My Venlafaxine withdrawal diary

[TheOrigRights]

Someone (I'll tag you in the other thread!) asked if I would be willing to keep a diary as I taper off Venlafaxine with the aim of coming off entirely.

I'm happy to do so and think it will be useful for me, too.

Been on venlafaxine 150mg modified release for a few years.

Month 1 - changed from modified release 150mg to 2 x immediate release 75mg just to get used to 2 smaller doses.

Month 2 - 75mg in the morning and 37.5mg at night
This is where I am now. I've been a bit muddled, partly because I was issued with 56 x 75mg and 56 x 37.5mg with instructions to take 1 each morning and night, and what with everything and 37.5 being a STUPID number to work with in your head, I didn't work out that this would be an increase. Twit.
I'm not sure how many tablets I have left, but I'll see where I am when all the 75mg ones have gone.

Month 3 (ish) - 37.5mg in the morning and 37.5mg at night.

Month 4 (ish) - 37.5mg in the morning

Month 5 (ish) - nothing!

So far I can report only some brain zaps and some fuzziness.
When getting used to taking 2 doses a day I did forget to take the morning one a few times, and only remembered when I started to feel zappy, by which time it was too close to the night time dose to take it.

Mood wise I can report no change. Unlike others I can't say it saved my life. I can't say it didn't. I just don't know.

@bigyellowtractorface

oh wow! You have reduced much quicker than me considering your starting base was so much higher!

I am roughly on the same as you now. 22mg but it is hard to cut the tiny tablets accurately. i am on the verge of hitting half way mark which is 18.5 mg. i started on 37.5mg and it has taken ages to get here! I should reach zero in 6 weeks at the rate i am going.

i feel fine mentally i just hate any kind of physical symptoms, reducing at 10% per week feels tolerable.

Everyone is different. I am tolerating the physical symptoms well - they are unsettling, but I exercise my way out of them.

I have been fortunate enough to get the liquid form which makes things easier (both practically - not losing drug dust all over the place, and mentally - knowing I'm pretty spot on). That said, I ordered another bottle over 10 days ago and it hasn't arrived at the pharmacy yet, so I will need to go back to smashing up tiny pills soon.

It doesn't matter if it takes 6 months or a year, as long as it's the right thing then it will take what time it takes.

No it doesn't matter. i could probably go quicker but i don't want to put myself through it. At this rate i should be done in 7 weeks but i do wonder what will happen when i am down to my last quarter. Will i be able to go to zero or have to alternate days. Not sure. Will have to see. Will be nice to not need any medication or have that tether to anything.

Most people fail at the last bit and end up going back on it 3/6 mths later

How do you know this?
Do you mean most people that you know, or most people ever.
I want to read up about this last difficult bit so that I am informed.

i came off venlafaxine when i was 31 and stayed off it for 5-6 years. At that time i did it by reducing the beads in the capsules. i haven't been prescribed with that kind since.

i found coming off it straight forward. i ended up going back on when i had a miscarriage at 36. I was all over the place hormonally which had an impact on my mental state. I suspect if the hormone situation has been sorted out i wouldn't have resorted to it.

i've been having counselling since June and find i am seeing the world differently and anxiety is gone, despite having some significant stressors at the moment. Anxiety was pretty low before the counselling which i have only been having to figure out if i want a divorce rather than to fix myself, if that makes sense. I feel confident in myself and my own resources. That said if I needed effexor again I would ask for it. It works for me.

Thanks dane8
That it's your anecdotal evidence rather than a scientific study is encouraging; not that anecdotal evidence isn't valuable of course.

It sounds like you are refreshingly open with your friends.
I have been very private about my issues.

The pharmacy has been unable to get my next bottle of oral solution.
It's odd as it only took them a week last time. I've just called them and they say it's a problem with the supplier.
They asked me if I still needed it. Errrr....yeah.

They're going to try somewhere else and have asked me to call in a couple of days.

Meanwhile I will see how I get on with 1/2 37.5mg tablet once a day. I don't think I can split them into 1/4. I've probably been a bit hit and miss anyway - with having to siphon up 1.5ml.

I've had to deal with a big water leak at home. The whole process has been really stressful and I've been in tears a few times, which has made me worried I'm not resilient enough. But actually, it's OK to be overwhelmed by difficult things. I'm on my own - no partner, no parents, no local family, and while I do have good friends, there are times when I feel acutely alone.

Thanks for the solidarity!

I know it's a special prescription, any pharmacy will need to order it in, but yes, if Tesco pharmacy can't get hold of it in 2 days I'll ask for the prescription back and hunt it down myself.

I have a pill cutter. 37.5mg tablets aren't scored so tend to crumble, but it's better than nothing.

Oh I know what you mean about having a partner. Indeed, I am far better on my own than the one I did have! I have put aside my feminist principals for today. I might be a strong, independent, educated, professional woman, but right now I need a man with a spanner!

Just for my notes: been taking 1/2 37.5mg tablet once a day (give or take).

Am feeling OK, although I have been a bit more tearful over things I don't think I should be (my iPhone storage being full, the patronising woman at the LFT station yesterday).

Tesco have got the oral solution in, so I can collect that today. Hoorah.

I've got the liquid form and will take 2ml (15mg) once a day.
I reduced to 1.5ml but that's not working.

I've been going through this and come down from 140mg per day to 35mg per day fairly easily. I'm supposed to stop completely after 1 per day but the Dr recommended going to one every other day at first. Got to around the 43 hour mark and started feeling unwell - brain zaps, hot flush feelings and thought I'd just go and take a dose but was violently sick not long after taking it. I feel dreadful. Has anyone had these symptoms? Not sure if I could even keep another one down if I took it.

Oh gosh, that sounds awful.
I haven't experienced what you have and have been wary of skipping a day for exactly the reasons you describe, instead I'm trying a very small dose every day.

This week has not been easy. No zaps, but a lot of feeling fuzzy and spacey.
I also feel a bit unwell all over, but that could be so many things - the endless colds that are around, having my flu vaccine this week, being anaemic.

I will stick at my 15mg/day until I feel more stable.

Can you speak to your GP - if the sickness is due to withdrawal you might need to slow things down a bit.

Thanks op. Spoke to my Dr and he's not aware of any way for me to take a lower dose. I'm in Scotland so perhaps it's not available here. He's asked me to stay on 37.5 for now and he's going to speak to the pharmacy. I'm tempted to stay on it until after Xmas then trying to half them myself.

This is already mentioned up thread, but to save you hunting...

I asked my GP for the oral solution. I told them I knew it was a specialist medication, but that because my withdrawal was going so well, I really wanted to continue with the really gradual drop, rather than skipping days etc.

He agreed. It took a week for it to come in the first time, and then two weeks the second time (with me doing a bit of chasing at the pharmacy).

You could ask.

I think it would definitely be worth waiting until after Xmas to try again.
Good luck.

How's it going?

I am down to 1 tablet out of the original 3 in the 37.5mg capsule. Roughly 12 mg. Seems to be going ok. I don't seem to get withdrawals any more and have wondered if I could reduce more quickly, but then think...why bother!

@bigyellowtractorface

How's it going?

I am down to 1 tablet out of the original 3 in the 37.5mg capsule. Roughly 12 mg. Seems to be going ok. I don't seem to get withdrawals any more and have wondered if I could reduce more quickly, but then think...why bother!

Indeed, no need to push yourself. Look how far you (we!) have come.

I'm doing well.

15mg of the liquid each day. I have been delaying taking it until I feel woozy. I haven't had brain zaps for a while.

Maybe I'll try and work out how many ml is 12mg and we can be Vena twins (dubious accolade!).

@CallMeNutribullet have things settled back down for you?

Hello hope you don’t mind me butting in. You all seem to be doing well. I’ve come off mirtazapine and quetiapine and trying to get off venlafaxine now. I was v tired when I first reduced venlafaxine, but now I just don’t sleep. 3-4 hours maximum a night is normal. Not in one go either- I wake several times during that time. I don’t fall asleep during the day, and struggle to fall asleep when I go to bed. When will this stop? It has been going on for well over a month. I’m thinking maybe the venlafaxine is causing the sleeplessness and I should bin it completely? I have history of SSRI’s making me edgy.

Hi dane8. I was on 225 now on 150 (I had been cutting 225 in half but got told off for that).
I’ve been overwhelming doing quite well ( I think) on 4 hours…I don’t feel tired but my brain or body lets me down some days eg by concentration being rubbish, headaches or feeling ill.
Sleep on all the meds was the best I’ve ever slept. Just a normal person! 7 hours or so.

Do you do any exercise at all? Or walking?

Is there something specific keeping you awake? Like anxiety?

@dangermouseisace

Hi dane8. I was on 225 now on 150 (I had been cutting 225 in half but got told off for that). I’ve been overwhelming doing quite well ( I think) on 4 hours…I don’t feel tired but my brain or body lets me down some days eg by concentration being rubbish, headaches or feeling ill. Sleep on all the meds was the best I’ve ever slept. Just a normal person! 7 hours or so.

What do you mean you got told off? How is your tapering being managed? It should be a two way discussion, resulting in a well monitored plan that you feel comfortable with.

I managed to live on a ridiculously low amount of sleep for a very long time. Only when I started to sleep better did I realise how chronically tired I was. You can live on adrenaline and 'just getting through each day' for a while, but it's not sustainable.
I did find taking the odd sleeping tablet reset things a bit, but I don't like them (and when I'm the sole person looking after a child, it's not ideal to be feeling floored in the day).

I have slept better since tapering off Venlafaxine.

Hi everyone, I hope you don't mind me joining in. I first saw this thread when starting venla myself a year ago. Weirdly it popped up on active today, when I'm a couple of weeks into tapering down, (112.5 to 75).

Has anyone else had the most awful shits? First few days were fine, then the zaps.

In spite of this, feeling better in heart and mind - the numbness was becoming unbearable. Also, I was interested to read upthread that it's the wrong meds for cptsd, which is a diagnosis I have.