Beemool: A summary about my experience so far

[Beemool]

Hello All! Any advice, comments, concerns, ect are greatly appreciated! 
 

I started venlafaxine in 2020, I got up 150mg and didn’t like the way it made me feel. I decided to stop taking them. (not good, I know that now) I reinstated at 37.5 and it took me MONTHS to feel normal again. I couldn’t function at all for a least a month and a half. At one point my doctor changed me from XR to IR. Once I felt stable again I started tapering using the 10% method. So using a scale and a nail file, I would break my 37.5 tablets in half, file them to the correct weight I wanted and then take one half at 9:30am and the other half at 9:30pm. I got all the way down to what my scale reads as 0.060g (I’m not sure how to change that into mgs) I felt so good on that dose that I decided to stay on that dose for a while because I wasn’t ready to taper any further and risk withdrawal effects. (I had a lot going on at the time) Before I knew it 2+ years had gone by and I hadn’t tapered at all. Recently I started noticing increased anxiety that was effecting my day to day life. I narrowed it down to tolerance. (I should also add that my doctor knows the way I’ve been tapering and is supportive about it.) After talking to my doctor we thought increasing slightly (15%) might be good and then start tapering again. So now my scale reads 0.070g. I believe it’s very close to 37.5 split directly in half. Since increasing slightly I have had nothing but nasty side effects. Horrific anxiety, high heart rate, no appetite at all, nausea, shaky, chest tightness, high BP, jaw clenching ect.. pretty much all the same side effects I had during withdrawal except no brain zaps and I don’t feel like I’m floating outside of my body. I don’t know if I made the right choice and what I should do now. Will I eventually level out? Did I make the wrong decision? Does anyone have any experience or advice about this? This is day 6 since increasing. 

[Beemool]

Day 8 and I still feel the same. I’m having blood work done today to make sure there’s nothing else going on. 

[LotusRising]

Hi @Beemool

 

Welcome to SA,

 

On 9/29/2024 at 1:07 PM, Beemool said:

Recently I started noticing increased anxiety that was effecting my day to day life. I narrowed it down to tolerance.

 

Are you certain it was tolerance? There were no other stressors that could be contributing to an increase in anxiety?

 

[Beemool]

@LotusRising I didn’t think so but I was recently sick before that and was taking mucinex and an antibiotic and now I’m starting to think maybe that had something to do with it. But I had been experiencing some morning panic attacks and hearing “wind” in my ear before i got sick. That’s why I thought perhaps it was tolerance. Now I’m just wondering if I’ll eventually level out because I only increased by 15% 

[Beemool]

Day 10 and I still feel the same. I’m eating a little more but my blood pressure is still very high, having a hard time sleeping and very anxious. Any advice? Did I make a mistake by increasing 15%? Should I drop back down? I’m so confused.