Venlafaxine150: Want to get pregnant, tapering off Venlafaxine

[Venlafaxine150]

Hello,

 

My name is Venlafaxine150. I been taking Venlafaxine for about 11 years now and I want to start trying to get pregnant at the end of August 2016. I have 9 months to do this and tonight is my first night tapering. I am going from 150 mg to 137.5. I am planning to switch dosages every month. So on January 1, I will begin taking 125 mg and stay on that dosage for a month.

 

I went to the doctor and explained how I was feeling a lot of anxiety and depression. More anxiety though and he prescribed me Venlafaxine. I have never regretted taking the drug, it helped me immensely through some tough times. I may even go back on it when I am done having kids, if I need to. I don't feel like I've ever had any horrible side effects while on the drug. Although, I'm fully aware of the side effects when withdrawing, as I've dealt with the brain-zaps and diarrhea when I've forgotten to take just one or two pills.

 

I work full time, planning a wedding and heading to Mexico in a few weeks. I'm hoping that tapering goes okay through all of this. I'm hopeful!

[ChessieCat]

Hi V150,

 

Welcome to SA.  Sounds like you are aware that you need to taper slowly.  That's great.  The recommendation here is 10% of the current dose then hold.  In case you haven't seen it, here is the link to the tips about  Tapering Venlafaxine.

 

Planning a wedding?  Your own?  If so, congratulations!

 

I can see you have already set up to Follow your topic.  You can use this topic to ask questions and journal your progress.

 

Best wishes, CC

[peggy]

Hi there and welcome Venlafaxine150! - from another venlafaxine taperer... there are quite a few of us here. You will do fine if you take it nice and slowly.  Try not to get too hung up on wanting to get off by a certain date - it's better to let your body control your taper schedule.

[Venlafaxine150]

Thanks Chessiecat! Yes I am planning on getting married in July 2016.

 

And thanks for the welcome Peggy!

 

This site is wonderful!

[KarenB]

Hello Venlafaxine150 and welcome to s/a,

 

You sure have an exciting year coming up - wedding and baby!  Congratulations...  It's great you've found this site before you actually start tapering.  Things will go much more smoothly for you if you approach the taper gently, and with lots of self-care.  (Actually, speaking as a mother, that self-care would be great for a mama-to-be as well ). 

 

We recommend tapering by 10% of your current dose each 4-6 weeks depending on how your system settles.  You could check out this thread for details.  If you keep notes on paper about any withdrawal-symptoms you get, it will help you decide when you are ready for further reductions.  Sounds like you have some experience of these through the odd missed pill.  Basically though, slow and steady wins the race. 

 

Could you also add a signature with your drug and tapering history - it just makes it easier for people reading your posts to be able to quickly place where you're at.

 

I am also tapering Venlafaxine and was at 150mg.  So glad you are here to get good support and info.  Have a read of these links, and feel free to come back to this thread to ask any more questions you may have.  No need to feel alone with it here .  Whatever you experience, you can be sure someone else also has.

 

Best wishes,

KarenB

[Venlafaxine150]

Thanks KarenB!

I think my signature is updated now, hopefully it works ????

So, it has been just about a week and I havnt had any symptoms. I feel like I was more awake this week which was absolutely wonderful. Before, if I didn't get 8 hours it was likely that I would shut my eyes a few times on the highway, driving to work in the morning. I am interested to see how the symptoms are after two weeks.

[Karma]

Hi V150,

 

Welcome to our community.  I'm glad to see you've already added the fish oil supplements.  I find it really is supportive while tapering off of antidepressants - good for you!

 

Give yourself a good 4 weeks with this first decrement.  I find it helpful to log how I am feeling every day.  Here is a link that discusses this topic:

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1779-rate-symptoms-daily-to-track-patterns-and-progress/.   With Venlafaxine sometimes the withdrawals may show up a few days or a couple of weeks later.  Just monitor yourself and you will be able to catch this before it gets too uncomfortable. 

 

Best wishes on a successful taper and a joyful wedding.

 

Karma
 

 

 

[SarahLeo]

Hi V150,

 

I am on a similar journey as you, just a little further into it. My main reason for getting off the Effexor was to hopefully have a baby in my future. This has given me the mindset to be determined on getting off of the drug.

 

I also recommend going as slow as possible - and using a holistic approach to the healing process as well. I worked with my ND to proper supplements, did massage therapy, acupuncture, chiropractor, dietician for healing with nutrition, exercise (very important), and several other methods. Have a look at my story that I wrote when I first went off of Effexor for some of the withdrawal remedies I used.

 

8 weeks of being free of Effexor - I have bad brain fog. I recently started Neurofeedback traning in Calgary. I am on session 6 and am very hopeful it is working. I am less irritable & my brain fog seems to be getting better. I can finally start making decisions on my own & I feel like I am slowly "getting my brain back"

 

Stay determined! You have a goal and you will get there. Remain positive, the mind can do amazing things when you put your mind to it.

 

Best of luck

[Venlafaxine150]

Thank you so much SarahLeo! You are very comforting and nice to hear from someone in the same boat as me.

 

It has been about two weeks now and everything has been fine. I feel full of anxiety right now but I think it has to do with drinking too much coffee today. Also there's so much stress at Christmas time. I feel like I can't keep up with everything I have to do. I will think twice about having a second or third cup of coffee next time that's forsure.

 

Tonight we're going to a big Christmas dinner which was unplanned. Which is ok, it just puts me behind for the week and stresses me a bit. I will be drinking water and no coffee or alcohol, as I realize that these are not going to help me at all.

Thanks for reading.

 

Ven.

[Fresh]

Hi Ven ,   

"So, it has been just about a week and I havnt had any symptoms. I feel like I was more awake this week which was absolutely wonderful."

 

This feeling of more energy , and of feeling "full of anxiety" , THESE are symptoms of w/d. This is often

followed by a period of flatness.   If that happens , I'd leave your decrease a little longer until things even out again.

 

Best wishes ,  Fresh

[Venlafaxine150]

Tommorrow it has been three weeks since my last cut. I havnt had any horrible symptoms. Mainly no flu like symptoms or brain zaps yet. I am going to do a cut again down another 12.5 milligrams and see how that goes for four weeks. If it doesn't work out I will go back up to where I was before the cut.

Here is a little progress report:

 

150 mg --> 137.5 mg (Dec 7 to Dec 31)

137.5 mg --> 125 mg (Jan 1 to Jan 31)

 

Thanks for all the encouragement and support to all of you writing! So wonderful to hear everyone's experiences and tips.

 

Ven.

[ChessieCat]

Hi Ven,

 

Sounds like you are going well.  Hope your next cut goes as well as this last one.  Good luck.

 

I agree that it is good to get the experience and tips from the others and the encouragement and support is very helpful too.  CC

[Venlafaxine150]

It's day 2 of taking 125 mg of Venlafaxine.

I am experiencing what they call brain fog I believe. I feel very detached, discouraged and depressed. Mostly detached though.

 

I am okay, but I'm really hoping this will go away. I have no intentions of cutting down again until it does. So hopefully it does go away with time. Any thoughts?

[SquirrellyGirl]

Venlafaxine150, I'm glad you are here and can start tapering with knowledge!  I really had no clue when I went off before, and once I was off, the withdrawal symptoms snuck up on me rather than hitting me over the head, another reason I didn't realize what happened later was protracted withdrawal.  

 

All I can say is that you  may be able to get away with the steeper cuts while still at the higher doses, but please listen to your body, and take daily notes about when you do your cuts, by how much, and how you feel so that you can identify when symptoms occur relative to a cut.  And, NEVER cut when you are still having symptoms!  If you haven't seen this topic, then check it out and look at the paper that shows the graphs about receptor occupancy. 

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6036-why-taper-paper-demonstrates-importance-of-gradual-change-in-plasma-concentration/

 

37.5 mg is the minimum effective dose of Effexor at which you still have serotonin receptor occupany of around 80%.  As you cut below that dose, the occupancy starts dropping precipitously with small dosage changes, which means big destabilization!  So, you may have to take it slower than you want as you get down in that range.

 

I understand you have a calendar goal to aim for a baby, and hopefully you will get there with little trouble.  

 

And  SarahLeo, how did you do your taper off?  Did you follow the 10% reduction method?

 

 

SG

[AliG]

V ,

This is going to be a long road to travel.  There are no " shortcuts" unfortunately.  It could be a " rocky road".  It's not going to go away, however you can do this.

You have lots of support. Just be careful with your drops.

Ali

[Venlafaxine150]

Thanks all for the advise!

I will taper very slowly. I'm at day 9 with the second drop and feeling pretty good.

I bought a tablet splitter for later down the road but the tablets inside my pill are much to small to work in my splitter unfortunately.

I'm hoping that if I switch to the brand name Effexor that those will have the little balls in the pill, which I can weigh on my little scale. Does anyone know if the brand name has those little balls ?

 

Thanks for reading,Ven.

[SquirrellyGirl]

Yes, the brand name does have the little balls, a lot of them,  I hear!   I have the Teva brand of extended release ven and I take 28 beads that weigh 74 mg, with the active ingredient dose being 27.75 mg.  Each large ball weighs about 2.67 mg, but there are what I call medium sized balls as well, plus a few tiny ones.  I hear the name brand balls are smaller.

 

I hope that helps!

SG

[Venlafaxine150]

Thanks SG! Good to know.

 

Today is February 5, 2016.

I like keeping a log of how things have been going. I've been feeling pretty good.

I can't complain at all. I have made 3 cuts now and they've all went well. We went to Mexico and got really sick on Jan 20. I still have quite explosive diarrhea on a daily basis. But I can't be sure whether it's from whatever I picked up in Mexico or if it's from the cuts. Anyway, like I said its nothing I can complain too much about. I'm just glad I haven't had any brain zaps or headaches or anxiety attacks yet. Fingers crossed things keep going good. Slow and steady wins the race right.

 

I will post again soon

 

Ven.

[SquirrellyGirl]

We went to Mexico and got really sick on Jan 20. I still have quite explosive diarrhea on a daily basis. But I can't be sure whether it's from whatever I picked up in Mexico or if it's from the cuts. Anyway, like I said its nothing I can complain too much about. I'm just glad I haven't had any brain zaps or headaches or anxiety attacks yet. Fingers crossed things keep going good. Slow and steady wins the race right.

 

I will post again soon

 

Ven.

That is very good news, Ven - that's how a 10% should go, uneventful.  As for the diarrhea, are you taking a probiotic?  If it is tourists, that may be a nice, natural way to help the good guys win.  

 

I have only had bouts of diarrhea in the morning from mirtazapine cuts, but we have lots of serotonin receptors in our gut so I think that is why so many of us do get digestive upsets when withdrawing. Funny, I never had the diarrhea, even in protracted withdrawal, with regards to ven, only mirt.

 

I hope tapering just keeps on being that unexciting, Ven! 

 

SG

[Venlafaxine150]

Well I'm here to report that on day 13 since my last cut. I was having erotic dreams and brain zaps.... Both of which only happen as a result of Venlafaxine withdrawl. It was at 9:30 pm when it started and usually I take my pills at 10:30 pm. I get the sense that I'm getting very sensitive to cuts. Not sure what I should do next. I guess I will continue to monitor daily.

 

On day 14 (today) I got a minor brain zap at 8:11 pm.

 

I can't help but think this is from my new dosage from the doctor. He gave me 112.5 mg to take. I was under the assumption that I'd been taking 112.5 anyway since I was taking out a certain number of mini tablets. I presume I was wrong about the mini tablets?! Any advise from those with mini tablet experience would be hlepful.

 

Thanks,

Ven

[SquirrellyGirl]

When you say the doctor gave you 112.5 mg to take, is that the dosage the pills came in? In the states I think we can only get 37.5, 75 and 150 mg.

 

Our ER comes as a capsule which contains little beads.  Since the number of beads can vary between capsules, it is recommended to count the number of beads in a few capsules to get an average and an idea of the variability.  I have found with the Teva brand that most of the beads are rather "fat," while fewer are not as large and some are tiny.

 

I personally think it best to count out the same number of similarly sized beads rather than removing a set number of beads. You can calculate 90% of the average and take that, and calculate further reductions based on that number.

 

If the bead size appears pretty consistent with your brand, then bead counting should work fine.

 

Is the new dosage the same brand as before?  If not, there may be enough of a difference in beads as to cause symptoms.  

 

SG

[Venlafaxine150]

March 8, 2016

 

Sorry for the late reply. Things have been going really well which is probably why I haven't logged on here in quite some time. I'm dedicated to updating with my progress, whether good or bad though. So here I am.

 

Yes, my last post was confusing. I got 112.5 mg which was made up of a 75 mg pill and a 37.5 pill. The brand I am using doesn't come in beads, they're called "mini tablets."

 

I figure that each mini tablet is approx. 12.5 mg. I have been cutting my dosage monthly by 1 mini tablet, which has worked very well for me so far. I've had two days which I had the symptoms I explained in my last post but besides that I have been very lucky, so far. I am down to 100 mg (from150 mg). I do realize that my method of cutting out a full mini tablet may not work so well very soon ????, this is because the % of the cut will become too large. But I am just being cautious and letting my body tell me when it's too much. When it's too much, I will have too increase the dose back and then make smaller cuts.

 

Thanks for posting and reading.

 

Sincerely,

Venlafaxine150

[KarenB]

Hi Ven,

 

Thanks for you update - we really do appreciate people popping back in to say how they are.  And it seems to be going well for you.  Glad you are listening in to your body as you taper.

 

Best wishes for the next month

Karen (another venlafaxine taperer)

[Venlafaxine150]

April 01, 2016

 

So, today was my second day into another cut. This time was a little more than a 10% cut. It was 12.5%. I feel extremely emotionless today. I kept wondering why I feel so bad, it's like I'm so board and hate my life for absolutely no reason. I kept wondering what it would feel like to get excited about anything. My fiancé and I got into a huge fight about cleaning yesterday. So, I'm not sure if that's weighing heavy on my mind or this last cut is getting to me a little. I'm sure it's both.

 

I just want to be happy. It's only day two, I'm hoping this will pass in a few weeks. I will keep posting.

 

Thanks for replying to me Karen B!

 

Hugs,

Jody

[SquirrellyGirl]

Hi Ven150, 

 

I have had many days where I had the same thoughts you expressed above, but then it passes.  This is WD and it will pass.  What has your symptom pattern been like?  Does your cycle come into play?  It does for a lot of women.  Two days after a cut seems early for symptoms.  In March you reported that things had been going well, and that was after your March 1 cut, so I'm wondering if something else might be in play.  Any other stressors in your life?

 

It may be that it is time for a hold for an extra month to let your system get caught up.  I"m sorry you've run into a blip, but it happens even during sane tapers.  Stressors can bump you from ticking along quite well, whether it's a life event, an illness or trying a new supplement.

 

I hope this passes quickly :-)

 

SG

 

SG

[Venlafaxine150]

May 28,

 

Thanks for the kind words SquirrellyGirl. I hope I can comfort someone someday like you, it's so nice to hear you say it will pass.

Things have been going really well until now. I definately think my symptoms were just to do with other issues that day since they weren't really physical symptoms.

 

Today on the other hand was much more difficult. I did a 16% cut last night and it was a lot. My heart feels like it's racing from time to time, I feel shortness of breath and the occasional brain zap (very mild though). I've had bad brain zaps before when I've ran out of meds before on a vacation trip and these are definately much more mild in comparison. Anyway, I found today was tough. Wondering if anyone feels weird sensation on the tip of their toungue after doing a dosage cut that was more than 10%. I'm hoping these symptoms don't last long. I will document how long it lasts.

 

- Ven

[SquirrellyGirl]

I have had the numb lip/tongue sensation, not so much in relation to Ven cuts but with a 20% cut of Remeron my p-doc imposed on me when reinstating Ven a year ago.  I would say this is a sign that you need to slow down.  I hope you will find the patience to do the 10% cuts every four weeks from here on out.  We've had so many people go against that advice only to crash and burn, and it causes them time because they have to up-dose and hope to stabilize, and after a bobble like that the brain takes longer to stabilize - it sets back your tapering by possibly months.  You are your own boss on this journey, but we hope that the experiences of those who go before you aren't for naught.

 

SG

[Venlafaxine150]

June 6, 2016

 

So, those symptoms only lasted 24 hours, the physical symptoms. I will definately cut back on doing the larger decreases I think. I'm feeling a bit stressed since the wedding is in a month. Everything is all done but I'm concerned about other things like how my weight isn't exactly where I'd like it to be. But I'll wait until after the honey moon and try to do a 10% cut. My problem with doing 10% cuts is that I have the tablet form of pill and the tablets are too small to use a pill cutter (I tried). Also, I think that even if I were to get the little balls form of Effexor that I don't quite understand how to measure the medicine in them. Up until these last two cuts, things were working really really well, because I was able to just remove one small tablet out of the pill each time and it would be a cut of less than 10% or extremely close to.

 

Thanks for the advise!

 

Ven

[KarenB]

When measuring out Venlafaxine capsules with the tiny balls inside, many of us use a micro scale such as the Gemini 20.  You can get help with the initial maths, for working out what weight equals what dose, and after that it's fairly straight forward. 

 

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!  Lovely news... Good idea holding till after then. 

 

Karen

[Venlafaxine150]

Today is September 6, 2016 and I'm proud to say that I've made it to 25mg (from 150 mg) relatively easily! Most doctors will have you jump down by 25mg or more but I decided to taper. I didn't follow the 10% rule. I wanted to, and even bought a scale to do it with but it wasn't that easy with tablets (12.5 mg each). My problem was that the pill cutter I bought was too big to be able to cut those mini tablets and a using a knife to cut them was dangerous and I wasn't able to cut them accurately. I had two separate days over the last 8 months where I got some brain zaps but in both cases they weren't bad at all and They only lasted a couple of hours. I know that each person is different in their journey to come off of anti-depressants and I most likely will struggle with my last two cuts. But I wanted to report the details of my specific journey and say that it hasn't been bad at all yet. Each cut I've done was by 12.5 mg and most were a month long, some only 2 weeks. This is my storey so far and I'm happy to report that coming off of anti-depressants is very do-able. ????

[ChessieCat]

Hi Ven,

 

Congratulations on getting to 25 mg.

 

Many members find that the lower their dose gets the slower they need to go.