Antidepressant withdrawal

[Nc967125]

Name changed so it doesn't link to my other posts.
I've been taking venlafaxine for anxiety for 3 years. Followed doctors instructions to taper down over the past month and took my last dose a week ago.
I feel like death. Constant dizziness, nausea, restlessness, stomach ache, anxiety and crying. The worst thing is that I cannot sleep! It's making me so miserable.
I'm fairly sure this is all withdrawal as a relapse wouldn't happen this quickly. I know venlafaxine is notorious for this.

I suppose my aibu is do I keep going? I dont want to start taking them again because I do want to be off them and it feels like a step backwards when I've already gone through the past month of coming off them. I've tried to get a GP appointment but none available till mid March!

Is there anything I can do to make this more tolerable? I've been trying to keep busy - exercising daily and keeping going as normal. I've tried all the basic stuff to help with sleep - good night routines, meditation, audiobooks, herbal sleeping tablets, but with no luck. What am I supposed to do?

Antidepressant withdrawal is horrible but it does pass eventually. Sorry I can't offer any helpful suggestions to make it easier other than to say that it's worth it in the end.

Venlafaxine is absolutely the worst for withdrawal. I've had a go on most antidepressants and it was, by far, the worst to come off. On the whole, the doctors don't have much of a clue. A month is FAR too fast to come off Venlafaxine. I took 6 months coming off it. Tapered very very very slowly. Basically, at each stage, I had to wait for the vertigo, headaches, jaw pain, jaw clenching, nauseau, muscle weakness etc to subside a bit before reducing further. It was not fun. All I can suggest is a slower taper - but as you're already off them, I doubt that's much help! Doctors really need more training on coming of anti-depressants and psychiatrists need to stop prescribing Venlafaxine without warning the patient.

Anything I can do to help, let me know. I didn't find any relief from my side-effects other than a gum shield to wear at night (constant clenching cracked 2 of my teeth) and a LOT of rest.

You could possibly ask your GP to prescribe paroxetine oral suspension to help with the withdrawal effects. Once the venlafaxine has tapered out completely and you’re only taking the paroxetine, you can then taper it out too. The advantage of it being an oral suspension is that you can taper it very gradually and (hopefully) the effects won’t be as bad. Venlafaxine is an SNRI whereas paroxetine’s an SSRI, the latter normally being easier to withdraw from in any case.

I hope it goes well for you.

That’s extremely fast, especially for Ven which has a very short half life.

I had to do it this fast many years ago and had horrendous sweats, vertigo and exhaustion. Lost 2 stone in weight in 2 months. I searched online and found some people in the US had found sedating antihistamines helped them through the worst. I did this and it did help a bit, but self medicating not exactly ideal!

It can be done but many people need to do it very slowly indeed. I’m on it again now and my psychiatrist says that when I’m at the lower doses, I’ll probably need to open the capsule and just remove one or two beads and stir the rest into yoghurt (am on extended release capsules).

Good advice above about Prozac, if you get on with it. I’d probably go back to another GP though as the current one sounds pretty out of touch re psych meds.

When I was first on Ven, it could only be prescribed by a psychiatrist. There was a good reason for that, IMO.

I would also say the antidepressant discontinuation is very rough (apparently on a par with heroine withdrawal, for some people), and now many medics take it much more seriously, and I think you would be within your rights to ask for an emergency appointment with a doctor.

I knew it would be Ven before I opened your thread op. They’re the absolute worst things to come off I’ve heard. Shame I didn’t research much before I started them. I’m on 225mg and only increased from 150mg a couple of months ago.

I dread having to come off them for this reason. Well done for getting this far

Ps ring 111 for advice if it gets too much. You can get an out of hours appointment via them.

That sounds quite similar to what I went through coming off it. The first week was a nightmare. By the end of the second week the worst of the side effects had eased. It still took a long time for my jaw/teeth to settle down. It’s just an awful drug.

I’d urge you to keep going. If you take it again, you’ll only have to go through all this again at some point.

I’m very unimpressed with your gp. Can you try again for an appointment?

Yep, Venlafaxine is a nightmare to taper down, especially the modified release. You should really come down in 37.5mg increments, over a much longer period, but it still sucks. I'm on 337.5mg now and know it will be brutal.

Jesus guys, you are all tougher than me!
I had a heroin addiction a few years ago and when I did my detox I was in bits.. but that sounds almost a piece of cake compared to this as it was around a week of pain altogether.. had it been any longer and I wouldn't of managed!
I was prescribed anti-depressants about a year ago (baby blues) and after googling the name (forgot what it was now) I saw that the withdrawal off of them was bad so never took them. I was really quite peed off with the doctor for prescribing them especially with my previous addiction on record!

Agree that’s way too fast. As to what you do now I don’t know. This book is helpful, though many go even slower than he suggests: www.amazon.co.uk/Antidepressant-Solution-Step-Step-Overcoming/dp/074326973X?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

i hope this passes soon for you. I took antihistamines (Certerizine) when I had withdrawals from a similar med and they helped me but you’d obviously have to check if you’re safe to take them. I don’t know why they helped! keep hydrated, sorry you are going through this. I also only tapered my med by 10 percent a month as at first I did it too fast xxx

Its fucking brutal OP, you have my sympathy. Will the DR continue prescribing for a while so you can do it more slowly? Do it really gradually like 5 or 10 mg at a time and wait for the symptoms to completely disappear before dropping more. Don't worry about the time, it'll take as long as it takes.