Venlafaxine WD's

[TheGreenManalishi]

Been taking them for 10 years, the last year of which has been 150mg per day (previously 75mg ER per day).

I feel that the apathy and other side effects mean that i need to come off them.

Anyhow - Have come down from 150mg to 37.5mg per day (in stages over 4 weeks) but feel incredibly irritable (which aint good in a house with two young boys, my sons)

Is there anything i can do to chill out a little - i have a small supply of Benzo's.

And just how long will this irritability last :-( ?

 

[caff]

Trying to stop venlafaxine cold turkey was the worst I've ever felt in my life. I did a little research online and found out that you can take an SSRI with a longer half-life, just for a couple of days instead of the venlafaxine. Fluoxetine is most commonly recommended as it has a very long half-life, though I used citalopram. I had no withdrawals whatsoever, and I never needed to take venlafaxine again. This really works so give it a go!

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

Thanks for that, appreciate you takling the time to respond.

So literally 2 days taking the Flouxetine (which i do actually have in the house)?.

Thanks again.

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

have followed your advice and to a very large extent its worked but:-

Am now getting panic/anxiety issues - perhaps every other day.
Irritability - my mood is 90% of the time really good but for the other 10% im very "touchy"

My general health is now much much better, i have drive, enthusiasm etc etc and feel great but i do need to control the irritability/panic issues. Im not going back on the Venlafaxine under any circumstances.

ANy suggestions (supplements etc)

(I have benzo's but clearly they are only a short term solution to the anxiety)

 

[Sean McDevitt]

i stopped it once for 4 days. didnt feel anything different :/

 

[delphinen]

i stopped it once for 4 days. didnt feel anything different :/

You're not alone. In my case it could be that I need to take benzos everyday(medically) or I get convulsions because of my abuse in the last 7 years.
On Venlafaxine. I have been already 3 months on Venlafaxine, there has been some few times I got short on meds and passed from 150mg Venlafaxine one day, to 25mg the other, to 3 days of nothing. I only felt a little depressed... I guess? I remember that I began to have ideas and get creative super easily again- but my psychiatrist insists antidepressants doesn't cause "creativity drop or any nonsense like that".
Whatever, if I recover some day you bet I won't be taking this drug anymore- HOWEVER, of all the SSRIs I tried (Sertraline, Escilatopram and Prozac- in the reverse order I just wrote them) the ONLY one that made me "wake up" and do shit was Venlafaxine in medium doses (100-150mg), which is a SNRI, not a SSRI.

Venlafaxine has some amazing Neuropathic and some classic analgesic properties (I have mixed Neuropathy btw) like a 150mg dose of Pregabalin in my book, only exception, Venlafaxing lasting 4-6 hours (I take 2 IM pills per day, not the XR version).
Side effects about Venlafaxine in MY case?
CYP2D6 based drugs are badly metabolized; sweating like a pig; incredible strong headaches if not taken all doses with an Aspirin (I'm being serious); slighty increased BP (a benzo is recommended on 125mg doses).