Coming off venlafaxine

[vxa2]

I have been taking venlafaxine since about late July. I have been suffering from anxiety and depression since January but citalopram didnt work for me. I am on 150mg per day. I could not tolerate 225mg.

I am not getting any noticeable benefit even though I have also stopped drinking and have been focussing on exercise and a healthy diet.

I have decided I don't want to take it anymore and have now missed two doses. I did email my psych and he has not come back to me but to be honest it doesnt really matter what he says.

Has anyone else come off venlafaxine?

You need to be very careful when coming off venlafaxine, it's one of the hardest ADs to come off. Regardless, you should never come off ADs cold turkey. I changed from mirtazapine as I thought it wasn't working yet I still crashed when I went cold turkey and was sobbing walking around the streets - not good! I also got the shakes, was sweating, felt generally unwell. It was awful.

Please carry on taking it as normal until your psych comes up with a withdrawal regime for you.