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aschwan: Viibryd withdrawal question


aschwan

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Hi. This is my first post. Quick history. I had a heart issue that was treated 3 years ago. 4 months after I woke up with severe anxiety.

 

My doctor put me on Paxil with Xanax for when I needed it. After aboutique 6 months he switched me to Lexapro which didn't work for me. He then put me on Vybriid. I worked up to 40mg. I took the Vybriid for just under 2 years and it started giving me anxiety and I always felt like I was in a daze.

 

I was feeling better and read about some people that cut their dosage in half so I tried it. I cut from 40mg to 20mg for about 3 weeks then I saw my doctor that ok'd me trying to stop altogether. I went from 3 weeks on 20mg to ten days at 10mg to nothing. That was a few weeks before Christmas.

 

The initial withdrawal was aweful which I kind of expected from my experience stopping Paxil. After a few weeks they subsided and I started feeling better. They last few weeks I've been feeling more anxiety and a little out of sorts. Cloudy head, some trouble sleeping.

 

I'm hoping these symptoms are still related to the withdrawal. It's nothing I can't handle for now and I'm committed to seeing it through but my question is, Has anyone had experience quitting vybriid after 2 years? Is the way I'm feeling normal?

Edited by scallywag
sw added tags; CC previously added paragraphs & coloured font for drugs
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  • Moderator Emeritus

aschwan -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA)

 

A fast taper such as the one you did in late 2016 risks creating an extended period of symptoms, though you may get lucky that your current experience is the worst of the symptoms you'll have.

 

For your reference:

What is withdrawal syndrome.

Important topics about symptoms including sleep problems.

Glenmullen’s withdrawal symptom list.

 

We don't have many actively-posting members who are tapering or who have discontinued Viibryd. If you want to find others who have taken it, click on the tag I added to your topic. It's a grey "tag" shape below the topic title.

 

Your experience isn't particular to Viibryd. All SSRIs and all psychiatric medications affect the CNS (central nervous system). The CNS adapts when the drug is introduced by making changes to neurotransmitter (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, etc.) cells and processes. When we reduce dosage or discontinue a psychotropic medication, the CNS has to adapt again by undoing those changes. Other more detailed explanations and descriptions can be found at these links:

One theory of anti-depressant withdrawal syndrome

How your brain responds to psychiatric drugs - aka "Brain remodeling"

Youtube video, 4 minutes: Healing from antidepressants

 

FYI -- we suggest tapering medication by no more than 10% per month to minimize the risk of withdrawal symptoms occurring. Here are some links relevant to your situation.

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?.

Tips for tapering off Viibryd (vilazodone)

 

A request: Would you summarize your history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly?

  • Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years.
  • Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago)
  • Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016.
  • Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses.
  • A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs.
  • You can find instructions in this topic: Please put your withdrawal history in signature
  • If you are using a phone or mobile device, you need to switch to the "full" or desktop version of the site. Instructions are in Post 9 and Post 10
I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation and that your good fortune having light withdrawal symptoms continues. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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  • 1 year later...

Aschwan how are you doing?

nz11

Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen

We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. 

URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting  for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing.

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651   

Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos.

Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you

Recovering paxil addict

None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. 

This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! 

  "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped."  Dr Mosher. Me too! 

Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015

I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015

Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017

 

 

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