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I have been on meds since I was around 18, I am now 33, I have been tapering off all my meds for the last year now, I have managed to get off venlafaxine xr 75mg which I tapered off for around 4 - 6 months, and quetiapine 50mg over the last 12 months, I was on 200mg at one point and also tapered off diazapam 10mg, and also propranolol 10mg, I have been off all meds now for nearly 3 months and have been fine, I have been at the gym most days and eating healthy, I was starting to look good again and becoming myself again, I have not been human while on meds for the last lots of years, I was finally starting to enjoy life and then the last few weeks my sleep has been getting very fractured and I have been waking up very early with extreme brain fog, it feels like my head is going to explode sometimes, now the last 2 nights I have not slept at all and feel like death, I even took 2 melatonin tablets and they did nothing, what on earth is going on? I am worried I have done some serious damage to my brain, I am too worried to go and get checked at the doctors as I could not handle news that I have some brain disease, I have read that meds can cause effects many months after, can anyone give any advice/peace of mind?

After planning to have a family my whole life, I found that some things are just out of our hands. I had 6 miscarriages, before having a baby boy that suffered from an unknown degenerative neurological disorder. He would have 30-50 seizures a day, was blind, deaf and was in ICU most of his life. The doctors predicted his life expectancy to be 3-4 years, but at 5 months old, he came down with chicken pox, which caused his organs to shut down and he died in my arms. I lost everything I lived for and my dreams of having a family were shattered. I became extremely depressed. I decided to seek medical help for my depression. My doctor prescribed Effexor (Venlafaxine). I didn't feel it was helping, but she said it was, that I just didn't realize how much worse I would be without it and I can't expect to be my normal self again. Every time I said it wasn't helping, she just increased the dose, until I was on the highest dose that could be prescribed, and I remained at that dose for the next six years. All this loss was hard on my marriage. After struggling for a few years, we divorced. I walked away from my marriage, home, life, everything, taking nothing but my dogs and a bag of clothes with me, and started over alone. With nowhere to go, I jumped into another relationship. Six months later, I became pregnant. Since medications can be harmful during pregnancy, I stopped taking the Effexor, following a fast taper as my doctor instructed. I developed unusual problems that I had never experienced before, which caused me to be ill throughout the pregnancy. I didn't learn until years later that what I was experiencing were "brain shivers", or "brain zaps", and it was not related to the pregnancy, but stopping the Effexor. The doctors related my symptoms to stress and put me on bed rest, and I stayed on bed rest or in the hospital throughout most of the pregnancy, until having a c-section at 8 months. I had a small, but healthy, baby boy. However, I continued to feel ill. I described the problem to my doctor multiple times. I was told, word for word, “It’s in your head, go see a shrink”. She blew me off, like she didn't believe me and thought I was crazy. I managed as best as I could, but progressively worsened. I went to several other doctors, but none of them had answers and showed no interest in looking into it. I talked my boss at the time. He was an ear, nose and throat specialist, so it wasn't his specialty, but he had watched my health decline and knew that my symptoms were real and was concerned enough to help. He sent me to several neurologists and other specialists to have tests done. He was worried that it was serious because my symptoms resembled MS or something similar. All the tests came back normal and no diagnosis could be found. It seemed no one had ever heard of anything like this before. My condition worsened until I was no longer able to live a functional life. I struggled to take care of my son and couldn't interact and do things with him as much as I wanted to. I had no idea what was wrong or where to turn for help. Desperate, I searched online. I discovered a forum of people who shared my symptoms, all of which had used Effexor at some point and were unable to get help from their doctors. Many of them were told that their symptoms were psychosomatic, just like my doctor had claimed. A few doctors and nurses on the site acknowledged this was real and provided what information they had. This is where I first learned of the term “brain shivers” and discovered that using Effexor can cause them. The doctors said they are generally mild and typically go away on their own, lasting from weeks to several months. However, they said higher doses over an extended time can result in severe cases that could last years, or even permanently, and so far, there is no known treatment. I continued to struggle with this for a little over two years. Then, I was contacted by an old friend, who was now a psychologist. This call was a turning point for me. I told her about the problems I was having. She knew about brain shivers and was sure that was what I was experiencing. She was concerned that this would likely be a permanent problem for me, since I took such a high dose for so many years, and since I hadn’t had any improvement in over two years. She said there is no known treatment, but tapering off the medication slowly is known to help prevent or reduce the problem. I had been off the medication for over two years already, so it didn't seem logical to introduce the drug into my system again after so long, just to taper it out of my system. She was concerned that it could have an adverse affect, causing my brain to adapt the wrong direction by starting it again, making the problem worse. She said if I went back on the medication to stop the brain shivers, I would likely have to stay on it indefinitely, to keep them from coming back. The thought of taking a medication for the rest of my life that caused me to be permanently disabled without it, just did not sit well with me, especially if it could make the problem worse. And I couldn't get a prescription anyway, since I couldn't find any doctor who was willing to treat me. She told me there is another option I could try, but she could lose her license for recommending it, so not to tell anyone who told me, but to try methamphetamine, because it's a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, and it should stop or greatly reduce the brain shivers. She said as long as I only use enough to stop the brain shivers, it would help me, and that using excessively or more than is necessary is what leads to the negative affects of any drug, legal or not. (Disclaimer… I want to express that I DO NOT recommend using methamphetamine, for any reason. It’s not a solution to brain shivers, it's just an another problem to need a solution for. It comes with its own list of problems, including legal consequences. This choice cost me in many other ways. Looking back, I can't say I would’ve been better off, had I not made that choice, because I couldn't function at all. But I also can’t say I’m better off, for having made that choice. I just replaced the problems I had with different problems. This choice led me down a different path, but it was far from a better path.) It has now been 18 years since I started having brain shivers. I have been using methamphetamine responsibly for the last 16 years, which greatly reduces my brain shivers to a tolerable level and allows me to function. I still have brain shivers once in a while, but they are typically mild, occur less consistently and don’t affect my ability to function in daily life. The only time they bother me is if I miss a dose, or something, such as illness or stress, affects my overall health. Although it allowed me to function, depending on something illegal to function requires committing a crime every day, and it was inevitable that I would eventually get caught. I ended up facing criminal charges. I was lucky enough to have a good attorney who was able to turn a 5-35 year prison sentence into just probation. I was assigned to the best probation officer anyone could ever ask for. If it weren't for her patience and understanding of my situation, I wouldn't have a chance of making it through this without ending up in prison. It is because of the situation I am in, the need to end my dependency to an illegal drug, the inability to do so without help to stop the brain shivers I’ve had for the last 18 years and the kindness, understanding and willingness of my probation officer to patiently work with me to find a solution to my problem, that I have found myself here on this site. My probation officer has helped me in the effort to find a solution through every possible direction we could think of. I have been turned away by detox centers and inpatient treatment centers, either because they don't believe meth causes withdrawals, or due to liability concerns, since quitting will cause me medical problems. I've been turned away by doctors and psychiatrists, when searching for a medication to help the brain shivers, to replace what I'm using, so that I could stop using and hopefully avoid or at least lessen the brain shivers, but they refuse to treat me at all, until I have already quit, which is what I needed the help for. I believe tapering off the drug is the only way to successfully stop using without having severe brain shivers, as I get them every time I miss a dose. I understand that this site is for prescription medications, but I hope it is possible to allow an exception, since my need to taper is due to brain shivers following the use of Effexor. My probation officer approved me joining this site and is willing to be patient to allow me the time to follow this site’s recommendations for tapering, so that I have the best chance of coming out of this situation without using any drug and without severe brain shivers. I am truly blessed that my probation officer is patient and understanding to allow me to try this, since quitting cold turkey will undoubtedly cause serious problems, and I pray that this site will be as understanding and willing to help as well, because this is the best chance I have to turn my life around in the right direction. I never meant to end up in this situation. Sometimes people end up in bad situations, but it doesn't mean they are bad people, they just need a little help.

Hi all , I am 8 months off reinstated sertraline for a month ( by doc) and Aripropazole. History Its around 4 years back when i passed out my college and not get placed even after making to finals in many interviews .. that i decided to write competitive exam for PG. I had taken coaching but just before exam I came back and found myself unable to recall things. My brain is just like nothing in it. I found myself in despair and stopped studying. This fog is happening all the time since my engineering but I managed to get average marks sometimes and sometimes very good . There is more in back history but I ll get to it later. So, my parents took me to a psychiatrist ( family known) and he put me to Olanzapine and one more thing. He diganosed me bipolar2. I got about 10 pounds on it but its not help . Meanwhile after 4 months, with the help of a relative , I got intern in a company and I moved out with fog to a distant city. TThere in a hospital, they put me on floxetine and Amisulpride for 3 months . Then i moved to a private psychiatrist ... where it starts getting haywire . He stopped fluoxetine and Amisulpride . And put me on Venlafaxine and Seroquel... As i was interning, i get usual heat racing in between job times but my doctor convinced me to stay with it . 4 months and I just started feeling agitated due to stress. It happened that I slapped a senior on abusing me and there I left a job I never happened to get physical in my school or college .. but it happened. Doctor told me to scrap the prescription he wrote of raising Venlafaxine. And he put me paroxetine + Oxcarbazepine. In his words , it is best tolerable and has lesser side effects. I managed to get a job by my own and cracking first time. But this time there is lot of work and culture pressure. Its a startup with full of politics . Boss and his boss .. all keep on putting things. Let office aside, I started feeling some well .. overly casual ... excited .. raged .. Iits about 25 mg Paroxetine and 300/600 mg Oxcarbazepine. I had unusual violent acts .. had hit a school friend .. insomnia.. I decided to leave the paxil by asking the doctor . He said half in a week and then other half a week to off. Thats when it all started , i cannot sleep whole night and with day light i start getting a nap. I left going office with fear of state i was in . I cannot wake and even if I .. i was too tired and angry . Doctor then gave me Mirtazapine which didn't help . I resigned job telling muly boss about all and came back home. It was Nov,2015. I start getting yhese uncontrollable rage that I locked myself in a room. Parents took to a local shrink who put me on Venlafaxine+ Mirtazapine(CRF), lamotrigine, resperidal, Seroquel. The NEXT Day I woke up so fresh .. all calm like 12 yrs back .. i was smiling happy.. but it lasted only 4 hrs .. and i am doomed again . I took those meds 10 days and i decided to go off. Physical Damage. I got brain zaps as sounds with eye movement .. While on Paxil I got severe neck stiffness and movement pains - which came out as Osteophytes. Anger , heart race , memory, fog , chest pains , fatigue ... All I beared for 4 months. Reinstatement after 4 months. Father took me to another psych who put me on Sertraline+ Aripropazole+ Seroquel. I started having increases restless legs than before and the doctor asked me not to go over net. After 2 visits and when he said it wslas Aripropazole for restlessness all time.. and he is cutting it . I stopped all meds . Withdrawals in 8 months. All first symptoms with some new like utter sensitivity in teeth. It is while breathe in most of the teeth . Muscles gone from forearms .. My left hands gone ulnar neuropathy and i got surgery done when no hope lived. Right hand has stiffness too . MAnger I am living with .. I have stopped talking .. I have decided to go sit on my Shop but I was unable to understand the talk . In spite anger biuts and memory makes it difficult to adjust. I keep forgetting people faces .. important talks . So i stopped . Now I am muted all the time with burst inside . Read success stories and play CoC. This is the most I can write now.

In December 2021, a couple of months after completing a two-year-long taper of venlafaxine, I moved from Canada to Scotland. I had taken Gravol to help me sleep on the plane, and then 3-4 times in the following several weeks as I adjusted to the new time zone. Before very long, I realized that the Gravol had triggered my withdrawal symptoms, and in an effort to gain control of the situation, I got a prescription for venlafaxine and settled down to the idea that I was in for another long taper. One dose of venlafaxine (37.5mg) landed me in hospital with the worst episode of withdrawal that I had ever experienced. The response I got at the hospital, and later from the gp, convinced me that I was essentially on my own. From that day to this one I have taken a single over-the-counter sleep aid every day (contains the same active ingredient as Gravol). If I miss a day, the symptoms start immediately. Last week I bought a digital scale and a pill crusher and started to taper off of the over-the-counter sleep aid. I reduced the dose by 5 % but only lasted 4 days because of the impact on my central nervous system. I'm back on the full dose, going to try again next week at 2.5% and see how I get on.

Posting this to encourage you that it can be done. I didn't think I'd recover from my horrible withdrawal. I was going to try and reinstate, but it seemed like it was too late, everything was already so screwed up and it felt like was no going back at that point. I was on Effexor for 18 years. I went on it the first year it was released in the US. It's been almost 10 years now since my last dose. I gradually tapered over a two year period and I did pretty well up until I was down to less than 10 beads, and then my nervous system went totally haywire and it took years to recover. The two main problems I developed from quitting were very bad anxiety and disturbed sleep. I would wake up anxious after like two to four hours of sleep. Sometimes, I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep at all. Both sleep and anxiety gradually improved, in an up and down manner. The anxiety eventually went away. Sleep improved, but I'm not the best sleeper. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, but was unable to tolerate cpap. I usually sleep about five or six hours a day, and sleep straight through. On good days, I'll sleep more than six hours straight through. On bad days which aren't that often, I'll sleep less than five hours. But when I don't sleep well, I no longer freak out too much about it. I would probably say my average sleep is something like 5.5 hours, but it's straight through and I wake up calmly instead of in a panic. Below are a few things that helped me. Wishing you all the best of luck with your taper and great health. 1. This article somehow really helped me with anxiety. I mean I think it made a huge difference. I don't remember if I heard about it here or on another group, but I'm glad I found it. I remember reading at the time that it had a profound effect for some other people too. It's called "Nothing Works, A Letter To Myself." http://nothingworks.weebly.com/ 2. For sleep, I use a sound machine. Here's the machine I originally used. Eventually I ended up making my own custom solution with an old laptop. But this machine worked well for me, and I gave one to my mother and it made a give improvement in her sleep too. Link: Lectrofan 3. Meditation. I started seriously meditating at some point during my taper, and never stopped. I try to do it twice a day everyday. I did/do it more for spiritual/religious reasons, but I've got to think that it must have helped in some way regarding anxiety and maybe even sleep too. ADMIN NOTE Tom's Introductions topic is here

Hi - before I knew better, I listened to my MD on how to wean off. Please see my signature for details. Right now, I am stuck at 37.5mg Effexor XR (Venlafaxine) every two days. After seeing this site, I see I should be taking a daily dose, but reducing by 10% every so often. My question is, where do I go from here? Do I go back to taking 37.5mg daily, then begin reducing by 10% when comfortable? I don't want to erase all my progress I've accomplished over the last year, but the mood imbalances from taking the capsules every two days are really taking a toll. My goal is to come off Effexor ASAP because I am trying to naturally rebalance my body and will be trying to conceive within the next few years. Any help is appreciated.

Hello everybody, I'm a girl from Europe and I am having some troubles with withdrawal. I started taking Venlafaxine 75mg 10 years ago when I was still very young because of light depression and was pretty quickly upped to 225mg. 5 years ago I first started tapering. Down to 37,5mg in about 1,5 years and then stopped. It was pretty tough but mostly not completely debilitating until around 8 months of stopping when I started having severe insomnia and a lot of other difficult symptoms like DR, akathisia, anxiety (or maybe I should say terror), aches and a lot of other stuff. I thought I was going crazy. I was put on a few different antidepressants but nothing helped and I ended up with the Venlafaxine again on low dose. I was still feeling pretty bad on it and was not really depressed and could not stand being on it anymore so I tried to get off it several times over the next year but always had immediate insomnia and panic and went back on. Then I finally found this site and stayed on the same dose of 10mg for 8 months. I was feeling very bad for a while but I felt I recovered quickly so I made the decision to just quit it (I tapered the 10mg slowly over 2 months) around 8 months ago. The past months have been very hard but it was bearable, I got quite good at handling all the weird things that were happening to me, avoiding triggers as good as possible. The most persistent and horrible symptom is my insomnia. I never used to have any troubles with insomnia but since it started the first time I went off the medication, it never really went away. There were times when it was better but for 8 months now it takes me hours to fall asleep, often I wake up soon after. It was bearable because I would still get a couple of hours of sleep most nights but for two weeks now I am barely sleeping at all and of course that makes all the symptoms so much more difficult. I am freaking out a little. I try to stay positive but I tried pretty much all the advice on here and nothing seems to help. Before this started two weeks ago I actually felt like I was getting better, now I wonder if it was just a torturous honeymoon phase. I am so scared of my good sleep not coming back. How will I recover then I wonder? What if it isnt even withdrawal? I read other peoples stories but it seems most do not have this problem for so long or so severely and I am worried it wont go away anymore. I know it is part of WD to constantly question whether one will ever get better and I try to tell myself that it will but it is really hard right now. This whole thing is quite exhausting, this has been going on for so long and I am upset with myself for quitting so rapidly when I had finally stabilized a little. But I am trying to stay positive, hopefully someone has some advice. I have been browsing this site for a while now and it has helped me a lot, so thank you to everybody working here to help others through this time.

I was on Effexor for about 7-10 years until this May when I chose to start tapering off in order to have the opportunity to do a guided mushroom experience. I was doing really well up until this point. I wanted to do the psychadelic experience to enhance my life and find more opportuniteis for joy and peace in my daily life. I tapered slowly and the first couple weeks went pretty good. So, I cut the dose again and immediately started having nausea, vomiting and vertigo. I didn't make the connection at first that it was related. Once I did I went back up to the original tapering. That is when I found out how hard it is to get off Effexor. And I was even more determined to get off of it, plus I was angry that I took this medication to HELP me and now it was making my life hell. So, I completed my tapering with the advice of my doctor, and I feel shittier than I have in years. My cognitive functioning is terrible, I feel like my brain is full of molasses and I am an emotional wreck. I've called my doctor twice to ask for his help and he is on vacation or something so he's not getting back to me. I don't want to go back on this medication but I am seriously miserable and so uncomfortable with my daily existence. No one around me understands what I'm trying to tell them about this syndrome. I feel so alone and confused about how best to support myself. I started taking a ton of supplements last week in an attempt to support my cognitive functioning and mood. The first day I felt so much better. Now a week later still taking the same supplements I'm back to where I was. I feel awful. I need to get on with my life but the more I read about this syndrome the more scared and upset I get.

Hello! I am very lucky to have found this site right at the start of my weaning off process. For context, I started taking Venlafaxine XR 75mg in August 2020 after a traumatic event left me unable to function due to constant severe anxiety. I have since done psycho-therapy and generally feel "fine" except for persistent suicidal thoughts and ideation. At first, we thought these were related to the traumatic event, but as time progressed, I began to feel that the drug was the cause. I have asked to come off the drug before but all my providers were against it because of the thoughts. One tried to switch me to Zoloft but it made me feel worse so I hopped back. I'm tired of feeling this way. Psychotherapy hasn't helped with this particular problem. I have always had GAD and was managing fine pre-trauma and, honestly, the Effexor doesn't help the anxiety That much. I still have to use pre-med techniques to get through most stuff, even the little things. Monday, I told my doctor that I'm coming off. I want to get a baseline of my new normal, and go from there. My doctor had me do a 50% reduction 5 days ago (June 25, 2023) to 37.5mg. I had some nausea, headaches, irritability, and restlessness the first day. But since then I have had no withdrawal symptoms AND I've seen significant reduction in suicidal ideation (from frequent throughout the day to less than once a day). I also no longer have periods of listlessness (you know, laying on the couch miserable with no motivation to do anything). I will wait out the next week as told, but I'm not skipping doses like prescribed. Because I haven't had significant withdrawal symptoms, I was wondering if I could/should do another 50% reduction (I know about counting beads and all that). I understand that 10% is safer, but with such a serious side effect, I think it may be worth the risk to come off fast. Please share your thoughts, opinions, and experiences! Thank you in advance!

So my history is that I started taking anti-depressants for anxiety and mild to moderate depression. Ive always suffered with social anxiety, in particular eating in front of people that I perceived to be 'important' people but they were strangers. If I knew I was going into a situation where I would be expected to eat in front of strangers then I always had an extra pill prescribed by my GP. Propranolol was the drug of choice to be used as a PRN drug on top of my SSRI tablet. I used to take venlafaxine but this was changed a few year ago to Fluoxotene and has recently been added to by my GP and so I now take Mirtazapine in the evening. So as you can see I am not looking to withdraw at the moment but having watched the Panorama programme which has given me food-for-thought. I will come here again when the time is right to look at withdrawal! I will also use this and other sites to gather support and information.... Oh and I am 57. Been on anti depressants for over 30 years and I live in Wiltshire, UK

I've been on effexor now 7 months after previously been on lexapro 15 years first week coming off got the usual advice from doctor iam on 75 mg he said go to 37.5 for two weeks then stop which I thought was to quick after watching the BBC program on Monday I decided to check here I've started by opening my capsule which is venex xr it contains 6 beeds so iam taking one out per month not feeling good what has surprised me is I have constant runny nose and flu symptoms aswell as restlessness insomnia just wondering really is this normal thanks

I have been on Sertraline for far too long and it made no difference whether or not I took it regularly. I was prescribed Venlafaxine and the side effects were horrible. I'd only taken it for a few days and have been advised to stop. Right now I'm just really confused and not sure which way is up.

Hi folks, please find an introduction to my psychiatric history. I desperately need of any support or advice. I started anti-depressant in 1994. This was changed to Prozac 1996, followed by Venaflaxine in 1999. My prayers were seemingly answered in 2000, when I was changed to Sertraline in 2000. Doze was quickly increased to 150mg two months in. I stayed on same drug and doze for 23 years! In 2022, I suffered mental health crisis due to overwork. I was quickly informed that Sertraline was no longer working but couldn't go off it due to duration of treatment. My then psych added Quitiapine as adjunct and Pregabalin. In Feb, my new psych decided to change Sertraline to Duloxatine. She tapered over 5 days! On 6th day I broke down and was put back on Sertraline. Three months ago I was taken off Sertraline again, cross-tapered with Duloxetine over three weeks. One week in started with unbelievable intense symptoms - anxiety attacks, problems with motor-skills and walking gait, freezing cold and diarrhoea. Psych then stopped Duloxetine after 6 weeks as psych doesn't think it was working. One week taper and then put on Escotalipram. By now I was bed bound and on Diazepam 7mg daily. Couldn't tolerate Escotalipram so taken off after two weeks. No taper, started Agnomelatine. Three days in. Couldn't stop being sick and quit. Constantly now have terrible side affects anxiety attacks, stomach pains, sweats, constantly feeling cold. Psych states nothing to do with withdrawal and wants me to go back on sertraline. Lost all hope now. Know this is the withdrawal effects but no professional. If anyone has any advice or similar stories I would massively appreciate it.

Hello. I am very glad to have been introduced by a very knowledgable friend to this site and community of knowledge when I decided to wean off effexor/venalfaxine. I started with Effexor almost 20 years ago when I had 2 little kids and classic sx of depression. It was very effective for me at 75mg for a long time. One time I upped to 150mg to respond to sx increasing in winter, but it made me feel cloudy. So I've relied on exercise and 75mg quite nicely. My insurance company tried to switch me to the generic about 4 years ago and I started experiencing low-level, generalized anxiety and constant buzzing. I worked with my provider and was able to get back on the brand, where I stayed. In January, my insurance company DENIED, for any reason, the brand, so I switched to generic. Again, the buzzy, tinny, vertigo started. After a conversation with my general practitioner I decided to taper off because my mood is super stable. She suggested 20 mg of flouxetine with the intent of increasing that after I tapered off the venlafaxine. I wanted to be completely off before deciding if I needed to find something else, so I never started it. Here's my taper history since I started paying attention: 4/30 - 37.5 mg venlafaxine XR 5/21 - 19 ish mg - I started dividing the contents in roughly half 6/4 - I started counting beads and taking approx. 36 beads per dose I got a scale and figured out that 36 beads is about .05 mg. I'm using vegan pill capsule. 6/17 I'm now weighing and plan to stay at .05 mg through the end of June which will give me 4 weeks at that approximate dose. My question is, as I taper, do I subtract a percent of the medication weight or the medication + capsule weight? Thank you!

Hi everyone I'm a 55 yo female, I've been off work for 16 years due to massive anxiety and depression. Also been on antidepressants for 16 years, but took my last pill a few months ago now. Was on 187,5 mg effexor and .5 mg Seroquel daily. Seroquel helped me sleep. Effexor did help when nothing else worked but i was never really 100 %. Now my anxiety is back with a vengeance with the addition of hot flashes now seemingly triggered by anxiety, feeling down and unmotivated, and a slew of other unpleasant symptoms I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes i get so close to starting back on effexor but i keep pushing through but I'm getting exhausted. My hubby thinks it's withdrawal i don't know anymore. I don't know where to turn, i don't trust doctors and big pharma anymore. I'm writing this with hope in my heart that i might find the answers i so desperately need. Please and thank you in advance.

Hi there, I have been through polydrug hell, suffered insomnia after medical shock then given host of sleep meds but believe they caused paradoxical breathing or possibly withdrawals maybe from mix, was given zolpiclone and Xanax and no in breath when going into deeper sleep and would wake constantly? Has anyone experienced this? Continued and given mirtrazapine at morning time! Then amitriptyline which caused urinary retention stopped both, no sleep still so kept on Xanax and zopiclone, then stopped and the same scenario no in breath? If anyone knows what this is? I was then given Xanax to keep me asleep, never more than 1mg ar night only, would you have withdrawals from that if just at night? Panic attacks as no sleep only an hour or so, myoclonus, can’t sleep during day time jerks hypnic. Then started sertraline and hyperacusis started and Xanax still. Then went to psych hospital as wasn’t sure what was happening? Was treated horrifically told agitated depression, never had depression in life, we thing misdiagnosed badly, by power tripping psych as I challenged that. Given Effexor, then clonazapam at night 1mg kept pushing Effexor up, no benefit. I was so worried as they were leaving me on clonazapam, I was only taking at night, day was cut cold Turkey as I was too sleepy. No weaning. Then told take more at night! But got trazadone added 100mg and cut clonazapam to .5 from 1mg, hyperacusis back as had gone but worse than when went in! Effexor pushed up more, phergen added night and clonazapam cut to .25mg from .5mg, Effexor up at 150mg, hyperacusis unbelievable now! Odd as if was depression should the Effexor now get rid of hyperacusis? No benefit. Then told take more, 187 and I couldn’t sleep at all. Myoclonus so bad. Was left even though had bruising everywhere ignored amongst so many other symptoms panic attacks so bad, let out as insurance up, left in lurch, cut to 150 Effexor then 112 and hyperacusis worsening. Got public psych but she said thinks misdiagnosed but no disgnosis and said cut Effexor to 75 and hyperacusis was too much to bear I had to go back to 112.5 mg. What is going on, I’ve never dealt with drugs like this before and don’t know what’s going on and very bad care here, told hyperacusis ENT thing but ruled out but ignored. Hypnic jerks, sleep not great at all, panic so bad in morning feel in total trauma ptsd all time freeze mode. Treated so badly. No info given on anything when in hospital just ignored and wouldn’t wean me off clonazapam yet told me Im on addictive meds now for life! Can anyone help me on hyperacusis and what’s going on breathing at night and hypnic jerks. Breathing is separate than jerks, no in breath in deeper sleep stage. I am at wits end and no life. Left without help. Clonazapam Now out of stock. I’m on it still what left .25mg trazadone and melatonin now might, wake up in horrors. Is it possibly to have withdrawals daily? If low dose? I’m so confused. Pharmacist said possible, my nervous system in total disarray. The 112 to 75 was too much. Too fast just cut fast. Any help on how to cut as tried opening beads out but even that hyperacusis was getting worse? Please help me make sense of this all? Thank you. Is it trauma PTSD, withdrawals, as I am worse now than ever, do get some sleep which is good thing. But wake in horrors. All day panic attacks constantly no let up unless lying down. BP all over place. Get so weak. Have thyroid condition and period issues, fibroid and lot of blood loss monthly. Skin is so dry. Diarrhea all time, gastro issues, reflux. In such panic I just need some advice what May be going on? Thanks so much

Hello Everyone, I'm so grateful for communities like this community. To know I'm not alone. There's so much I want to say though I also want to post an introduction today and my concentration is limited so I'll try to keep it brief. I apologize if it turns out to be a bit long. My first experience of psychotropics was in 1994 when I had moved to a new area, was laid off, and struggling. My PCP was a willing participant and prescribed various medications - Zoloft, Paxil, whatever was available at that time. Nothing seemed to do what I hoped it would do and I didn't go any further. I wish I could say that that was the end of the story. Several years later in 1997, I moved to a new area with a woman I had been seeing. Our relationship was not a healthy relationship and I was under a lot of stress at work, wasn't sleeping well, was having a bit of a nervous breakdown. I decided to make an appt with a psychiatri1st. By that time, I was convinced that medication was an answer to my dilemma. I believed the current narrative of emotional distress, depression and anxiety, neurotransmitters, and the need for medication to make up for what was missing. The first psychiatrist wanted to just put me on Klonopin, said it would do the trick. I knew a bit about benzos and thought this recommendation wasn't helpful. It didn't fit with my understanding of serotonin deficiency. I went to see a different psychiatrist who put me on Effexor, titrating up to 300 mg. He prescribed Xanax initially to help with sleep and anxiety during the day. I was willing to use benzos as a temporary measure. That made more sense to me. I look back with regret and anger that other options weren't offered for what really were normal existential challenges of work and relationship, something I wasn't equipped to handle at the time. Fast forward to the present. I've been on medication since. And I've had a lot of trouble finding a medication that doesn't have significant side effects. I've felt despair. I've been told numerous times that I would need to be on medication for the rest of my life. And yet changing medications is a nightmare. The side effects are a nightmare. I recently read a book called Pathological that prompted a deeper reflection and research on medication in general. That the medication may be my problem. I had already started titrating down on my current cocktail. I experience akathesia on Zoloft, the reason the Remeron was added. It's a bit of a shock that my psychiatrist seemed uninformed. He wasn't aware of akathesia as a potential longer term side effect beyond 1-2 weeks. If patients experience this, it passes, he said. He offered no explanation for why it was passing for me. I've wanted to titrate off the Zoloft for this reason though I haven't known what next. I've felt hopeless. This process is so tiring and disruptive. My psychiatrist is a good man though he doesn't have really good ideas about what to do. Just throw more things against the wall and see what happens as if this were a simple process. I started to believe that maybe I have Bipolar II and misinterpreted the akathesia as hypomania. I was on track to titrate down on my cocktail and look at mood stabilizers, something my psychiatrist was willing to try, when I came across the book Pathological. It changed my view in many ways. My dilemma now is best to proceed. I'm learning just how naive I am about psychotropics and titrating off them. In my efforts in the past, I've followed a more traditional titrating schedule and crashed and burned only to think I'd relapsed and needed that medication. I thought I was doing it more thoughtfully this time which in some ways I am compared to the past though I'm still moving fast. I seemed okay with Zoloft 25 mg and Remeron 15 mg. I went down to 12.5 mg Zoloft and the withdrawal side effects were too much to manage. I'm using liquid Zoloft and quickly went up to an intermediate dose of 17 mg which seemed to be okay. I thought at 17 mg I could go down a third at a time from 25 mg. Because the sedating effects of the Remeron were kicking in on lower Zoloft, I went down on my Remeron to 7.5 mg. It's been 2.5 weeks since that change. It's been hard. The biggest issue is that often I'm unable to think, concentrate. Brain dead. When it happens I'm dead in the water. I can't really do anything. I'm awake though my brain isn't functioning. I can think a bit though my brain quickly locks up, shuts down, goes dead and it's worse as the day progresses. It's a huge issue, making work harder, diminishing my quality of life. I like to read and my ability to read and enjoy it is absent. After reading an article by Adele Framer yesterday, I realized that my plan to not overreact, to name withdrawal for what it is, and just live through the awfulness may not be the best plan. That things may get worse and that there may be a better way. That I need to slow down. Expect that this is going to take much longer than I expected. In that spirit because I'm really struggling with withdrawal and it's having a big impact on my life, I thought that maybe I needed to go back up a bit on the Remeron since it seemed that things really got worse when I went down on it (though I could be experiencing some continued withdrawal from the Zoloft). I went from 7.5 to 11.25 mg Remeron last night. I woke this morning, feeling like I wanted to cry and cry and cry. Maybe this increase is too much. The article talked about kindling and sensitization and I wondered if this isn't why even small dose changes cause problems. My psychiatrist unfortunately is willing to be present as I titrate though his knowledge in this area is limited. My initial question is, Where to go from here with the Zoloft and Remeron to continue the titration? I know I have a lot to learn and am wanting/needing to learn. Also one burning question is, Is this issue with an inability to think, concentrate, and focus, this feeling that my brain shut downs so completely and I can't function, common and is there anything I can do to address this? If you've made it this far, thank you for listening and for any input you can offer. Best, st11

Hello all! I am new here. Looking for people who are going through this as well. I was on 150mg of effexor xr for 17 years. 3 years ago I slowly started tapering down. I made it to about 20mg (I was taking 140 little balls out of the 37.5mg capsules). I had been super stressed and started drinking lemon balm tea, holy basil, chamomile, and taking l-theanine and all this apparently caused seratonin syndrome. I went to the ER and the ER doc stopped my effexor. I thought that's fine since i want off them anyway... The first 3 days I took 1 mg ativan morning and night to get through the worst. I have some great days where I feel better than I have in years and then some days I feel the withdrawal hard. Nausea, dizziness, headaches, light headed, feeling like I'm in a dream, anxiety constantly... I feel like I'm buzzing all day, panic attacks, insomnia. Tell me this gets better soon. I only have 3 more months off work... I'm getting so tired of fighting all day. I don't know how much longer I can do it.

Hello everyone I found this website earlier today whilst feeling particularly despondent about withdrawal symptoms. I've read a few posts and feel like I could have written them. I can't believe so many people are going through the same thing! Bit of history - I'm female, in my 40s, from the UK. Had mental health issues my entire life and began being medicated in my early 20s. I have to say that the drugs did help although nobody could ever really find a reason why I was so depressed and so therapy never really worked. Later in life with A LOT of therapy, I have been able to unlock the Pandora's box of my past and recognised that I experienced some pretty horrible abuse as a child and young adult which is almost certainly at the root of all of this as I never developed a solid sense of self or grounding in the world. I'm currently having therapy to address this which is going slowly but in the right direction. As you can see from my signature I've been on multiple psychotropic medications over the years . Six months ago I finished a taper of opiates I had been prescribed for pain and have been through the most horrific dark night of the soul which I am amazed I made it out the other end of. I am currently tapering my lisdexamfetamine (which I am prescribed for ADHD)as it rapid-cycles my mood and makes me alternate between manic & suicidal all in the same day. Ultimately I'd love to be off all the meds altogether. Right now I am feeling despondent as the lisdex withdrawal is causing hideous hideous brain zaps. I have discovered that lisdex & venlafaxine potentiate eachother so essentially I'm not just withdrawing from one, I'm withdrawing from both and this is what is causing the zaps. Anyone who has experienced them will know just how utterly debilitating they are and make you want to rip your own brain out. I'm actually dubious whether I should have been prescribed both medications together in the first place. I'm not working at the moment due to the withdrawals which is making me feel extreme guilt in addition the the shame at getting myself into this situation. I'm taking various supplements, not sure really if any of them are helping. I do quite a lot of exercise but am also prone to inertia and anhedonia which can make it difficult to find the motivation. Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences and looking forward to being here.

Hello Surviving Antidepressant friends Around 18 months ago I posted this thread desperately seeking help for tapering gone wrong. I had been on a treatment dose of 300mg of Effexor, which I had reduced around 80%. I went to a psychiatrist to seek advice on tapering and bridging and he told me the amount I was on was almost nothing and there would be no issue if I tapered off over a couple of weeks. That caused the worst withdrawal I have ever had, including what felt like 48 hours of suicidal panic attacks and inability to sleep. My memory from that time is blurry. Anyway. After that I tapered back on to Effexor until the worst of the discontinuation syndrome subsided, which ended up being back up to 10mg, or 30 beads. I stayed that way for around 8 months before trying to go off again. I would take my dose every morning in the same place, around the same time, by pouring out the little beads onto my hand, counting them, taking them, then brushing my teeth. The next time I started going off I reduced by 1-3 beads every 3-4 days (more at the beginning, fewer at the end). I also conducted a little placebo conditioning experiment with myself, where I replaced the lost beads with white 100s and 1000s (I think Americans call them sprinkles?). I figured, after reading up on the classical conditioning mechanism in the placebo effect, that the eight months of "ritual" around taking the drug might be sufficient to allow the placebo sugar beads to have the same effect as the drug on my brain. Once there were no more drug beads I continued "taking" the 100s and 1000s each morning for a few weeks. I'm not going to recommend the placebo approach outright for obvious reasons (I am not a doctor or scientist; my understanding of the placebo effect is probably rudimentary). However, in my specific case, the experience of going from 30 beads to 0 beads, was a million times better the second time than the first. Other factors that likely helped: It was about 5 times slower than the first time; I had adjusted to the 30 bead dose before I started; I took even longer gaps between reductions of the last beads; I was not working as much as I went through this process. Now. While it was easier than the first time, it was still not easy. I felt churned up emotionally and was super irritable, I had rage flashes, my anxiety increased hugely, anhedonia returned, I had nausea, and my muscles, particularly in my legs, spasmed and twitched, often violently. I could, however, sleep for the most part, and none of these symptoms got too much in the way of life (granted I was not working very much and I work for myself anyway; it would have interfered if I worked for someone else). It helped to know that if I could just get through those few weeks then things would probably get better. These symptoms lasted around 2 weeks after the final drug dose, which was early April 2017. And things did get better. For me, most of the side effects of the drugs have now gone. Most significantly, my sense of self and my creativity have returned. It had felt like they were being numbed or muted by the drugs, and I couldn't access them. Off the drugs I now have access to them. Similarly, my ability to enjoy sex has improved, and I don't feel like that side of me is muted either. The above is really tremendous; feeling like yourself again instead of a weird muted robot alien is a big relief. However, while I consider the drug withdrawal to be 100% successful and 100% the right decision for me, I should caveat that with the following context: The drugs appeared to be muting extreme unresolved emotional distress, both from childhood stuff and from rape and sexual assault from a few years ago. The pain from this sort of exploded when the drugs went away. My primary diagnoses are anxiety and major depression, but it appears even those were symptoms of childhood stuff. When I came off the drugs it was the first time I had been drug free in around 13 years. I am highly sensitive and have a big emotional world, but I never learned how to regulate stimulation and emotion, and then had it muted by drugs. When I came off the drugs the emotions and stimulation were pretty extreme and often overwhelming. I took from that that I should learn skills of emotion regulation though, rather than that I should go back on the drugs. Even with only 3-4 months of practice, I am hugely improved and the emotions and stimulation overwhelm me much less frequently. (Now they inform my creative work and my service work, and are real positive assets for me, albeit ones that require sensitivity and management.) I have the great privilege of being able not to work for a while while I recover fully, which is lucky because I cannot currently work. I put that down to unresolved trauma that has now come to the fore rather than drug withdrawal. I am doing deep dive work with my psychologist that is helping more than any other talk therapy I've done, and I think that work will be sufficient to return me to work eventually. I see her weekly. That work is also subsidised by the government because it is about recovery from sexual trauma, meaning for now I do not pay anything for it (another enormous privilege). I have a partner who is extraordinarily supportive and gets what is happening for me. He judges fair contribution to the relationship by reference to each partner's capacity, and thinks that because he has more capacity right now it is fair that he do more housework, financial contribution etc than me. This has allowed me not to push myself beyond capacity, which has meant I have recovered more quickly. In conclusion, while I am currently not working and my capacity to do a lot of things is severely restricted, I could not be happier that I am off the drugs. I feel like I have real issues (childhood trauma and sexual trauma) that require serious work, but now I feel like I am actually properly addressing them, instead of having them be muted yet just as destructive. I also no longer have the drug side effects interfering with my ability to enjoy things, make music and comedy, have intimacy with my partner, meaning recovery feels more authentic and there is more joy in it. Things still hurt a lot, but my world feels real in a way it wasn't on the drugs. It's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't come off these drugs before. In simple terms: I have hope. I can experience joy and enjoyment. I am excited about what the rest of my life might bring. Even while I know that I am in the middle of pretty extreme emotional upheaval and trauma processing, life is better than it has ever been. I am finally able to be fully, authentically myself, in ways that the drugs (and the trauma and mental health issues) got in the way of. I am optimistic.

Hi All, I have been on effexor for 20 years and now find myself on a extremely high dose of 375mg which is causing me more issues than what I was put on it for. I'm looking for support and would like to support others if I can

Hello, I am have only just joined the forum, my medication history is in my signature. This website is amazing, I've found it incredibly helpful and also really validating to read about other people's experiences. It find it hard to explain to people without direct experience what it is like to withdraw from SSRIs. I've had several friends tell me that I shouldn't stop my SSRI (Sertraline) because they assumed the withdrawal effects are the depression returning. I was quite stupid because I got down to 50mg after a year of reducing the dose and then got really fed up of the side effects and just stopped completely. Since then I've been reading about tapering, and realised that I shouldn't have stopped so abruptly. I've also realised that my doctor gave me the standard bad advice to reduce the dose by alternating from day to day. Now I think that might be why I've had such bad side effects during the last year. However I hate the idea of restarting the Sertraline so I'm trying to find other ways to help myself. One thing I'm trying is herbal medicine. There is a good herbal medicine clinic near where I live and the herbalist has prescribed me a medicine that contains some St John's Wort. I've only been taking the medicine for 2 days, so it's a bit early to tell whether it will help. I was wondering has anyone else used St John's Wort to help with withdrawal symptoms after they have stopped taking a prescribed SSRI? (**Safety note - it's dangerous to take St John's Wort at the same time as an SSRI**). I'm also looking for information that explains what is happening in the brain when stopping SSRIs. I feel it would really help me to understand this. I'm a university lecturer and I've been trying to find information, but everything I've found so far just gives a very conventional/inaccurate description of withdrawals, and also doesn't explain what happens in the brain after stopping an SSRI. Are my neuro-receptors actually damaged? Does my brain need to heal from the SSRI? If anyone has any suggestions I'd be very grateful.

Hello, I was not drug free for a long time. I got depressed again a so ended on drugs again. Did not know what else to do. Doing quite poorly now. I have a lot of anxiety and trouble sleeping. Currently, on 50mg sertraline and 25mg agomelatine. Weird thing is that even when I am in a good mood and anxiety is at bay I wont be able to fell asleep. Whenever I feel my brain is slumbering off then "zzap" and I wake up. I think it is the sertraline, that is preventing me from sleep. I'm just in a bad place mentally and cannot try to discontinue the drug as I'd than spiral downward into even more terrible depressions and anxiety. I tried to quit the sertraline CT once and endured it only for 3 days. It was much worse than Venlafaxine withdrawal that I once experienced. It is definitely possible. Or the the Sleep Apnoea is just accidental finding. Lot of people have mild apnoa, but re asymptomatic.

I have been on venlafaxine 150 from about 2004 and had stayed on it (more for preventive use as I felt quite well). In 2016, I visited a GP at my usual practice, as I was feeling a little low and was switched, very abruptly I thought (he said venlafaxine was quite an old choice of first line therapy), to fluoxetine (which a later specialist I met at the Royal Edinburgh suggested was probably a poor decision on the GP’s half – he reckoned I should have first tried upping the dose). I was also rapidly, tapered off the venlafaxine (2-3 weeks). I now know this is considered very short withdrawal time (and am aware that prolonged or very prolonged tapering (a year or more) is being advised. Venlafaxine has a very short half life and therefore rapid withdrawal means one has very quickly, very little left of the drug in one’s system. Anyway, over the following 2-3 weeks of withdrawal, I very rapidly descended into my worst ever experience of depression. I will never know exactly the cause – possibly venlafaxine withdrawal syndrome or the fluoxetine not working at all or a reaction to fluoxetine – or whether it would have happened without the drug change. The latter is unlikely in my view as when I was put back on to venlafaxine I made a decent measure of recovery (albeit at a higher dose than before). Mirtazapine was added later on (I take 22.5mg) . This last combination appeared to work but I have now slid back somewhat it feels – overall, much of the time, I feel pretty poor. I don’t feel like trying yet another drug as it means facing for the second time, the venlafaxine discontinuation syndrome. I’ve noticed that the research literature increasingly talks about the seriousness of antidepressant withdrawal and how common it is. Incidentally, I have also read about brain zaps, which I only discovered existed after having 2 or 3 occurrences of them myself (I hadn’t a clue what they were at the time). Now I notice that missing one daily dose can have some notable unpleasant effects as well as the brain . I now wonder if the venlafaxine has lost its efficacy after 17 years – perhaps I’ve become tolerant to it (I can’t accept raising the dose!). I’m also concerned about the long-term health effects of taking the drug – not many studies of long-term effects of antidepressants exist I believe.

Hi New here been checking out the forums, lots of good info. Been struggling a bit. Refer to sig. Think I've been put on wrong combination of drugs. Looking to go off quetiapine and mirtazapine in that order. Apprehensive about the quetiapine - was one of the two meds that reduced within a week, leading to second admission. That taper was supposed to have been quetiapine 100-50-25-0 with a month at each level. Needless to say that the quetiapine 100-50 drop combined with venlafaxine drop 300-225 (75mg per month till 0) saw me admitted for 5 weeks... So they took me off the venlafaxine after much heated discussion. Put the quetiapine back to 100mg ir after trying me on a cocktail of lorazepam, mirtazapine 45mg quetiapine 200ir, 100xr, I could fall asleep for 2.5hrs and wake up wide awake for hours... So on discharge it was mirtazapine 45mg, quetiapine 100mg. Been on that for about 2 months. Saw psychiatrist today who said go quetiapine 100-75-50-25-0 with a week at each level...