Help Venlafaxine withdraw

[Rachel74]

Well they have found me respite not too far from home so I get to see the woofers every day but I'm still delaying going. My main fear is coming off Venlafaxine. I've researched a lot about it and basically it's like coming off H plus I've been on it 10 years. It's no longer working. Any advise or anyone been through this and offer words of wisdom?

 

[Shamana]

The cymbalta support group on Fb. Cymbalta is just a newer version of effexor.

 

[Dazedandconfused32]

Oh I can do relate to the withdraws :( I'm so sorry you're going through this. The brain zaps are the worst for me.

 

[Rachel74]

Thank you both

 

[Dazedandconfused32]

Well they have found me respite not too far from home so I get to see the woofers every day but I'm still delaying going. My main fear is coming off Venlafaxine. I've researched a lot about it and basically it's like coming off H plus I've been on it 10 years. It's no longer working. Any advise or anyone been through this and offer words of wisdom?

Can you taper off of it slowly? Like each day just a little bit less and a little bit less and if your body responds negatively just listen to it and take a bit more until you can come all the way off?

 

[Rachel74]

I remember coming off it for 5 days. It was hell, I'm so frightened.

 

[sammii]

I'm not an expert, I've only briefly experienced the withdrawals when I couldn't get my meds for a few days and it was terrible. If you gradually decrease your dosage it might not be too bad tho? I've read online that if you take small doses of prozac that can help with the physical symptoms, apparently benadryl can help too.

 

[Rachel74]

Can you taper off of it slowly? Like each day just a little bit less and a little bit less and if your body responds negatively just listen to it and take a bit more until you can come all the way off?

That's was my crisis team are going to be doing but I'm really frightened.

 

[Dazedandconfused32]

May I ask your dose? Also how long do you have until you can no longer take it?

That's was my crisis team are going to be doing but I'm really frightened.

I'm so sorry . I know it sends your body for a loop. I'd just be very honest with how your feeling if your crisis team is going to help you come off it. As they've said above there are other medications to help combat the side effects. What symptoms are you most worried about?

 

[Rachel74]

I take 300mg a day. It was upped this year with no effect at all.
My CPN said I could still take it with another antidepressant then she left and I'm left under the care of the crisis team who say I have to come off slowly while introducing a new antidepressant and lithium with Carbmazapine.
Things went wrong when I hit the menopause and as I take carbmazapine there isn't any HRT that will work. So I'm on the mini pill for that.

 

[Dazedandconfused32]

I take 300mg a day. It was upped this year with no effect at all.
My CPN said I could still take it with another antidepressant then she left and I'm left under the care of the crisis team who say I have to come off slowly while introducing a new antidepressant and lithium with Carbmazapine.
Things went wrong when I hit the menopause and as I take carbmazapine there isn't any HRT that will work. So I'm on the mini pill for that.

Okay, I'm on the same dose of the instant release. Have you tried those verses the regular? What I'm thinking is if you can try the instant release to come off of it. Truly when I forget and wait too long and start going through withdraws I take an instant and it's gone in 30 mins tops

 

[ots]

I believe tapering off it is the usual procedure. If you feel that the withdrawls are too much, you can discuss that with your doctor and they can surely adjust your plan accordingly. If you feel really off the rails and can't speak to a doctor, I can't see how taking a small dose or two could hurt any; just to get you feeling right until you can speak to a doctor.

 

[Rachel74]

Okay, I'm on the same dose of the instant release. Have you tried those verses the regular? What I'm thinking is if you can try the instant release to come off of it. Truly when I forget and wait too long and start going through withdraws I take an instant and it's gone in 30 mins tops

I'm on slow release. Used to be on fast then moved towns and the chemist could only get this so changed it. My Dr said being as though I'm already off work with a broken big toe it be best to start now. If I could sleep through it all properly that would be a huge relief to me. I don't want to end up doing something stupid as the withdraw is making me so bad.

 

[falconeyes]

Well they have found me respite not too far from home so I get to see the woofers every day but I'm still delaying going. My main fear is coming off Venlafaxine. I've researched a lot about it and basically it's like coming off H plus I've been on it 10 years. It's no longer working. Any advise or anyone been through this and offer words of wisdom?

The attached file is a case report scientific article titled:
Successful duloxetine use to prevent venlafaxine withdrawal symptoms
Hope you find it useful, but consult your doc/shrink 1st.

 

[truthseeker]

I wish I had never started on that one. I weaned off it as directed by my psychiatrist at the time but then my insurance plan found/created a reason why I could no longer see him. The bulk of my coming off it was unsupervised.

 

[Rachel74]

I wish I had never started on that one. I weaned off it as directed by my psychiatrist at the time but then my insurance plan found/created a reason why I could no longer see him. The bulk of my coming off it was unsupervised.

Mine will be supervised but I'm delaying and delaying it.

 

[*KNAZ*]

When I tapered off cymbalta I bought gelatin pill capsules from health food store. And I opened up one of my cymbalta capsules and counted the total number of beads. Then I packed my gel caps using a specific number of cymbalta beads until I had about six weeks worth of capsules with decreasing amounts of cymbalta beads. It was tedious counting them and loading the gel caps (no ceiling fans or breathing onto the cymbalta beads) but I weaned off with minimal side effects. I also took fish oil caps to help my brain. The asshole psychiatrist told me it would be fine to stop cold turkey. What an idiot.

 

[Rachel74]

When I tapered off cymbalta I bought gelatin pill capsules from health food store. And I opened up one of my cymbalta capsules and counted the total number of beads. Then I packed my gel caps using a specific number of cymbalta beads until I had about six weeks worth of capsules with decreasing amounts of cymbalta beads. It was tedious counting them and loading the gel caps (no ceiling fans or breathing onto the cymbalta beads) but I weaned off with minimal side effects. I also took fish oil caps to help my brain. The asshole psychiatrist told me it would be fine to stop cold turkey. What an idiot.

That's a brilliant idea, I have now ordered fish oil and empty caps from eBay. I'll give it a go. If my brain thinks I'm taking 4 then that might help me.
Thank you

 

[*KNAZ*]

That's a brilliant idea, I have now ordered fish oil and empty caps from eBay. I'll give it a go. If my brain thinks I'm taking 4 then that might help me.
Thank you ❤

Good luck! I hope it helps you. Other people have successfully used this method as well. I found that my 30mg cymbalta capsules averaged about 160 cymbalta beads per capsule so counting them and dividing up the beads to go into new gel caps can be tedious.

 

[Susannah]

Oh I can do relate to the withdraws :( I'm so sorry you're going through this. The brain zaps are the worst for me.

Those brain zaps are awful. So relieved to hear it wasn't only me going crazy.

I remember coming off it for 5 days. It was hell, I'm so frightened.

What's your dose and have long have you been on Venlafaxin? I consider myself an expert on this med.

 

[Rachel74]

Those brain zaps are awful. So relieved to hear it wasn't only me going crazy.

What's your dose and have long have you been on Venlafaxin? I consider myself an expert on this med.

At the moment I'm on 300mg daily.

 

[Susannah]

I take 300mg a day. It was upped this year with no effect at all.
My CPN said I could still take it with another antidepressant then she left and I'm left under the care of the crisis team who say I have to come off slowly while introducing a new antidepressant and lithium with Carbmazapine.
Things went wrong when I hit the menopause and as I take carbmazapine there isn't any HRT that will work. So I'm on the mini pill for that.

I see you answered the dosage here. I was om 300 mg too, for 6y. I was given Valium to cope with the flashes, but you might go for something to get a good sleep. If you have a good friend/family, use them. Don't be alone. All the best.

 

[Dazedandconfused32]

I see you answered the dosage here. I was om 300 mg too, for 6y. I was given Valium to cope with the flashes, but you might go for something to get a good sleep. If you have a good friend/family, use them. Don't be alone. All the best.

I take 300mg also, sleep however doesn't seem to be too much of an issue for me at present (knock on wood)

 

[Shamana]

Those brain zaps are awful. So relieved to hear it wasn't only me going crazy.

What's your dose and have long have you been on Venlafaxin? I consider myself an expert on this med.

Nearly everyone I've spoken to get's brain zaps from effexor or Cymbalta withdrawel. It's mental they are not considered addictive by the doctors prescribing them. SSRI's and SNRI's have been placed among the 30 most addictive substances of all time by the powers that be, yet GP's and psychiatrists are just in fucking denial and apathy about it.

 

[Rachel74]

Someone on a support page said the withdrawal is like coming off H! Great!!

 

[Dazedandconfused32]

How do you mean addictive though? I don't gain anything that I would consider to be addicting from it like alcohol or say something like Percocet

 

[Shamana]

How do you mean addictive though? I don't gain anything that I would consider to be addicting from it like alcohol or say something like Percocet

It's addictive in the sense that you get awful withdrawel symptoms coming of it and you might never be able to become like you were before you started it.

Doctors say that it's not a addictive because you don't build tolerance, but that's like saying that Cigarrets are not addictive because I don't need to smoke more than 20 a day.

Please watch this video, he explains why culture of perceptions of AD's are fucked up. He also explains why they are not considered addictive, because the defition of addiction changed when they introduced SSRI's

The part on withdrawels starts at 16 min.