nikik: Now 6 months after quitting venlafaxine - how I got here

[nikik]

Hi!

 

I (28f) quit venlafaxine 6 months ago and I’m still suffering from withdrawal symptoms. I will give some context.

 

Around 2018 I took escitalopram for a year for depression. It had no effect on me (with the exception of sexual dysfunction). I quit cold turkey and had no WD.

 

In September 2022 I started venlafaxine for anxiety. I steadily increased the dose up to 225mg in steps of 37,5 each time experiencing various symptoms that would subside after a couple of weeks at which point I would increase the dose again. This continued until January when I reached 225mg, stayed on that for 6 weeks and decided to start coming off it since it wasn’t helping me. I reduced the dose in steps of 37,5mg until I was at 75mg in May. I had withdrawal symptoms after every step with nausea and motion sickness. The step down to 75mg was scary enough that I decided to stay at that dose for a while. The WD from that last step did get better after a couple of weeks and I returned back to normal.
 

In June I broke up with my partner and was experiencing some really intense emotional pain. The next day the same symptoms returned. For the next few months the symptoms would come and go without any pattern that I could tell. On the good days I felt completely normal, on the bad days the symptoms varied in severity. My main symptoms were dizziness, motion sickness,  headaches, a strange sensation in my hands, drowsiness, weakness, no concentration, brain fog, difficulty breathing, sensitivity to light and sound, chills, anxiety, confusion. The symptoms were always worse around midday/afternoon. 
 

In September I tried taking 20mg of Fluoxetine for 10 days as suggested by my psychiatrist. I didn’t see any difference. I thought I might as well get on with it and reduced my venlafaxine down to 37,5mg. The next 2 weeks were really bad. I had the symptoms I mentioned above at a pretty extreme intensity and lasted the whole day. I could barely eat and I couldn’t get out of bed and was not really present mentally. I was sleeping more than usual (10 hours). After the 2 weeks the situation was starting to improve, so I quit completely (this was in October). I was in bed for the next 3 weeks and then there was a gradual improvement for a few more weeks. 
 

I thought that would be the end of it. I felt pretty much normal for like 2 months. I did however have very stressful things happening in December and January. At some point in January my symptoms came back in full and I’m still dealing with them. There was an exception in March when I had a cold and had no symptoms for 2 weeks. One interesting pattern that I’ve noticed consistently, is that if I don’t get enough sleep (not more than 6 hours), I have no symptoms. I feel very sleep deprived but otherwise normal.

 

So this is my experience with venlafaxine. I’ve never taken any other psychiatric meds other that what I mentioned here. I’ve suffered with extremely low energy and insulin resistance all of my adult life. I struggled with depression and anxiety since I was a child.

[Erimus]

Hello, and welcome to Surviving Antidepressants. We are a peer support forum to assist in tapering off psychiatric drugs safely, or recovering from psychiatric drug withdrawal.

 

Your first task is to create a drug signature, with the following:

 

• All current medication you take, the dose you take, when you started the drug, and when you made dose changes
• All current supplements you take
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• Dates for recent should be written as 7 Oct 2023, or Oct 7 2023, or early Oct 2023, or mid Oct 2023
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We only recommend two supplements. Omega 3 Fish Oil and Magnesium. Both should be introduced separately and increased slowly.

 

Regards

Erimus

[Erimus]

You're currently experiencing The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization . Symptoms will wax and wane in severity and intensity, with your baseline gradually improving over the coming months. Nobody can tell you how long it will last, all we know is it will resolve with time and patience. Steer clear of any other psychotropic medication and substances, including alcohol.

 

Read the guides in the Symptoms and self care forum to leanr how you can manage and aid your symptoms.

 

Any questions, let me know.

 

Regards Erimus.