Sarah don't worry about reducing other meds. In the first 6 months of last year I came off a cocktail of 8 drugs. I'm still taking a fair amount but its much reduced and my head isn't as foggy as it was. My fatigue is also as bit better. As long as you take baby steps and follow your doctor's advice you'll be fine. Phyllis
Omg the extreme tiredness has / is ruining my daily life. People know me for wanting to sleep all of the time. Its beyond any comprehension how much I want to lay down my head at every opportunity.
The only time I started to feel more energetic was when I reduced the Ven to 50mg. I've since reduced further to 37.5mg but this was the last two days. I'm back layed up on the sofa ever since. I'm waiting this out for my brain to recover and catch up.
It's not easy either way.. increasing your dose or reducing. You go with it or you try alternatives. For some it works others not.
Love and luck
Sara x
Thanks Sara, how long have you been on it for? Has the tiredness not improved at all long term? Can you still sleep at night? X
Hi Clare
I've been on ADs for about 16yrs. Always been tired but I'd say worse since taking Venlafaxine.
By 3pm I'm absolutely done in. My poor kids think I'm always so boring.
I do sleep at night thank goodness. And am always desperate to get into bed in the evenings.
I'm still laid up at the moment. Since reducing ven again my body and brain are wanting to do nothing but sleep. I'm hoping to see some improvement soon.
Sara x
Hello clare,
I didn't respond because I'm also going through some very nasty withdrawal right now. I'm trying to cut off the venlafaxine. Right now I'm taking it at all but I'm on other meds that help a little bit.
How are you doing today. Are you better?
Sorry you are still suffering. What side effects do you have?
I have been feeling a lot better. Had a couple of wobbles last couple of days but not sure why.
How are you? x
Nevermind me
...I'm too confused because of the change in meds and overthinking the symptoms to evaluate my situation, it's manageable. I'm tappering maybe too fast.
Maybe this will help you...the withdrawal is faaaar worst than the side effects of increasing the dose.
The wobbles most definitly are still side effects, you've past the worst trust me. These wobbles will most definitly dissapear in time...the more you think about them the more they last because it's confusing the receptors in your brain that handle the venlafaxine increasing the amount of noradrenaline which increases the anxiety and it turns into a vicious cicle. So you have to be calm and treat them with less importance concentrating on anything you can or on things you have to do. After all this passes you have to be at a steady functioning state with with happiness and sadness in normal amounts, for at least six months.Only after this period you can consider tappering off but only under strict supervision from your doctor. If he thinks it's too soon, almost 99 % of the time he's right.
Ugghhhhh took me a while to concentrate to write this. Hope this will help you at least a little bit and keep in mind...it doesn't matter how much mgs of venlafaxine you take at one moment if it helps you cope with the underlying problem and you can function normaly...only after being as close as you can to happiness and general well being you must think about what it does to your body.
Take care...these tough situations are building character and on some level makes you stronger.
Thank so much for all the advice.
To be honest if I can feel back to my normal self I don't intend on coming off them. I was on citalopram for years and it was coming off them that caused the depression and anxiety.
How long have you been on it and what dosage?
150 mg for 5 years and 225 for another 5.
The up in dosage may or may not have been beneficial on health and long term use but it stabilised me enough to go about my life and more importantly to search for answers from forums from loved ones psychologist and psychiatry. I wasted a lot of time blaming the mends and my self instead of just taking action in seeking help but with more wisdom. 99% of the time the specialist is wright.
Take care and if you have any questions I am more than happy to answear.
I have been on and off Venlafaxine/Effexor for over 20 years. It was/is the only thing to pull me out of episodes of severe depression and keep me out. I currently take 150mg ER. Ive gone off of Effexor for periods and always had severe episodes of depression within a few months of doing so. The reasons for going off have always been related to feeling drowsy/fatigued/sedated. If I took the 150mg effexor at bedtime, I would wake up at 3am and not be able to go back to sleep for hours making the next day shitty and exhausting. If I took in morning, I was absolutely wiped out sedated in afternoon requiring several hours of bedrest. I determined after many years of experience that my choices were 1- be too depressed to function -or- 2- be too exhausted to function.
I chose option 2 because although it was painful , it was less painful
The other day, I thought I would try something. (my MD had previously increased my venlafaxine from 150mg to 225mg because of low level depression persisting on only 150mg) I called my MD and said Im exhausted on 225mg of venlafaxine XR. She offered to reduce. I accepted and asked to have Bupropion added in for activation and and to help knock out the remaining depression still breaking through. I then decided to try this medication schedule:
am- 150 mg Bupropion XL 75 mg Venlafxine ER cap 4-6 cups coffee over the next several hours and afternoon 5pm- 75 mg Venlafaxine ER cap
THIS HAS BEEN A GAME-CHANGER. Now I no longer feel like someone has shot me with a horse level sedation dart from 2-8pm everyday. Im not depressed and Im not overly sedated. Im still very tired in the afternoon but im FUNCTIONAL. With coffee and will-power I can push through. I hope this helps. Something to try at least. :)