Anyone around tonight that could give guidance to someone trying to come off ADs a little fast.

[Wills]

I've cut my effexor (venalflaxine) down very very slowly from the max (150 mgs) down to half a pill (17.5 mgs) just about a week ago. My gp would like me to do a month at 17.5 mg and then attempt to chop the pills (that I'm already halving) in quarters for another month. Unbeknown to her we've started "trying" so I'm ever so keen to just stop. I don't feel unhappy but am struggling with my asthma and am on a lot of steriods which are making me a little short tempered.

The problem is that I stopped them this morning and have spent the day having dizzy spells and am now hyper. I remember this from when I took the pills initially. Went through one night where I didn't sleep a single week. I can't help feeling that it doesn't matter when the final point comes that I'm going to have to go through this "pain" barrier regardless.

Anyone else had anything similar.

P.S. haven't told gp we're trying. I've had two miscarriages and one possible miscarriage although she refuses to class it as such. When I told her a while back that yes dh and I wanted a third she responded with "whatever for? Why do you want to put us all through that again?". So I hope you'll understand that the one person I don't want to go to advice for is my gp!

You're all in bed aren't you?

I do understand why you don't want to go to your gp.

however, if you try to cut your ADs too suddenly, you don't give your brain time to readjust to the chemical change, and I think you run the risk of a depressive relapse. This happened to me with prozac. So, medically I would follow her advice, because you will actually get off them quicker if you take the long way with it, iYSWIM.

HTH

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I believe is better to wait, you can have a relapse and then it may take much longer. Besides having a relapse while being pregnant doesn't seem like a risk I would like to take, already too hormonal to cope with more sensitivity.

Thanks for your help last night. Have cut down to a quarter and stopped trying. Its just that having waited for dh to agree for soooo long I didn't want to give up the go just in case he chnaged his mind.

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Oh wills! i started on venlafaxine in june 2004, and within 2-3 weeks i was a different person! i realised how terribley depressed i had been and how it had made into this anti-social, negative person and now after taking these AD's i was so much better, i was advised to take them for at least 6 months and then see how i felt, this took us to christmas - when we decided we wanted to try for another, i was also on a drug called carbamazapine as i had terrible jitters and sleepless nights as a result of the venlafaxine, and this was quite a toxic drug and so i spent a month weaning myself of that, but when it came to weaning myself of venlafaxine it was about 2 weeks before i ovulated and so i decided i would wean myself of them completley in 2 weeks!! and i did! i havent had one since and iwas on 150mgs a day too, i have to be honest and say though, that for a long long time i had very nervous days, i had days were i had the shakes and was a stressed out and very panicky person - which i think i put down to normal early pregnancy things at first but looking back, it was certainly not normal, and i have very slowly gone back to quite a nervous, negative, and much less sociable person, my self-confidence is alot less than it was too, im not as bad as i was simply because after taking these pilss i was made aware of how bad i had been, and so im very aware of my moods now and i try and make myself think 'is my mood normal or am i being negative about things again?' im due to have this baby in the next couple of weeks and so i hope to get myself back in them, as i clearly didnt take them long enough, but i can more than understand how you are feeling, wanting to try for a baby and then being told its not a good idea and you have to wait to come of these pills too! its frustrating! if i had to choose again i doubt very much i would do anything differently, as the effects of suddenly reducing then stopping like that were not good, but they werent horrific! if you do stop, bear in mind that the depression you had will highly likely come back, i have fought it and denied it but it has come back with me, and i hope i will be ok after baby is born too! but try and keep an open mind and be aware of how you are feeling at all times if you do decide to quite them. Sorry for the very very long story, but i really hope my babble can help a little! xxx

sorry to hear that wills, but very excited for you.

I would stay on the quarter for a month, start dosing up on pregnancy vits and plan to be pg by Xmas!

xx E

Hi Helen, I've been wanting to write to you to say thank you for your support note below but your profile wont accept emails? It really really helped to read your story. I'm now off them (have been completely off for over a week), I still get dizzy spells but mainly they've gone. I'm on tonnes and tonnes of steriods (asthma) so its been a little difficult to say what my temper is down to but I do know that I'm perfectly happy and content inside. Thanks for your help.

Enid lets hope its before christmas. I'm off to Paris Disney and would like to either not be pregnant or into my second trimester. I find living through the first trimester hell.

Sorry pressed enter too fast. I'm not sure Paris Disney have enough toilets for me to keep "popping" into to check there's no blood yet! Sad but true!