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Stopping Venlafaxine

A

Allein

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Oct 29, 2005
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I hope this is in the right place, feel free to move it if not.

I've been taking Venflaxine (Effexor) for at least a couple of years, I take 150mgs XR daily. I had a quite bad breakdown a few years back and suffered really crippling depression which led to a short stay in secure residential care.

I was on antiphychotics (Chlorpromazine) for a while and then a whole serial of ADs trying to find one that worked, I tried a period of no ADs which almost led to a relapse, at which point I started on the Venlafaxine.

Out of all the drugs I've taken to try and get myself back on track this one has worked best, I managed to stop drinking and so qualify for CBT which has helped no end, I was planning to start coming of the Venlafaxine this year but i had a motorcycle accident in May and have only just got properly back on my feet.

I do suffer some side effects from the drug but my main concern if the compressed emotional state, I feel that I'm now in a place to start moving forward further than this state will allow so it's time to coem off it and really stand on my feet.

I read quite allot about the discontinuation syndrome from coming off of it and that does concern me, I have read about using Prozac to soften the symptoms but I do not tolerate SSRIs at all, Prozac makes really sick very quickly as do all the other SSRIs I've tried.

Does anyone have experience of this or could offer and real world advice, I'd be very interested to here it.
 
I've come off Cymbalta (Duloxetine), also an SNRI, and seen my mother go off Venlafaxine before, SNRI discontinuation is a bitch, my only advice is to do it VERY slowly.

With Effexor and Cymbalta they come as capsules, me and my mother have used the tactic of gradually emptying out small amounts from the capsule over periods of time to slowly get off it. With my mother she did it over like 7 months. I did it over a much shorter period of time (few weeks) but I'd been taking it a much shorter time. All I experienced was a general feeling of not feeling quite right, like I was about to get a cold but not. Dunno if any of this helps, wish you luck though.

Only SSRI I've been on is Lexapro and I had a suicide attempt while I was on it... so I'm going to say it wasn't very effective.

Good luck.
 
My XR tablets are solid, I suspect if I split them the XR function may not work, I didnt get on too well with the IR ones but may have to consider them, I get dizzy, fuzzy fuzzy spells as it is.

I'v trid quite a few SSRIs and has severe reactions to them all, tryclcic seem OK but don't do a great deal for my depression, I don't want to go back t feeling that way but there is no genuine joy in my life and it is effecting my personal relationships.
 
I tried Venlafaxine for a couple of weeks/months quite a few years ago but ended up changing off it.
When I stopped, actually even if I missed a dose, I would get the "Brain-zaps" phenomena that you may have heard of.
These jolts or shocks come from once/twice a day to multiple times and can be a bit scary, at the very least they're uncomfortable and just not a very nice feeling.
I also got general moderate WD symptoms like nausea, irritability, insomnia.

From http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1681629/:

Recent Case Histories: Withdrawal Effects Are Not Dose-Dependent
Case 1: Standard Dose

Female, white, age 35, no other pathologies, diagnosed for major depressive disorder with anger attacks. Treated with extended-release venlafaxine 150 mg for 4 months with concurrent psychotherapy, with positive results: Beck's Depression Inventory score reduced from 38 to 14; functionality restored.

The patient ran out of medication on a Thursday and could not get in touch with her doctor until the next Monday. On Friday, only 12 hours after the usual time of taking the medication, she felt a noticeable change in mood, dizziness, and nausea. She experienced a sensation in her head as if electrical discharges “popped” and could not concentrate to the extent that she was unable to drive her car back from where she had gone. By Friday evening (18 hours after cessation), the “popping” in her head had become worse and she vomited after dinner. Depression symptoms reappeared acutely, and she could not stop crying. At first, she did not equate these symptoms to the missed dose of venlafaxine, but thought she might have contracted the flu. However, the symptoms continued and intensified over the weekend and only reduced when, on Monday, she started again on venlafaxine. She was inadvertently given the lower dose of 75 mg, which did not quite restore her mood to the previous level, although the “electrical popping” sensation in her head stopped and the nausea was reduced.
 
Yes, of course you must taper. Your healthcare professional should tell you this. Go from your current 150mg to 75mg for
the specified length of time. As far as I know, Venlafaxine is only available in 75mg or 150mg capsules, so that's the lowest you can go.
I wouldn't say discontinuation syndrome is a "breeze", but it's only temporary.
 
mrflowers00 said:
you can actually break open the cap and pour out half the beads and take that then 1/4 then stop
Click to expand...

The XR you get in the UK are tablets no capsules and I'm loathed to break them as it may change the XR mechanism, but I'll ask by doctor. I didn't get on with the IR ones at all.

Anyone got any opinions on how long I should remain on the 75mg dose ? and do they then try dropping out to zero ? I want to come off but I'm getting anxious about it already, I don't want to let people down by going off the rails again but I need my feelings back.
 
I can tell miss I miss my morning tablet by 11am, if I dont get it by 3pm I cant drive a car I'm so dizzy and feel like I'm being mildly electrocuted, I guess with it's short half life this is somewhat inevitable.

I'm guessing my doc will drop me to the 75mg tabs, has anyone tried anything to ease the discontinuation symptoms ?
 
Sigh i feel bad for you. It wont be easy. At that dose for that period of time it will suck ass. Your in for insomnia, anxiety, weightloss or gain etc.

The worst thing by far is the brain zaps tho. fuck me those sucked. Every 5 min or so its like a shock wave getting sent through you brain. Its gets better over time though. To be honest i think anti Ds and more trouble then they are worth IMO unless your near suicide. Taper the dose slowly though. You wont get fucked up as bad from the W/D's.

Good luck Effexor is insidious.
 
^^^

iU have most if those symptoms already ! no regreat though out of all the ADs I have taken this one worked the best by far and I may not be here if I hadn't been on, so no regrets on my part.

Great up date after see my doc, who a truly good guy :-

We have agreed to take it slowly.

So I'm moving to alternate days of 75 and 150mgs for a couple of weeks and added in 20mg Propranolol to see how I go with that as I've been going backwards a bit with my anxiety. I think being housebound for many weeks after a motorbike accident hasn't helped TBH.

Any one else use Propranolol ? I'm going back in 2 weeks to see how I'm getting on but I'm determined to tough this out and get back to life without the fuzzy emotional cushion of this stuff.....I really feel it's the right time.

Thanks for the advice, support and info people, as always BL rocks
 
atm23 said:
^^^

... but I'm determined to tough this out and get back to life without the fuzzy emotional cushion of this stuff.....I really feel it's the right time.
Click to expand...

That's great to hear, atm. AD's definitely have their place--saving lives sometimes!--but as you are experiencing, they come with such a high cost. I wish you the best of luck and I am so happy that you have a doctor that you can talk to and trust. She/he seems to respect you which is such a rarity these days (in the States at least).

I guess the thing to hang onto that might help psychologically is that no matter how long these atrocious symptoms persist there is an end to them. I don't envy you.:( Are you trying anything daily like mindfulness, etc. for the increase in anxiety?

Holding you in my thoughts.<3
 
I took Effexor for about three months (75mg 2x day) When I went off it, cold turkey, it felt like I would get mini "jolts" thru out the day. I can't tell you how many times a day, but it lessened and lessend. Was not bad.
Good luck
 
Obviously everyone will have a different experience coming off AD's. I've never had any problems stopping AD's cold-turkey...and I've been on all of them. To me the wd symptoms are very mild: brain zaps mostly- but nothing I couldn't easily deal with. I don't blame you for wanting off this class of drugs. I've never derived any long-term benefits from them.
 
I went off 150 mgs very quickly with many side effects with only a month of use. I went one day of 150mg, then 100mg, then 75 mg, then 50mg, 25mg, to 0. I had nausea, vomiting, headaches, basic withdrawl symptoms that lasted about a week maybe more. I would do it as slowly as possible to avoid these terrible side effects.
 
I'm down to 75mgs a day, I've been really tired which has triggered a bit of amphetamine use, but nothing I'm worried about. I dropped the Beta blockers as they had started to irritate my Psoriasis.

I have had the expected symptoms but the stuff doesn't make me feel great anyway and I'm determined to get off them as I can see they are effecting my ability to deal with some emotional issues. I needed them at the time, I'm really not sure i would be here today without having gone on them and getting into CBT.

Thanks for all the advice, I'm seeing my doc tomorrow so we can talk about making the final jump.
 
That does fit, I've tried numerous SSRIs and all made me ill to some extent or another all in quite a pronounced way. I do have a history of very heavy MDMA and Amphetamine use so I can back up your hypothesis.

Venlafaxine does give me some unwanted side effects, insomnia and nausea being the most obvious but they have helped me dig my way out of a very difficult place but as I've said the time has come to let them go.

I gave up drinking not long after starting them as my alcohol intake was getting out of control, I haven't touched a drop in over 2 years so I couldn't comment on any interaction there.
 
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