Venlafaxine withdrawal symptoms?

[spawn]

Hi Katy, Ven can take up to 6 weeks to work, so you may of not felt the benefits.
What you have described is pretty normal, you may settle after a week, if not go back to your gp. Just try and stay positive!

Gav

[kittikat]

I agree with Gav Katy...in fact I probably didn't feel the full benefits for about 8 weeks but the side effects were fairly mild and passed quickly for me. Really haven't looked back since, has been a good med for me.

Good luck with it. Kitti

[Pipkin]

I agree with Gav and Kitti. It took around 3 months to take full effect for me. Stick it out!

Pip

[Hana74]

Katy,

I totally agree, my doctor told me not to even expect any improvement in the first two weeks. Are you just taking the meds or going through therapy also ? The meds themselves can only do some of the job. You can try Omega 3 to see if that would help with some of the side effects, it did work for me.

Hana

[menbehavingsadly]

Venlafaxine did little for me, I then tapered with a few weeks at half dose followed by another few weeks at half dose every other day, but once I stopped I became very unwell, no concentration, fuzzy head, close to fainting every 20 to 30 mins....two weeks in and no change, back to doc and advised to 'sit it out for another two weeks....' real helpful....anyone else?

[charbee87]

Hi,

I am on 150mg per day and find if i miss a dose the side effects are quite horrible!

Symptoms are -
Shaking
faintness
nausea
brain zaps
electrical sensations to the brain
tiredness
severe headaches
and the most worrying is that when trying to go to sleep i get a weird sensation to the brain that freezes my body to the point i cant move! I have tried explaining it to my doctor who replies everytime that i cant just stop taking venlafaxine straight away, which i only missed a dose.

As i have read most symptoms seem to be experienced by others on here but not the last. If anyone has experienced this please can you give any advive.

It would be most appreciated

thanks

[magic girl]

I decided I wanted to stop taking my venlafaxine earlier this year having been on them for 10 years.At the time I was on 75mg but have been on 150mg in the past I was doing really well and felt ready to come off of them,first piece of advise is not to ask your gp to reduce them I have done this in the past with little or no success instead if your seen by a phyciatrist get them to reduce it for you as the deal with mental illness and nothing else and will withdraw it very gradually.It has taken me 9 to 10 months to completely stop them which by the end involved me breaking tablets into little pieces,yes I had withdrawal symptoms(shakiness,headaches,arms trembling and the usual symptoms I get with anxiety and panic)and my anxiety and panic attacks got worse but I felt I could deal with them hence I felt ready to stop taking them.Since stopping them I have more energy and I don't sleep in the afternoons anymore and im pretty convinced they were zonking me out but on the down side my panic and anxiety have got worse but not so bad yet that I want to start meds again so another important consideration is weather you can handle your panic and anxiety getting worse im hoping this is only temporary(fingers crossed)also think about cognitive behavioural therapy as I find this very useful or if there is a local group you could join so you will have some support while you withdraw I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own but I have done it and im really proud of myself as I found it very difficult good luck to anyone else trying to come of there meds it can take a while but you can do it if you really want to

[spawn]

Well done magic girl
I'm currently on day 8 of no Ven after going cold turkey, I've been on it for around 14months and went up to 150mgs. It isn't nice coming off of it at all, and at one point
I nearly gave in and started taking it again!
Gav.