Akosua: HELP tapering off Effexor pregnant ITCHING

[Akosua]

Hello,

 

I have been on Effexor XR for 10 years (225 mg). I tapered off about 2 years ago but had horrible panic attack so went back on. January of 2015 I began having horribly itchy, pin prickling skin, all over my body. It has not gone away, steroid cream does NOTHING, the only anti histamine that helps is Benadryl but can't take that during the day. Literally I've tried EVERYTHING- it can't be eczema- there is almost nothing on my skin but teeny tiny bumps that itch so intensely it wakes me up from my sleep. It's def not scabies of bedbugs, doctors have confirmed that. One doc said she thought it might be from my Effexor so I started tapering this week (down to 150 mg) and the itching got 100 times worse (I had gotten it kinda under control before that where I was able to live with it) so I went to a diff derm and they said it could be related to celiac disease, which I have never been tested for, so she is doing a biopsy for that. Anyways, I was thinking that the itching will go away faster if I just get off the medicine faster or just stop cold turkey, but it sounds like that isn't true?? I could live with the brain shocks and Nauseau but can't like with this itching- it feels like ants are crawling all over my body all the time. I just don't know what to do anymore and am miserable. On top of it, now I'm pregnant so I'm very limited in medication I can take. If someone could help with any advice that would be great. Thank you.

[Petunia]

Welcome Akosua,

I moved your introductory post from the tapering forum to start and intro/update thread of your own. I'm sorry to hear you are having this intense itching, it sounds awful. Unfortunately, I don't know what might be causing it, but itching is something we hear about a lot, it seems to be a side effect and a withdrawal symptom:

Intense itching - Surviving Antidepressants

As you are pregnant, its definitely a good idea to try and come off your medication, or at least get the dose as low as possible, there seems to be some risk, especially during the third trimester, here is what drugs.com has to say:

 

http://www.drugs.com/pregnancy/venlafaxine.html

 

We usually suggest reducing by no more than 10% of the current dose every 4 weeks, this reduces the risk of withdrawal symptoms arising. But in your case, you may want to try and reduce faster.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Tips for tapering off Effexor and Effexor XR (venlafaxine)

 

It would be great if you would put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature. Doing this helps people understand your context, it appears below each of your posts. Here are instructions for how to do it:

 

http://survivinganti...your-signature/

 

Please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing.

 

Petunia.