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Brenna: Exercise intolerance and weakness since withdrawing


Brenna

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Hi there!

 

I'm rather new to the community and have not posted yet since starting my withdrawal from Effexor. It's been a little over a month from when I went from 75mg down to 9.375mg a day (one quarter of 37.5mg pill). The initial decrease was not too bad with the occasional lightheaded-ness and night sweats. At this point, my symptoms are gone and I intend to decrease again very shortly once I figure out how that can be done smoothly.

 

The only symptom that still seems to be prevalent is my intolerance to exercise. I'm used to exercising regularly (3-4x/week, an hour at a time) and now can barely stand 15 minutes of normal exercise. I'll get very dizzy, cold sweats, and have vomited on occasion. I assume this is due to the withdrawal as nothing else has changed. There's a lot of info out there and I know many people have found supplements that help in certain situations and was wondering if anyone has had similar symptoms and found relief in some way. I've gained about 10 lbs since starting Effexor in January, 2017 and want to get this unneeded weight off as soon as I can as it impedes my ability to continue practicing aerial silks.

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you,

Brenna

Started taking Lamictal in 2014 and currently on 400 mg, once at night.

Started taking Wellbutrin 300mg in 2015 and currently on 300mg. Was upped to 450mg but I had a very bad reaction so lowered to 300mg.

Started 75 mg of Effexor in Jan of 2017 after a hard seasonal depression episode. I was taking 37.5mg twice a day (7am, noon) up until July 20, 2017 when I decided to stop the meds. I decreased the dosage to approx. 10mg (one 37.5 pill divided twice). Hopefully I'm able to get off Effexor. If I succeed, then I will start to work on getting off of Wellbutrin and then finally off of Lamictal.

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  • Dan998 changed the title to Brenna: Exercise Intolerance and Weakness Since Withdrawing
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi there, Brenna.

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA).

 

I moved your post to the introductions and updates section. Your Introduction topic will be a way for you to introduce yourself to the group. It will be like a journal, so we can all follow and respond to your progress. Members may respond to your topic and give you support and encouragement. This is the busiest section of the forum and your posts will get read by more members here.

 

I see from your post that you've recently made quite a large drop in your dosage. We recommend that you taper at a much slower rate and this is explained here - 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage? 

 

You can find specific advice for tapering off effexor here - 

Tips for tapering off Effexor and Effexor XR (venlafaxine)

 

Intolerance to exercise is quite common when withdrawing from antidepressants and is one of many symptoms that you might experience. This section provides more information about withdrawal symptoms -  

What is withdrawal syndrome?

 

If you find that withdrawal symptoms become unbearable then you might want to consider reinstating effexor and then slowly tapering off in a more controlled manner - 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms


Finally, could I ask that you create a signature. Your signature contains details about all the drugs you are currently on, it will appear at the bottom of every post and will make it a lot easier for us to provide you with tailored advice and support - 

Please put your withdrawal history in your signature

 

I've given you quite a lot of links to read there. If you have any further questions please feel free to ask them here in your introduction topic.  

 

 

2001: 20mg paroxetine
2003-2014: Switched between 20mg citalopram and 10mg escitalopram with several failed CT's
2015: Jan/ Feb-very fast taper off citalopram; Mar/ Apr-crashed; 23 Apr-reinstated 5mg; 05 May-updosed to 10mg; 15 Jul-started taper; Aug-9.0mg; Sep-8.1mg; Oct-7.6mg; Nov-6.8mg; Dec-6.2mg
2016: Jan-5.7mg; Feb-5.2mg; Mar-5.0mg;  Apr-4.5mg; May-4.05mg; Jun-3.65mg; Jul-3.3mg; Aug-2.95mg; 04Sep-2.65mg; 25Sep-2.4mg; 23Oct-2.15mg; 13Nov-1.95mg; 04Dec-1.75mg; 25Dec-1.55mg.
2017: 08Jan-1.4mg; 22Jan-1.25mg; 12Feb-1.1mg; 26Feb-1.0mg; 05Mar-0.9mg; 15Mar-0.8mg; 22Mar-0.7mg; 02Apr-0.6; 09Apr-0.5mg; 16Apr-0.4mg; 23Apr-0.3; 03May-0.2mg; 10May-0.1mg

Finished taper 17 May 2017.

Read my success story

 

I am not a medical professional. The information I provide is not medical advice. If in doubt please consult with a qualified healthcare provider.

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Thanks!! I updated signature and have read those links prior. All very helpful stuff!

Started taking Lamictal in 2014 and currently on 400 mg, once at night.

Started taking Wellbutrin 300mg in 2015 and currently on 300mg. Was upped to 450mg but I had a very bad reaction so lowered to 300mg.

Started 75 mg of Effexor in Jan of 2017 after a hard seasonal depression episode. I was taking 37.5mg twice a day (7am, noon) up until July 20, 2017 when I decided to stop the meds. I decreased the dosage to approx. 10mg (one 37.5 pill divided twice). Hopefully I'm able to get off Effexor. If I succeed, then I will start to work on getting off of Wellbutrin and then finally off of Lamictal.

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Welcome Brenna ,thread very very carefully with exercise ,cut it down to walks probably ,listen to your body ,I used exercise to cope with withdrawl and pushed to far, I've barely jogged for months.

getting off these drugs is like a marathon in its self ,be kind and respectful to your body ,it will pay off in the end .

I get you though ,its tricky when we want to loose the pounds .

Best of luck in recovery .

PB

Alcohol free since February 2015 

1MG diazepam

4.5MG PROZAC.

 

 

 

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  • ChessieCat changed the title to Brenna: Exercise intolerance and weakness since withdrawing
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Brenna, welcome from me too. I tapered effexor and it is a terrible drug. You think you are doing great than WHAM, full blown withdrawal.  You have tapered very fast and I would suggest going back to 37.5  in divided doses, half a pill twice a day because it is immediate release, then holding that dose for a while before restarting the taper. 

I know this is the last thing you want to do but we see people here all the time in terrible withdrawal from tapering too fast. Effexor is evil, I tried several times to get off and ALWAYS felt fantastic, even just halving the dose made a huge difference.That is because withdrawal can cause hypomania, which is exhiliarating but does not last. In no time I was back on.  Tapering needs to be slow to avoid withdrawal. Side effects tend to be dose related so you could find that the weight drops as the dose lowers, which is actually better than rapid weight loss. My weight dropped as the dose loweered and didn't have to diet. 

It is your decision whether to updose but I would strongly advise you to consider it, we would hate to see you suffering withdrawal when it can be avoided.

**I am not a medical professional, if in doubt please consult a doctor with withdrawal knowledge.

 

 

Different drugs occasionally (mostly benzos) 1976 - 1981 (no problem)

1993 - 2002 in and out of hospital. every type of drug + ECT. Staring with seroxat

2002  effexor. 

Tapered  March 2012 to March 2013, ending with 5 beads.

Withdrawal April 2013 . Reinstated 5 beads reduced to 4 beads May 2013

Restarted taper  Nov 2013  

OFF EFFEXOR Feb 2015    :D 

Tapered atenolol and omeprazole Dec 2013 - May 2014

 

Tapering tramadol, Feb 2015 100mg , March 2015 50mg  

 July 2017 30mg.  May 15 2018 25mg

Taking fish oil, magnesium, B12, folic acid, bilberry eyebright for eye pressure. 

 

My story http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4199-hello-mammap-checking-in/page-33

 

Lesson learned, slow down taper at lower doses. Taper no more than 10% of CURRENT dose if possible

 

 

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  • Administrator

Welcome, Brenna.

 

I would be careful practicing aerial skills while experiencing episodes of light-headedness. Withdrawal symptoms can sneak up on you.

 

It sounds like your system tolerated the decrease moderately well, but you are experiencing some withdrawal symptoms which could go away or get worse. We take the position of "better safe than sorry" and advocate a much slower taper to minimize not only the withdrawal symptoms while you decrease but your recovery time when you finally go off.


Given you already have some withdrawal symptoms, if I were you, I would definitely not decrease again until you feel 100% well. As Dan said, if you start to feel worse, you might updose a little bit as a reinstatement. 

 

Even if you bounce back in a few weeks, I urge you to adopt the 10% taper method to ease off. Your nervous system has been under a lot of stress, don't push it further.

 

What times of day do you take the other drugs, and at what dosages?

 

Thanks, Dan, for giving Brenna links to the basics.

 

 

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello!

 

I've only posted once here but have been a unregistered snooper for some time. I decided on July 20th, 2017 that I no longer want to be on Effexor. I was taking 75mg and had been on it since Jan of 2017 (so not very long, thankfully!). I took a leap of faith and went down to 9.375mg on that day. The first couple of days/week were pretty tough. The occasional light-headedness and constant night sweats were a pain but all in all, I think I had it pretty easy compared to what I hear from other people on this site. My biggest concern was not being able to exercise when going through it at first because of the dizziness but that eventually stopped and was able to get back into aerial silks HARDCORE! :)

 

I got to a point, probably around the beginning of Sept, when I decided to make a liquid form of the medication to help me taper down from 9.375mg (I wanted to be more consistent with the dosage and cutting it was becoming harder). I would go down a mg each week. On Sept 21st, I stopped taking the medication completely. I feel pretty good considering! I still get bad headaches and had night sweats the first night. No big symptoms since! I'm hoping it continues like this forever! I hate that stupid drug and regret ever listening to my nurse practitioner when she lied to my face and told me there were no withdrawal symptoms. I seriously question her degree.

 

I have struggled emotionally with the withdrawal. There were 3 times when I felt suicidal since decreasing my dosage. That could be a direct result of me tapering but I don't know if other people have experienced, so I don't want to make such a bold statement without any backing. I'll say this: I have never been suicidal in all my 28 years. So having those feelings were really scary! Especially for my loved ones. 

 

I guess I'm making this post for 2 reasons: that they are some of us that don't go through a ton of physical symptoms when withdrawing from Effexor (though the majority will) and that I had in fact experienced suicidal thoughts. I'm thankful for my support network and hope that these suicidal episodes will decrease over time.

 

Thanks for reading,

-Brenna

 

 

Started taking Lamictal in 2014 and currently on 400 mg, once at night.

Started taking Wellbutrin 300mg in 2015 and currently on 300mg. Was upped to 450mg but I had a very bad reaction so lowered to 300mg.

Started 75 mg of Effexor in Jan of 2017 after a hard seasonal depression episode. I was taking 37.5mg twice a day (7am, noon) up until July 20, 2017 when I decided to stop the meds. I decreased the dosage to approx. 10mg (one 37.5 pill divided twice). Hopefully I'm able to get off Effexor. If I succeed, then I will start to work on getting off of Wellbutrin and then finally off of Lamictal.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Brenna, I've moved your post to your original introduction thread and would ask that you post post here rather than start a new topic.  It is important to keep all of the information relating to your specific situation in one place so that the moderators can keep track of what is going on.  

 

I am also going to repost the suggestions made back in August by Dan998 as you are going quite a bit faster than is recommended by Surviving Antidepressants and I'd like you to be fully aware of the recommendations that are made here.  Please be aware that if you continue to taper as quickly as you have been, you may run into much more difficulty and would suggest that you read the topics provided below as to the reasons we suggest tapering by 10% of your current dose with a minimum of four weeks inbetween decreases.  Effexor is a very powerful antidepressants and difficult to discontinue and worry that you may end up having delayed withdrawal symptoms.  It seems that there is a honeymoon phase after discontinuing antidepressants and then weeks or months down the road, symptoms appear full force and it is important that you are aware of this phenomenon.  That you are already concerned with feeling of suicide is a red flag that you need to slow things down before you go any further in your taper.

 

Delayed Onset of Withdrawal Symptoms

Thoughts of Suicide

 

On 2017-08-16 at 6:06 PM, Dan998 said:

Hi there, Brenna.

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA).

 

I moved your post to the introductions and updates section. Your Introduction topic will be a way for you to introduce yourself to the group. It will be like a journal, so we can all follow and respond to your progress. Members may respond to your topic and give you support and encouragement. This is the busiest section of the forum and your posts will get read by more members here.

 

I see from your post that you've recently made quite a large drop in your dosage. We recommend that you taper at a much slower rate and this is explained here - 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage? 

 

You can find specific advice for tapering off effexor here - 

Tips for tapering off Effexor and Effexor XR (venlafaxine)

 

Intolerance to exercise is quite common when withdrawing from antidepressants and is one of many symptoms that you might experience. This section provides more information about withdrawal symptoms -  

What is withdrawal syndrome?

 

I've given you quite a lot of links to read there. If you have any further questions please feel free to ask them here in your introduction topic.  

 

 

 

Current Prescription Drugs for Hypothyroidism:  Synthroid 100mcg / Cytomel 5mcg (15 years Pristiq/Effexor)

Tapering Schedule
September 15, 2016 - switched from Pristiq 50mg to Effexor XR 75mg; November 10, 2016 - reduced to 67.5 Effexor XR
December 9, 2016 - reduced 60.75
January 5, 2017 - reduced 54.67
January 30, 2017 - reduced to 49.0
February 20, 2017 - reduced to 44.0 
May 20, 2017 - reduced to 40.25 (holding for additional month due to late onset of withdrawal symptoms after this taper)
July 17, 2017 - reduced to 38.24
August 15, 2017 - reduced to 37.5 (50% of my original dose)

October 15, 2017 - reduced to 35.6

November 12, 2017 - reduced to 33.8
December 15, 2017 - up-dose to 35.6
December 28, 2017 - up-dose to 37.5

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