better.
Pip
Day two,and I am wasted,I mean wasted,crying !!! Me !! - all the time.
The feeling I get,is I hate myself,I'm in bed again,my mind feels like it has been smashed into a thousand pieces. - how am I supposed to know if these are withdrawl effects,or wether or not I'm not ready to come off them yet?
Mikee, I was only on Ven for 5 days but took Mirtazapine for 8 months from the same group of drugs I believe and WD was horrendous. I also felt like I had flu, I couldn't stop shaking, my skin felt like it was creeping and I was violently sick every morning with terrible anxiety but it passed really quickly I can promise you and is now just bad memory. I did actually go onto another AD, Escitalopram as I was still poorly when I came off Mirt as it just didn't help me at all but you may be totally fine without anything. The WD is absolutely awful but it really does pass so you will be ok and each day will get a little easier hopefully for you until the drug is completely out of your system xxx
Mikee,
I agree with Karen. It can get quite bad but it does pass quickly. Ven has a short half-life so the WD symptoms are more severe but also pass more quickly. Stick it out and you'll be feeling better by next week.
Pip
Karenp, Mikee, Pipkin..
Help I have just taken my first dose of Ven, and now I have read your posts, thinking should I have done it.. Doc had perscribed 37.5 twice a day,,please tell me it will work and help lift these moods and panic I am having:unsure:
Katie ..... venlafaxine fir me ,when I started them,were a gift from heaven,within less than a week,nearly all my symptoms of pure sadness,obsessional thoughts,anger guilt etc,had all but gone.if you need them,and they work fir you,you will be very pleased you started them,it's only when you need to come off them,you might get a bit shitty!! - but then again,some people can come off them with little or no side effects.
Please don't let my experience worry you,because they may help you.
We are all different,and therefore will experience things differently.
Try them,if they help,stay with them,because that means the place you are in now,needs addressing,which right now is more important than addressing possible withdrawl.
Hope I'm making sense,and not dribbling on too much.good luck.
I have just done a few month of flux, but they did'nt agree with me.. so he said to try these. Sorry it just that I noticed your post, and its the first morning for me on them. How long have you been on them for? I know you will make it thro these few not so nice days..
Bout 8 months ,but I was increased to 225mg a day,so I reduced to 150, then 75,then 37.5'
all u can do is try them really,but like I said they did work for me,they numbed quite a lot of things,including my inhibitions ! - just be aware,educate yourself on them,and see what you think.
Mikeee, sounds like you're already being careful... but please be very careful tapering off the last bit of venlafaxine! I came off the very lowest dose of 37.5, having only been on it for ~6 months, and still had major problems. And I never even went about 37.5! I knew that it was going to be rough and advised everyone around me as such, rearranged work etc., but it was still very rough. Major withdrawal subsided in a week or so, b which I mean the nightmares weren't too bad. But I then felt generally crummy for another month at least.
Honestly I don't even want to describe what I went through those first few days of coming off venlafaxine. I think I described it on another forum as kind of like the meds had taken all my negative thoughts for the whole period of treatment and stored them up, and then threw them all at me when I quit. It was awful and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy (if I had one!)....
Obviously, this med is not to be effed with, and I think most people should have something to transition to, or else you could have serious issues just from the last period of treatment. I understand that there is liquid prozac or such that you can take to transition out. The SSRI/SNRI combo can really throw some nasty stuff at you when you come off. I think it's generally worse if you've been to high dose for longer time, but it's all very individual of course.
Important advice for anyone/everyone: before making any modifications to your dose, make sure to have a good, reliable support system in place, including people with who you can talk regularly- family and friends and therapist, preferably. Be sure that you have full disclosure with at least one person there local to you. By that I mean, you should have at least one person to whom you can go and just let it all out. That is essential, I believe. This is not something to keep bottled up.
Please do not try to quit cold turkey or taper quickly; patience is the key. And transitioning to something else more benign is very highly recommended. I didn't do that and wish I did... I still have dark thoughts about my withdrawal and that was a year and a half ago.
Take care and best wishes!
Keith,
It just shows how different we all are - I went from 75mg to 0 overnight (twice) and was absolutely fine within 2 weeks. It wasn't easy but it was tolerable and I carried on working through it.
Pip
Keith,
It just shows how different we all are - I went from 75mg to 0 overnight (twice) and was absolutely fine within 2 weeks. It wasn't easy but it was tolerable and I carried on working through it.
Pip
So true, it is very individual. It'd be much easier to go through these things if we all knew exactly what to expect!
By the way, I was on the 'normal' /early version venlafaxine, not extended release. That may have had some role in my withdrawal issues. Anyway, my major withdrawal symptoms did subside pretty quickly. I was just surprised that I had trouble at all, given that I was only at the lowest dose for 6 months. Potent stuff!
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