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.

Everyone is welcome on the merry (?) tapering bus.

Nope, my digestions has not changed, but I am make of quite stern stuff when it comes to my guts!

Have you questioned why it was prescribed when it is not indicated for CPTSD? Or was it that the CPTSD then caused other symptoms which Venla would be suited for? Or lots of side effects with other meds?

I think I've forgotten to take mine today - I will know in a couple of hours I think as I'll feel dizzy.

I hope your brain isn't zapping TheOrigRights.

The diagnosis came after the venla was prescribed. But the mental health team haven't mentioned changing meds. If I'm honest, I get the impression they really don't GAF. They're not really interested in MH unless you're out there causing bother to other citizens are they?

I didn't take my dose yesterday, and had a very busy evening so didn't notice the zaps until I was in bed at 1am. Fell asleep but woke at 4am.
I've taken my dose this morning as usual.

I am sorry you feel your MH team don't care; that has not been my experience at all. I was under their care through the eating disorder team and feel I received very good care.

I have to say that when i have taken venlafaxine at 75mg it has really helped me and helped me get my life back. I am
currently on 12mg. It's barely anything at all, yet yesterday i forgot to
take it and i just felt terrible. So emotional and needy. Out of control with it. I feel ok and stronger today. I really hope they were withdrawal feelings and not what i will be like when not on Venla. I don't feel like reducing any further atm.

I'm no doc, but I bet those were withdrawal symptoms, or just having a regular off day.

That said, I know exactly what you mean. I am perimenopausal and currently waiting for my period to arrive....who knows when.

I'm crabby and emotional but don't know if it's PMT or because I didn't take my (15mg) dose yesterday, or just because I have a few more days of work, loads to do, Xmas prep, mucked up my Tesco order, kids annoying me just by existing etc! The thought that it might go back to feeling how I did before I started the meds fills me with dread.

I think a good sign of whether it's time to come off the ADs is if days like that don't completely floor.

Thanks for the reassurance.

I had a really bad day. Am under quite a bit of stress anyway and had something of a melt down.

Don't feel amazing today but more in control. Have done some mindfulness and trying to keep my head straight but i do feel jittery and neurotic. Deep down am convinced I can do life without the venlafaxine.

Hope you are ok too. I think
you have done an amazing job in such a short time.

geidiprimes no digestive issues- maybe something else?
theorigtights I’d be stressed if that was my day too.
I got told off for cutting tablets in half as they are XR ones and it’s not good for your stomach if you cut the coating. I was prescribed XR rather than 2 dose by psych due to anxiety. And I can’t remember 2 doses anyway! I’m not under MH any more. If I waited for medical cooperation with tapering I’d be 90 before I ever came off anything, as I’ve had so many depressive episodes. GPs don’t seem to believe the side effects I get from SSRI’s/SNRI’s and believe the positive effect on my “mood” is worth my life being messed up through lack of sleep. I don't agree, as I just end up unable to function on a practical level during the day.

Oh I see (cutting tabs). Yes, I was moved from XR to immediate release when I started my taper.

I'm so sorry you haven't found the meds which lift your mood WITHOUT mucking up your sleep. Professionals need to take everything into account IMO. If you need to function to hold down a job and raise a family being wiped out doesn't help at all. It's a balance that can take time to work out and obviously needs a really understanding GP or psychiatrist, AND continuity of care.

@bigyellowtractorface

Thanks for the reassurance.

I had a really bad day. Am under quite a bit of stress anyway and had something of a melt down.

Don't feel amazing today but more in control. Have done some mindfulness and trying to keep my head straight but i do feel jittery and neurotic. Deep down am convinced I can do life without the venlafaxine.

Hope you are ok too. I think
you have done an amazing job in such a short time.

I'm pleased you feel more in control today; it sounds like you are able to recognise and manage the bad days - that's a big deal when you're in a dark place. It's easy enough to learn about mindfulness and to know what can help, but when you're in that moment it can seem so hard. Having things on hand can really help to just sit with the feeling until you feel better able to cope (hark and me parroting my MH nurse!).

Thank you for your kind words. I am proud of myself. I'm not in the clear yet, but I am feeling positive.

I hope you don't mind me posting on here - I thought I'd got another week's worth of 150mg of Venlafaxin but didn't and ran out on Thursday.

I feel terrible - light headed, weak legs, headache etc. It'll probably be Thursday before I can get my next prescription. Have you any advice how I can last out till then?

i think you should go to the pharmacy and ask for some tablets to bridge you over. No way could i cope until thursday. i'd be very ill. Very.

@Ieatmarmite

I hope you don't mind me posting on here - I thought I'd got another week's worth of 150mg of Venlafaxin but didn't and ran out on Thursday.

I feel terrible - light headed, weak legs, headache etc. It'll probably be Thursday before I can get my next prescription. Have you any advice how I can last out till then?

What did you do? Going cold turkey at that dose would be very grim.

Hello,

How's is everyone?

I'm down to 11.26mg per day (1.5ml of the oral solution).
I am taking it mid/late morning - basically when I start feeling physically crap.

I kept everything the same over Xmas and dropped down from 15 to 11.26 just this week. I do think this last bit down to nothing will take a while, but it's OK.

i've stayed on 12.5mg for 4 weeks or so. I have had a few tricky weeks in my personal life. Things are calmer now. I think i'll start cutting down again next week. Following my previous pattern it should take 4 weeks to get to zero but i'll be taking each day at a time and if it takes longer so be it.

Thanks Dane.

Withdrawal symptoms or depression/anxiety?

I get the buzz and wooziness of withdrawal if I forget to take a dose.

I am most definitely not in the same place mentally as I was when I started taking ADs, but I am being cautious and looking out for signs. I admit I get a bit scared. I think I'm doing great and then something happens (as it does in life) and I don't handle it very well.

I think I worry because when I was first clinically depressed I had no idea. I knew I was sad and getting upset; I was going through a very difficult time, but it wasn't until a good GP friend of mine told me straight and pretty much marched me to the docs that I realised. It then took me another good long while to start taking the meds, but that's another thread.

Eugh, I was out all day yesterday and forgot to take my dose before I left.
It left me feeling dizzy and a bit zappy which marred the day a bit (it was a long awaited for big day out with my sisters).

Although I was nearer to taking my next dose to the missed one and therefore should have just skipped it, I didn't feel great in the evening so I took it then. I'm on such a small dose anyway, I'm pretty sure it's fine.

It's odd that coming off such a small dose is proving to be so hard. The brain obviously clings onto it somehow.

I definitely haven't tapered too quickly. I've been doing this since Aug and it's gone well.
I'm down to 1ml (7.5mg) per day now.
It has such a short 1/2 life you'd think I'd get zaps sooner than 24hrs after my last dose. But maybe there's a lag. I wish I understood the mechanism better (I'm a scientist, it shouldn't be hard for me to find out).

I am still on 1/3 of 37.5mg = 12.5mg. Basically the capsules contain 3 tablets and i am down to 1. I have not weaned further for the last 2 months because i have felt quite anxious all the time. I don't know what is going on and often think of just going back to 37.5 again but reluctant after all that effort. I have been practicing mindfulness which helps. Am thinking of doing self guided cbt but keep wondering if there is just something biologically wrong with me that I can't be 'normal' without it. Or maybe it is menopause, since i am 50 but i don't have any physical symptoms.

I am still cracking on with life and no one on the outside would know but i am fed up of feeling this way inside. I wake up anxious.

I hope it's okay for me to post this here. I don't want to hijack the thread and I'm not trying to dispute the very genuine experiences of the OP and others, or gloat, but I just wanted an easy withdrawal account to reassure anyone who is considering taking Effexor and feels worried by the awful withdrawal descriptions.

I was on 225mg for 6 months and 150mg for 18 months (severe PND/anxiety) so I was taking it for 2 years before I considered coming off them.

When I felt fully recovered for a whole 6 months, I dropped from my 150mg dose to taking 150mg one day, 75mg next, for about 3 months.

Then I dropped down to 75mg each day for 6 weeks-ish.

Then 75mg alternate days (was the controlled release capsules and I never thought of opening them up!) for another 6 weeks-ish, before stopping completely.

I didn't have a single withdrawal effect at all.

Venlafaxine was a complete wonder drug for me and I really sympathise with everyone who has a bad time coming off it, but I hate to think of anyone being too scared to start taking it when it can, quite literally, be a lifesaver!

Coming off it is notoriously hard but obviously that isn't the case for everyone. I'm glad it wasn't for you.

Venlafaxine was a life saver for me too. I tried lots of antidepressants and got no benefit or felt horrendous with side effects. With Venlafaxine i felt an improvement almost straight away. Within 24 hours suicidal ideation started to just go. It gave me my life back and ability to function in life without having to work really hard at it.

I have been having a terrible time lately and today i have gone on 75mg. I've felt like i have been losing it lately (not due to withdrawals but life and maybe just the way i am wired) it's a relief to know i should be able to cope better soon. Honestly, if anyone reading this is offered it and is feeling dreadful, just do it. Withdrawal can be hard but it is doable. At the end of the day, if i have to be on these for the rest of my life, i can live with that rather than the way i have been feeling.

As of yesterday I am down to 3.75mg a day.
This is likely just to be giving me a placebo effect, but that's OK.

I do still get the weird zappy feeling if I skip, but it's so negligible that I do try and ride it out.

I want this to be my last bottle of the stuff.

yellow it sounds like you are making very wise choices for yourself.
You seem to have great self awareness and maturity. I am sorry you've been having a terrible time and hope that 1) things pick up soon and 2) the meds give you the boost you need to be able to cope.