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Hello, I’m 49. I’ve weaned myself off Venlafaxin 2 months ago, after a 6 months long phase of tapering, and I’m now struggling with pretty bad withdrawal + restless legs symptoms. But let’s start with the beginning. At age 19, I had a major nervous and physical breakdown out of the blue, and after 2 years of medical wandering, I was diagnosed at age 21 with fibromyalgia and put on Venlafaxin XL, first at a dose of 37.5mg, gradually increased to 150mg. Despite its adverse side effects (sweating, weight gain, dry mouth, etc), the drug helped me to recover and to have a normal, happy, and productive life. Along these 28 years under Venlafaxin, I changed my dose from time to time as a function of my condition, with a minimum of 37.5mg and a maximum of 150mg. These last 10-15 years, I maintained an average dose of 75mg, with some increases to 112.5 mg when I felt less good. Each time I tried to reduce the dose to less than 75 mg, I felt terrible and quickly got back to 75mg. Five years ago, I consulted a neurologist expert in sleep medicine for an excessive fatigue. He diagnosed me with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and restless legs syndrome (RLS). This RLS appeared in my thirties. First, it was mild, but it became more severe with time. When I consulted the neurologist, RLS was regularly waking me up at night, damaging my sleep quality. The sleep doctor put me on pregabalin and then on gabapentin, which are both antiepileptic drugs used frequently for RLS. Both had unbearable side effects to me: excessive tiredness, extremely vivid nightmares, memory losses, etc. He then put me on pramipexole, a dopamine agonist. This drug worked well at first, but it quickly made things much worst by making RLS symptoms appear during evening, and even during daytime, a well-known phenomena called ‘augmentation’. Sitting still in a plane or in a cinema became a horrible ordeal to me, and this impacted a lot my life quality. Furthermore, the combination of pramipexole and venlafaxine led me to develop some depressive symptoms. With one drug acting on serotonine and noradrenaline, and the other on dopamine (pramipexole), I think that my brain was struggling to reach a stable chemical equilibrium. Still, I also had to endure a lot of stress during these last five years (work, divorce), so it is hard for me to know the cause of the aggravation of my mental condition. My neurologist told me that Venlafaxin was known to trigger RLS, and that the use of this drug for decades could be the very cause of my RLS. He encouraged me to try to wean myself off the drug. The plan was to quit Venalafixin, to assess the situation, and then to try to wean off pramipexole, with the hope that (1) my fibromyalgia was a thing of the past, and (2) my brain would eventually recover its chemical equilibrium and that, without venlafaxin, RLS would go away. Nice plan, in theory. So I started tapering Venelafaxin at the beginning of 2023, starting from a dose of 112.5 mg. Reading the advices given by this forum, I realize that I did this tapering very badly. I first lowered the dose to 75mg, alternating 112.5 mg and 75mg one day and the other, and then using 75mg every day after a few weeks. I then kept 75mg for a month or so, and then started alternating 75mg-37.5mg for a few weeks, then moved to 37.5mg every day, stayed at this dose for a few weeks, and then started taking my 37.5mg dose every 2 days, then every 3 days, to eventually quit completely Venlafaxin at the beginning of August. This tapering has been plain awful, bringing me into hell many times. Each time I decreased my dose of Venlafaxin, my RLS symptoms disappeared for a few days, but I was a wreck experimenting brain zaps, confusion, sweating, nausea, diahrea, extreme anxiety, weeping, depressive ideas, headaches, etc. This has been a nightmare. But I’ve been through it. At the end of August, I was starting to see my withdrawal symptoms reduced and to feel better, recovering energy, and positive thinking, without any hint of a coming back of fibromyalgia. I thought that I had won the battle. Even my RLS symptoms were improving, and I was ready to start my withdrawal of pramipexole. And then, on Sept 2, all fell apart. I felt very anxious and weak in the afternoon. The day after, I woke up with nausea, belly pain, and an extreme tiredness combined to a totally depressed mind. I felt like I was dying, and I went to the ER. The blood test just showed a mild increase of bilirubine. The ER doctor concluded that I was probably a bit sick, maybe a gastro-enteritis, and that my condition was worsened because of my withdrawal of Venlafaxin. During one week, my condition did not improve. After an abdominal echography, my family doctor concluded that my digestive and bilirubine problems could be related to a gallbladder stone episode (a small stone in my gallbladder could have moved and impacted my digestion), but this did not explain why I was feeling THAT bad. Then, in a day, my condition improved drastically, and I was back in good shape. It lasted two weeks. And then, one week ago, the same thing happened: I woke up with nausea, tremors, and extreme weakness. I went again to the ER with the feeling that I was dying, and this time my blood test was perfect. I had an abdominal scanner that showed nothing except a few small stones in my gallbladder that do not explain my symptoms. Physically, I have felt weak since then, even if a bit better from time to time. During a few days I couldn’t nearly eat at all because of huge nausea. Now, it's getting better. Today, no nausea and no diarhrea. Mentally, I still feel overwhelmed with anxiety, negative thinking, the certainty that I’m about to die. My RLS symptoms are back at full force. I weep for anything, e.g. just at looking at the picture of my son. I have from time to time the feeling that all is lost, that there’s no hope left, that the rest of my life will be pure suffering. I have seen several doctors over this last month, made several examinations, and the conclusion is that I may have had a minor gallbladder issue, but nothing that could put me in such a bad condition. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that I’m experiencing a post-acute Venlafaxin withdrawal symptom. I discussed with my neurologist today, and he proposed me to take another antidepressant to get better (I don't remember the name he mentionned), and to replace pramipexole with a non-dopaminergic treatment. On Friday, I'm gonna have my gallblader remove through surgery. The plan is to benefit from the fact that I will be under strong pain killers for a week afterwards to taper off ramipexole and replace it in parallel with pregabaline. I will also have an iron injection. Apparently, it can alleviate RLS for a fraction of the sufferers. It is worth a try. I will start the new antidepressant after the surgery. Once I will get better, my plan is also to see a psychologist to get some help with my withdrawal symptoms, but also to do all I can to relax and take care of me: resting, reading, meditating, walking in Nature, etc. Reading the many testimonials on this forum telling stories very similar to mine helps me a lot. They give me the feeling that I’m not crazy, that what is happening to me is not just ‘in my mind’. I have taken Venlafaxin for 28 years, plus Pramipexole during these last five years to fight against the RLS induced by Venlafaxin. Now I see that it will take time for my brain to ‘rebuild itself’ after this withdrawal. I know that the withdrawal of pramipexole will also be plain awful. But I have to do it. My only hope is that my brain will heal itself, neuron by neuron, serotonine, noradrenaline and dopamine receptor by receptor, and that there is a light at the end of this awfull tunnel. In the mean time, I would welcome any advice to help me go through this and to let these brain drugs behind me forever.

Hello everyone, I don't know what to do. I have been on Effexor XR for 4 years. At the end of last year, probably October, I started tapering down from 225mg to 37.5mg until January. Then I took 37.5mg for two months and stopped in March. It went well for 3 weeks and then I crashed. I went to my doctor and she told me to go back to 37.5 mg and then 75 mg, but I only took 75 mg for 2 weeks and then went back to 37.5 mg. It took me 2 weeks after the reinstatement to feel better. This went on for two months until I had an appointment with my doctor where we agreed to stop the medication. I then took the 37.5mg every two days and stopped after a month. I know this was a very bad approach. Now I have been off the medication for almost 6 weeks and I still feel very bad. I am very anxious, cry every day and have headaches with nausea. I am wondering if I should go back on the medication at a low dose (e.g. two buds or maybe 37,5 mg) and then taper off really slowly after a period of time. Furthermore, I am also under a lot of external pressure at the moment. I am losing my job at the end of the year and have to apply for another one right now. But I don't have the strength for that. The only AD I took before Effexor was Citalopram 20mg for a year and I stopped it cold turkey because I had no idea about ADs. That was a year before I started Effexor. I am really grateful for any reply and wish you all the best.

I wish I new what i know now. Taking whatever was given whilst in a mess. I would like to stop the olanzapine first, I am using digital scales. Which are quite acurate but under 1mg i dont think they will cut it . Has anybody tapered using scales all the way down?

Hi all, I am seeking your advice on my persistent symptoms after coming off of Effexor 150 mg three years ago and would be immensely grateful to hear your opinions on the alternatives I have. Here is my story: I was on antidepressants over a period of 20 years, with some breaks in between, on different SSRIs/SNRIs and dosages. In the beginning, the tablets seemed to help, but this effect wore off over time and I was more and more reluctant to swallow tablets while still being chronically depressed. In 2019 I felt stable enough and discontinued the medication twice. Unfortunately, I had no clue about the risks and how to taper off safely. I had no adverse effects until 3-4 months after the discontinuation. I believed my doctor that this was a relapse, went back on and was quickly ok again. In 2020, after having learned about delayed withdrawal symptoms I started a new taper using tapering strips over a 6 months period. Unfortunately, still far too quick. Again, I had no problems during the taper, but hell started once I was on zero in August 2020. I have not recovered since then. The physical symptoms in the acute phase included insomnia, weight loss, diarrhea, vertigo, night sweats, tinnitus. The mental symptoms were far worse – I couldn’t be alone, suffered from immense anxiety, inner restlessness, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, felt very much impaired with regard to planning, deciding, executing. What has improved: I have regained 6 kg, gastrointestinal issue are rare, no vertigo or night sweats anymore. But these were minor things. What tortures me most today is the persistent insomnia (can go to sleep, but wake up 3-5 hours later), anxiety, severe cccdepression, anhedonia, unability to feel well and have positive emotions, suicidal ideation. Over the 3 years in protracted withdrawal I tried the usual things: naturopathic treatment, homeopathy, yoga, nutritional supplements, Gupta program, hormone replacement therapy, psychotherapy, spent 5 weeks in clinic. I use intermittently sleep teas, melatonine, valerian, lavender oil and occassionally sleeping pills and lorazepam as an emergency medication. I am 58 years old, female, and live with my husband and daughter in Germany. I am currently employed, working mostly from home and fear I can’t keep this up due to my deteriorating state. My symptoms are permanent, i.e. no windows and waves, but I get better in the evening. I feel I have reached a point where I can’t go on. I am too exhausted fighting this level of anxiety and depression in a sleep-deprived mode. I have not seen any real improvements to sleep or the mental stuff in these three years. I consider going back on medication. I know I need to consult a doctor, but as you know they have no knowledge about withdrawal. Can I have your opinon please? Going back on Effexor, if so what dosage? Taking a sedating AD like mirtazapine to help with sleep? Other sleep medication? Tricyclics? I wonder if it is the lack of sleep that prevents me from recovering. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I greatly appreciate the work you do here, I really do! All the best Marie

I’ve been on antidepressants since 1989; venlafaxine for the last 15 years. I titrated off Venlafaxine beginning on 01/31/2023, completely off as of 02/28/23. I am well and truly miserable. I know even though I am off of it that these are withdrawal symptoms, even though they mock depression and anxiety. My psychiatrist recommended and prescribed Auvelity, but I want to be off these SSNRIs completely so that I can better understand the nature of my GAD and MMD and what I need to do to get better. I have some .05 Lorazepam I break in half and take when it’s really bad, but my sadness, irritability, annd hopelessness are off the chart. What can I do to get through this without killing myself - literally? I honestly believe these are withdrawal symptoms more than they are GAD and MDD. When does this end? I’ve read most people’s symptoms ease after two weeks.

Rene94 from Germany / I'm so desperate and in a black hole of hopelessness.. Hello everyone! I've been following the forum for 6 months, I like it so much. There is no such thing in Germany. I 'll try to keep my first post short. As I'm new here, I wish everyone here all the best! Introduction: At the beginning of my topic I want to apologize for my bad english. I 'll try my best to write my thoughts here. I am a young men from Germany and currently 28 years old. Drug History: I have taken Venlafaxin 75mg in the past for anxiety disorders, I have never had any type of depression. My psychiatrist told me I could take these drugs forever and taper them off in 4-6 weeks. Well so much for that.. I then took it for 10 months and right from the start I noticed strange side effects like total genital numbness, complete loss of libido, emotional numbness, sleep duration was normal but numb. I don't know how to describe it, but I had neither the feeling of being tired nor the feeling that the sleep was restful and that I slept well. I no longer had an appetite and the fear was gone too, but so were all the positive feelings and thoughts. I had many other side effects but I thought I had to endure this temporarily, also because of work. I can't afford to lose this job. I lost my last job because of my anxiety disorder. Taper process I was tired of feeling like a robot and trapped in a lifeless body without having my personality, so I decided to stop taking the drug. I reduced it to 50mg for 2 weeks in December then to 37.5 for 2 weeks, 12.5mg for 5 days and then on January 26th I cut my dose to 0. As I learned afterwards, it was too fast, but I can't undo it. Withdrawal/Symptoms On tapering off and getting down to 37.5 mg I noticed days when I had some emotional energy, slight desire for sex, better sleep and some genital feeling. I figured I was on the right track and I needed to get rid of the drug altogether. What I experienced after 0 was absolute horror, hell on earth. A place that few of us are allowed to get to know. Acute withdrawal symptoms lasted about 6 weeks, then faded away. After those 6 weeks I got severe insomnia and all the other symptoms that were there from the start: hives, hair loss, hair texture change, total genital numbness, erectile dysfunction, total emotional numbness, derealization, deep depression, akathisia, digestive problems, etc. I think you know what i'm talking about. Now I'm at 9.3 months from 0 and gone is just the akathisia, digestive issues a bit better but that's it.. It's sad and I'm having suicidal thoughts because I don't think I'll ever recover. It's too much what was taken from me. I just wanted a fresh start. Now I'm a robot, a man-made AI. What can I do? Do you have any advice for me? If I experience a window on a symptom, does that mean that improvement will come back? Even if it was little? Thank you!

mod note: introductions merged: first introduction was titled how soon should I consider re-weaning off citalopram Hello there, Am really glad I found this site. I have been on Citalopram since 2008 for anxiety/depression. In the time between Jan 2008 and now, the highest dose I have taken is 20mg. I had one clear year of being off completely between April 2015 and April 2016, but then took MDMA recreationally in March 2016 and triggered a relapse. I ended up taking 10mg of citalopram again (doctor's advice.) You can see from my signature that in 2018, I was down to 2.5mg, I had actually held there for a whole year. My taper wasn't the advised 10 per cent reductions however, I had done 50 per cent at a time (ie 10mg to 5 mg to 2.5mg). I took a tiny amount of MDMA in May 2018, and two weeks later I was suffering with symptoms of anxiety and depression again. These continued, and I panicked a bit and over the next three months updosed to 10mg again in three stages (again at advice of my GP, from 2.5 to 5 to 10mg.) Even though I still wasn't really feeling much better after a few weeks at 10mg, I declined to increase any further. Instead, I tried acupuncture to help regulate my nervous system. This seems to have paid off. Apart from the fact that I have thoroughly learned that I can no longer tolerate an even miniscule amount of recreational drugs, I now realise that my reduction and increases in doses have all been too drastic. It has taken me since August 2018 to re stabilise on 10mg of Citalopram. I'm now beginning to understand why, and what I've put my CNS through. I'm generally feeling a lot better although I do still notice some antidepressant side effects such as fatigue, a bit of a 'racing head/racing thoughts' and some sleep disturbance, although gradually my sleep is improving.I also seem to keep catching colds/ having flu like symptoms, and I'm wondering if this is actually another side effect. I'd really like some advice on how soon I should consider beginning a taper, in the light of all that yo yoing around on dosage that happened between May and August last year. My guess is that I may need to hold and stabilise a while longer, I'd be interested to know your thoughts. With thanks

Hi all, I am new to this wonderful community. I have to say that it is an amazing place with so many interesting information! Thanks for making this possible! I read already a bit of things that are interesting to my personal situation. I am 41, from Belgium, and taking 3 different medications, all of them are psycho narcotics. I would like to get rid of them. I have adapted a new lifestyle the last couple of years and have been working on that and on myself and I hope that I am strong enough to taper the 3 medications that I am taking. Now my question. I am taking 30 mg Mirtazapine, 150 mg Effexor XR and I just came down from 60 mg Diazepam to 7 mg. Now 14 days on this 7 mg and somehow intuitively I felt that I need to stop withdrawing with the benzo's now and start tapering with the Effexor XR. And keep the benzo's stable for a while. The benzo tapering has been going well till the last couple of steps and the step from 8 to 7 mg now hit me pretty hard. I have to slow this tapering down and make smaller steps, but before doing that I would love to taper off Effexor XR first, at least to 75 mg ? I think the Effexor XR somehow neutralises my emotions big time and as well makes me very active. I do not sleep much, and still I am so active and never tired. I think that is caused by the Effexor XR. I would like to know advice on that ? Is that the good way to go ? I think it is. But here another question : would it be wise to wait tapering Effexor till I feel more stable after having tapered the Diazepam now. And maybe keep all my medication stable for another 2 weeks before I start tapering Effexor XR? I have had made by the pharmacy 145 mg and 140 mg Effexor, each 30 gelules. I can't make a mistake by starting now 140 mg and do it for a month ? Or better wait a few weeks till more stable ? Thanks for the advice on my last question and also about the further tapering strategy! Many regards, Nik

Hello, my name is Sturm! I am from Austria and am looking for someone to read over my story about getting off of Effexor, since, quite frankly, I am terrified that it will last a few weeks more, or that I could get addicted to benzos (see more about that later) in the process (as the worst side effect I have atm is very bad insomnia). I hope I am posting this in the correct place. So, this is a bit of a long story. I have been taken Venlafaxine / Effexor for around 7 months (since January 2022). Around two months ago I decided to taper it (I was at 150mg). We tapered to 75mg. I don’t recall any psychological side effects from this, but I did notice muscle pain (especially from my left leg). I stayed on this for around two weeks, when I tapered again to 37,5mg. I stayed at this dosage for two weeks, and didn’t notice any psychological change besides muscle pain. I was then told I could get off Effexor, or I could take it every other day. I took it every day for a week. By this time, I noticed brain fog, but nothing extremely strong. At this point, after a week of this, I asked the psychiatrist about a prozac bridge, knowing the withdrawal effects would undoubtedly be terrible. The next day (Friday 21.07.2022) I was off Effexor and took 10mg prozac. At this point, I had a decent amount of nausea and akathisia, a reduced appetite, as well as chills, but never experienced brain zaps. The 5th day had the worst nausea. By day 7, the nausea was seemingly gone, and I thought the withdrawal was over, so I stopped taking prozac a few days later (31.07). The next few days were pretty recent, little to no nausea. By August 5th, (roughly two weeks since being off of the Effexor), I had some mild nausea, chills were back, and worst of all, I started having really bad insomnia. Despite bot having taken any prozac in 8 days, I took it again on August 7th, thinking the insomnia happened due to stopping prozac and being off of it long enough for its half life to expire, therefore allowing more of Effexor’s withdrawal effects to occur (since prozac normally suppresses most of the nasty ones). This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case, as of today, August 10th (day 19), I still am having sleep problems. I am also concerned that I could have become dependent on prozac for taking it for around 14 days. Could dependence on prozac be attained that early, or does it normally take around a month to occur? It has been nearly three weeks since I am off of Effexor. When should I expect the rest of the withdrawal to end? When should my insomnia end (before yesterday and the day before (I was proscribed lorazepam, I hadn’t gotten any sleep in three days due to the insomnia). I was proscribed lorazepam 2,5mg to help me sleep at night. Is this safe to take, or will I get addicted? The psychiatrist and nurses at the hospital where I was given this prescription said it shouldn’t be an issue unless I take this dosage for months. Do I believe them?

Greetings, My drug history on my profile doesn't list past meds I've taken. I was for some reason thinking it just meant current meds. I've been on a TON of different antipsychotics, antidepressants, benzos, and ADHD meds starting with childhood. I fast tapered Effexor in 2015 with disasterous results. I ended up checking myself into a psych hospital and was misdiagnosed as "manic." (I don't accept that diagnosis). Then came the cascade of antipsychotics and anticonvulsants. Seroquel, Latuda, Abilify, Trileptal, Depakote). I switched from one to another due to adverse effects. I reinstated Effexor long term and was convinced that's just "how I was" and feared life without it. Any time I describe withdrawal symptoms to doctors, I get the "well withdrawal is mild and lasts 1-2 weeks, so the symptoms you're experiencing are your illness." I would include drugs I've been on in my signature, but there is just too many. I FINALLY did what the medical community failed to do and recognized my difficulties in coming off Effexor were withdrawal. I am so upset and angry that modern medicine has failed me. Nobody caught this when they should have. I'm just done with the side effects of antidepressants. I've been able to get off most meds (it was hell coming off seroquel, let me tell you). I've had a hard time with antidepressants in particular. And it seems many of the diagnosis they made have been false. But Effexor has been awful. The lower doses were brutal. I struggled hard to get to 20mg and I just can't go anymore. About 4 months ago I failed to bridge to Prozac. My doc put me on 5mg Prozac in addition to my 20mg Effexor to let it "ramp up." He did not reduce the Effexor while doing this (I've been on Prozac before and found it activating). I began feeling very unwell; agitated, anxious. I felt over activated. Like I was on overload. I was even running a fever which went away after I stopped the Prozac. Doc said I was probably "catching a bug." He wouldn't acknowledge that hey, maybe that combo was a little toxic. Can such a reaction even happen at such low doses? I dont even know. Eh, anyway, that's my story. Doing my best not to feel hopeless. I hope I havent permanently messed myself up with all these med trials. I get especially anxious when people talk about sensitization and kindling, because if it's happened to anyone, it's me. That prospect makes me feel hopeless. I hope I can get off these drugs eventually. I dont want to be a lifer. I want my life back. My therapist suggested a medical detox going cold turkey. I'm like, idk anyone who will do a 6 month detox, Cheryl. And there aren't enough benzodiazepines in the world to control my withdrawal panic attacks. I've visited this site before. I'll have to try to condense my drug history as much as possible for my signature.

Hiya I am brand new to the site and am struggling to stay focussed and positive as l taper off venlafaxine. I have been on various psych meds for over 10 years and realise they no longer work for me/make my life worse. I've recently had to quit my job of 10 years and find simply adulting, never mind parenting overwhelming. My 2 little boys suffer because of my mental health and mood swings from over anxiousness to apathy, punctuated with inappropriate crying and irritation. I have no joy in my life. I am terrified about the impact on my boys and husband. Please will someone point me in the direction of success stories or share yours with me. How do other families cope? I'm frightened and lonely. I've never spoken with anyone who understands what I'm going through. I'm on week 10 of 300mg taper 5-10% at 6-10 week intervals. Current dose 262.5mg. Namaste, MissyE

So I was taking 75mg from Nov 2020, then suddenly stopped in March 11th. In those months I had some very odd, frightening situations which were around the time I missed a few days doses. Then after March 11, on March 13 it kicked in again. However, its not yet gone totally. Its quite frightening. My head is/was spinning, I felt very lightheaded and like im constantly half way to losing consciousness, cant keep a thought in my head before it vanishes to be replaced by another, memory problems, shaking/tremors, intense fear/panic that comes seemingly from nowhere, problems with disassociation, nasty intrusive thoughts. Basically it feels like my head is just 'off'. Something is not right! And I hate it. It feels like the control and thought center of the brain is just stumbling around drunk. Im trying to lay down and concentrate and it just cant be done reliably. My mind is running around all over the place. Its been 3 weeks now, and the bodily symptoms have almost entirely gone. I did have some very bad and consistent lightheaded feelings for about 19 days once the symptoms first started. That seems to be going now finally, but I want my mind to be clearer! I want to feel like myself again and not this confused, disorientated way cause its obv stopping me from being able to experience myself and actually get on with life.

Dear all, This has been put off for all too long. I am a 40-year-old male living in Scandinavia. Over the last twenty years I have been prescribed various SRI’s mainly to counter anxiety that debuted as a major panic attack in my early twenties during a stressful time in my life. It is like this experience opened a door that I have never been able to shut again. The anxiety has been there in varying degrees since that day. I am sure some of it is fueled by the fear of anxiety, but it feels like something broke that day. The switching between different drugs over the first ten years was mainly done to counter side effects like fatigue and feeling like a zombie most of the time, not wanting to get out of bed in the mornings, not being able to keep up any good habits and failing to establish structure in daily life. This has put me out of the job I used to love so much, and I am now on social welfare. The fatigue, flattened/decoupled feelings and the sleep disturbances has been interpreted by the doctors as depression, dysthymia, bipolar depression and so on. I have been in treatment for this over the years, but nothing has been successful over time. I have suggested doing a tapered withdrawal over and over but have always been told to postpone. Well, now I cannot wait any longer. I feel like my life has been put on hold for way to long already. I have been on Venlafaxine since 2012. 75 mg in the beginning. The anxiety was somewhat held in check, but I felt like a zombie. The only thing that would momentarily burst me out of this bubble was drinking some beers on the weekend. (Dopamine?) The dosage was increased to 150 mg to activate the noradrenergic component of the SNRI. I ended up in the Emergency Room with an ECG due to the feeling of unregular hearth rhythm. A blood test revealed that I have a CYP mutation that makes my liver metabolize more of the active compound than the average, so 37.5 mg for me might be a normal maintenance dosage. Over the last eight years I have been varying the Venlafaxine dosage between 75, 50 (removing beads) and 37.5 mg. Sometimes up to counter increasing anxiety, then down again to try to counter the side effects. In 2017 I was determined to taper off and I asked for a switch to Citalopram that I weaned off two times before several years ago. The switch was done directly replacing 37.5 mg Venlafaxine with 10 mg Citalopram. It felt like a shadow had been lifted and my energy levels increased severely. After a few days, the anxiety really set in. After four weeks, the dosage was increased to 20 mg and the anxiety decreased but I mostly laid in bed. A week later the dosage was decreased again to 15 mg, but I felt even more depleted. The doctor concluded that I had to low levels of serotonin and recommended to switch and back track to Venlafaxine steady state. So, I did. Thinking there is never really the right time to go through a tough withdrawal, I started reading up on the subject now. My wife is very supporting, and we agree that the lingering questions we have had over the years, asking how much of my troubles are due to side effects of SRI’s needs to be answered. Googling a transition to Fluoxetine (Prozac) for the longer half-live and an easier(?) withdrawal led me to this forum. If I ever forget to take the Venlafaxine one night I get electric zap's and nervousness around noon the next day. I am a bit overwhelmed now by all the information, the stories of people still in recovery for several years after their last dosage and to be honest I am really scared.

I’m new to the site and go by PDRE. I’m currently weaning off of Venlafaxine XR. I’m now to 37.5mg of regular I saw on another site to stay in the caps and count granules, but I shake, vision plays a part and I suffer numbness in my prominent hand, also anxiety ( Some symptoms due to other issues, although the drug prob makes it worse; as I’m finding out). My doctor did this so I can cut them. I just really need support and guidance. Ty I’m looking forward to meeting and learning. PDRE

Hi. I used citalopram for 15 years and after that venlafaxin 300mg/day for three years. I tapered out Venlafaxin over 11 months last year. Now i have been without medication over six months. I have so much withdrawal-sympthom that im thinking of giving up and go back to medication. Im thinking of going back on a low dose of medication and try to tap it out again later using the 10% method. Do you have any recommendations about this? What dose will i goback to? Should i go back to a low dose or should i go up to the maximum dose i used before and start from there? Should i go back to venlafaxin again or should i use another AD-medication (maybe one ssri instead of ssni? )? I am very grateful for any recommendations or support I can get. /David

Hi! This is my story: At the age of 23 I was taken with panic disorder. I had no previous experience with mental illness and went through hell experiencing this for the first time - saw myself locked up or not being able to take care of myself or live a "normal" live (whatever that is) ever again. This was during my last year at teacher training college. I was prescribed Anafranil (TCA) and also got Sobril (benzo) to cope with the anxiety during the first weeks of medication. After a couple of months with medication, therapy and breathing technique training I started feeling quite OK and somehow managed to complete my education. But this was only the beginning of many years of experience of mental disorders. Living with panic disorder was a struggle working as a middle school teacher, even though medication and calm breathing helped. Eventually I reduced and quit medicating - only to develop depressions. So I was prescribed some new medicine. And when I tried to quit that medication later, I went straight down into a depression again. During almost 30 years now I've been on antidepressants. I've struggled to cope with the ups and downs of life, along with my mental "illness". I married and got three wonderful children that I love more than life. Then my husband was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Our first born son started showing signs of not feeling good when he started school. He didn't like school, had a feeling of not belonging and struggled to fit in. We reached out for help from everywhere, but noone seemed to be able to help. In his teens he couldn't cope anymore and got depressed. He couldn't finish high school and we've been trying to get him help ever since. He is now 23... A young man with very little hope and sense of meaning. And still living with his mom and dag. He was just diagnosed with ADHD, but he himself (and we) is pretty sure that's not the whole story. People living with relatives with autism/asperger tend to take for granted that he has that kind of diagnosis - including himself. But not the psychiatrists. Whatever. (Help him with his PROBLEMS maybe? "No - because our tests show that he doesn't have that diagnosis - so he doesn't have those problems!" Hmm...) Our two years younger son was happy, bright and full of joy during his childhood. Growing up, he and his big brother were the best of friends. But they started drifting apart as the older son got increasingly more depressed. And then suddenly, just a couple of months before his fifteenth birthday, he started to feel sad. When we understood that he needed professional help we took him to a psychiatrist specialized in children and teens. Me and my husband both accompanied him. He was very quiet and had a hard time speaking and interacting with other people. And as the psychiatrist struggled to make him talk she suddenly asks him "Do you really think you are so pitiable? I've worked with children who have cancer. THEY are pitiable!" We were shocked by her words and immidiately took our son out of there and explained to him that he should not care about what she said. That is was unprofessional, evil and not fair to say such things! But the damage was already made. The next day we all - family and best friends - got a personal sms from him, telling us how much he loved us... It was the day before his 15:th birthday. We got there in time to save him. And the psychiatrist were denounced - from that one clinic... After this, our youngest son suffered from a bad depression for a long time. And wasn't able to complete high school properly. It took some years. He is now 21 and have just recently been able to take up his studies again. He is a gifted musician and actor and is determined to follow his dreams. Our daughter is the twin-sister of our youngest son. She used to be the happiest little girl in the world. And then she grew up. She started feeling anxious. About everything. To the point that she couldn't eat because of nausea and lack of apetite. So - eventually, when she was 12, we took her to the psychiatrist. To get help with her anxiety. They took a look at her and then immidiately tried to make her "amit" that she was starving herself on purpose...and gave her some more anxiety! (Thanks!) It didn't matter that we assured them that that was not the case. I myself have been "accused" of being anorexic for the first 25 years of my life - which hurt a great deal, since I had a huge complex for being so thin. And so does my daughter. Since then her anxiety has slowly increased. A couple of years ago she was diagnosed with GAD - General Anxiety Disorder - and was prescribed Sertraline. About a year ago we started to suspect that she had developed bipolar disorder. She seemed to be slightly hypomanic to us. My husband followed her to her psychiatrist and told him about these thoughts. But he dismissed it and sait it was only "mood swings". In the beginning of last summer she started to seem slightly euphoric. One day she called me and cried and laughed and spoke jibberish. She posted live videos on facebook where she acted strange, talking about some kind of mission. And here was her first (and hopefully last) psychosis. With help from a doctor, some paramedics and a couple of police officers we managed to make her open the door to her apartment. At the psychiatric hospital they found out that she tested positive for cannabis, that she hadn't been sleeping for 4 days and that she was severly manic and suffered from delusions. She was taken to a psychiatric inpatient care facility, taken off Sertralin (since we told them about her predisposition for bipolar disorder - and Sertralin might cause mania and psychosis to bipolar people..) and put on Olanzapine to deal with the psychosis. This was 3 months ago. She is no longer psycotic, but suffers from a depression. And here we are now. Worrying about and trying to help my children has made it difficult for me to work for the last couple of years. This last summer with my daughters psychosis pushed me further down. I now try to manage to work 25% (10 hours a week), digitalising teaching books. This summer I suddenly got sick of taking antidepressants and started to slowly decrease my dosis of Venlafaxin. But last friday my doctor wanted me to try another medicine, since I have such difficulties coping with even 25% of work. He wanted me to try out Voxra and told me to simply switch from one day of 175 mg Venlafaxin to 150 mg of Voxra the day after. I asked if I really should switch straight off like that, without slowly decreasing the amount of Venlafaxin - and he said yes. I wish I didn't listen... Two days after quitting with Venlafaxin and starting with Voxra I got all the withdrawal symptoms in the book - and I really didn't need this right now. Huge dizziness, nausea, panic anxiety, sleeplessness, night mares, electrical shock feelings in my brain, fast heartbeats. After 3 days of this hell I added Venlafaxin to my Voxra dosis. But - I actually want to get rid of the medicines. Examine who I really am - because I forgot. Sorry about the long story. But this is my life. And I shed some tears writing it all down. Thanks for reading.