I have been on Venlafaxine for about 9 years for anxiety and panic disorder. I was only ever on 75mg but it was the only thing that help stabalise my mental health. When I was pregnant 6 years ago I tapered to 37.5mg p/day which was horrible and when i was pregant again 4 years ago, I didn't change it.
I have been feeling for the last couple of years much less anxious and more able to cope with things, therefore I've been wanting to come off these for a while. I noticed that if I missed a dose I would really suffer for it the next day, causing panic if I had run out or something. Anyway, things in my life are positive and I feel now is a good time to try and get off completely.
Thing is, I have been halving my 37.5mg pills for a few weeks and that's been good, but I can't do less than that without horrendous side effects. I don't want to go back to the anxiety I experienced in the first place but I don't want to stay on hese forever either.
I have tried a half pill one day and a quater pill the next for a week and just don't feel myself (dizzy, foggy brain, anxious, angry easily, nauseous etc.). I don't get capsules so can;t take"beads" out so I have to snap the pills in estimated halves/quarters. I felt so bad this morning I took the other quarter from last night.
Docs keep saying "you're on such a low dose, just take one every other day and you'll be fine" but it's really hard even on such a low dose.
Any advice greatly appreciated - I am weary of "bridging witg prozac" because I don't want to swap one drug to another. I am happy to try vegetarian diet, or detailed weaning plans, etc.
I don't think it matters what the dosage is, there's always going to be withdrawals, I was on 75mg a day too, I've been off them for nearly 2 weeks now. The withdrawals have been bad but I just wanted off them so much that I've persevered. Have u tried taking omega 3 fish oil? That's supposed to help with the brain zaps, I've also heard that antihistamines are supposed to help with the withdrawal symptoms.
I could try the Omega3 and I've also heard that 5-HTP is good? I'm just not comfortable in myself physically and mentally anymore which was the whole reason I decided to start weaning off in the first place!
Has anything been helping you & how did you come off from 75mg?
Brain zaps are hard to describe, it kinda feels like an electric shock to the head, common withdrawal symptom when coming off any of this type of medication
To be honest I've just kinda got on with it lol, I decided to come off them as it just made me fill ill all the time, I had constant headaches, no energy and just felt yucky in general. For the first 3 days i pretty much slept, I've been taking multi vitamins and omega 3, but not sure if they are hek
Sorry pressed reply button by mistake!! Yeah I'm not sure if the vitamins and omega are helping or if it's just getting better day by day. I was going to cut down to 37.5 a day but I missed a couple of doses as I was sleeping so much, so just decided to go cold turkey!
Well done! I missed 2 doses whilst away over the weekend, thought why not cold-turkey, and by the end of day 2 I was sofa-bound and just not functioning properly which is hard to cope with (I have a 3 and 5 year old) so I gave up on cold turkey, but still haven't been myself since. I don;t want to rush it in case it sends me backwards, but I'm impatient and don't want weeks of withdrawals!
I think it's gonna be different for everyone according to circumstances, my kids are 17 and 18 so they can look after themselves, I'm lucky that I can sleep or lie in bed or on sofa and get through it without having to look after anybody but myself! It's obviously gonna be a million times harder with having small children who rely on u and don't understand. I definitely wouldn't recommend changing to Prozac as I had the same withdrawal coming off that. I know everyone is different but if it helps I was on citalopram a few years ago and I had no withdrawal whatsoever coming off that, I again missed a couple of doses and just never went back to it. Might be worth speaking to ur doc about changing to something with less withdrawal symptoms?
It isn't something you can do fast I have found out and even though 37 mg sounds very low, it can make us dependent on it. As I have stated before I have been on finally 37 mg now for a couple of weeks and doing the every other day and will be done with them this week. I'm hoping I can be done now but no guarantee of it. I might still have to get a few more of them to get me through it. Wishing you the best with this problem.
Thank you all for your advice. I am going power through but take it slowly. I may ask my Dr if they can precrbe capsules so I can take out a couple of beads at a time or something lik ethat so hopefully I notice the withdrawals less. It's so hard to decide if it's psychosomatic or not!
I've been trying to make some sence of my and others reactions here.
It seems that the withdrawl leaves the senses raw, but I've put it many ways in these forums - still like the one about the party and the music stops but everyone is still shouting.
I wish there was a type of forum where you could post comments in a totem pole style.
ie top is "first day" "Second day" etc etc
Reason is that you could see everyones comments and see a pattern that day 4 is being the worst of the first week. Someone is not affected because thay did xyz, and this may be the 'cure'
I bought a pill cutter on line and cut the pills into smaller and smaller doses. I did this over many months. I started at 150mg and when could only go down to 37.5mg in capsules, had tablets prescribed. This way you can cut them up. At the end I was taking a tiny amount on finger tip. Cut tablets to 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8th etc. That way you will reduced the amount really slowly. I did not get any withdrawals doing it this way. It did takje a long time but was worth it. But I am lucky as do not have to pay for medication at my age.
I know some countries do not have pills and also price is prohibitive. Good luck and hope you manage.
Zaps are like quick electric charges through your head. Very weird. I got them when I stopped cold turkey. This time I withdrew really slowly and got no withdrawals at all, including brain zaps.
No piulls much better. You can buy a pill cutter on line and it is easy to cut them into smaller and smaller pieces. It is more accurate that way, and easier.
It is just over a year since I withdrew. I was on 150mg for 9 years. It took me 10 months to withdraw but I did not get any withdrawal symptoms as I cut pills into smaller and smaller portions.
My 37 mg run out this week and I sure am hoping to be done after going down from 15 to 75 and now this and doing like two weeks of on and then every other day and over this time period. It has been a couple of months and may not be long enough yet but I will certainly try.