Jump to content
SurvivingAntidepressants.org is temporarily closed to new registrations until 1 April ×

Anonymous784 Successful withdrawal from effexor/venlafaxine


Recommended Posts

Hi Anonymous784 :) Congrats on your progress! I have this underlying panic after PAWS and I'm often unable to feel safe in my body. I think it's PTSD from the PAWS. And I get scared that I'll never be able to find peace and "be" in my body again. I do SE, but I find it very hard and anxiety provoking. And I fear I'll never again feel safe in my body even though PAWS is over. I wanted to ask you if you have felt the same way and if it goes away? Thanks :)

Edited by Karma
Name update
  • 2009 - 2017: Venlafaxine (Effexor) 150 mg. Tapered off in under 4 months, from May 2017 - Sep 2017. Didn't get that many side effects and felt fine for 1-2 months. 
  • End-October 2017: Starting getting pain throughout my body.
  • End-January 2018: From one day to the next I got an extreme stress-like inner "shaking" feeling in my body that made me want to opt out for the next 7 months. Also got about 20-30 other bodily symptoms.
  • August 2018: Amitriptyline 10 mg. Tried it for the "shaking" feeling and it helped some. Also started therapy in December 2018 because I had very intense emotions and didn't know why. In July 2019 I wanted to go off Amitriptyline but researched it first, and found out that my mysterious symptoms must have been Venlafaxine withdrawal. 
  • July 15th 2019: Amitriptyline taper from 10 mg to 9 mg, using water solution. My symptoms are between 50-80 % better than in January 2018. 
  • January 20th 2020: Amitriptyline taper from 5,0 to 4.8 mg. I'm starting to get more symptoms again.
  • February 9th 2020: From 4,8 to 7 mg amitriptyline.
  • March 3rd 2020: Symptoms still worse, so went from 7 to 10 mg. Was quickly better on this dose. Won't try tapering until I'm much better. 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/2/2019 at 1:41 AM, Ladywingnut said:

 

I hope that's of some use - and I'm so with you as you continue your self work.  ❤️

Thank you lady for all your ideas and keeping in touch even though you're already well healed.  Inspiring and compassionate.  Have a cool yule! 🎅

Love and peace

Missy

MissyE

2008 Dec-Feb 2009 GP diazipam; Dec-Jun 2009 fluoxetine. 2010 Jan citalopram approx 4 weeks, Jan- Aug fluox, Oct-Jun 2011 paroxetine; Aug - Dec venlafaxine 37.5mg - 75mg. 2012 Mar-Jul reinstate ven 150mg; Aug swap to fluox 40mg (preg) - Mar 2013  reinstate ven 150mg. 2015 Nov swap to fluox 40mg (preg) Dec suicidal reinstated ven 300mg

2018 Jan ven "pooped" buspirone added/stopped; pentagablin added; March pent stopped & ven taper - 0 June; August betablockers started/ stopped; September mirtazapine 15mg and diazepam 2mg started/stopped; October ven 300mg reinstated. 

2019 Jan psychiatrist added mirt 15mg (aiming for "California rocket fuel" therapeutic dose).  No more meds: gradual taper mirt Feb-April (taken for < 3 weeks).

Commenced ven taper 5-10% 6-10 weekly 2019 April - Nov: 225mg.  Tapering 8 weekly in alignment with menstrual cycle 2020 Jan 212.5mg; Mar 200mg; Jun 187.5mg hold

Oct all meds stopped sectioned under mental health act psychosis olanzapine 20mg PRN lorazepam

Dec 600mg lithium 15mg olanzapine

1-2g omega 3 & 400ug folic acid

2 puffs pulmicort inhaler.

This too shall pass.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Hello all, and happy 2021.  I thought I would pop in and do an update on this, especially after seeing that there is more research coming out on withdrawal etc.  

 

I am...still doing pretty well!  I still have disability-level complex PTSD, so that's a real ongoing struggle, but I still feel ok saying I am doing pretty well. 

 

Through my therapy (weekly, somatic experiencing/talk therapy) and ongoing self-directed recovery work I have regained enough capacity to properly pursue new things again and handle big external challenges.  I am doing songwriting and audio production, writing, music study, and improv music stuff.  (I'm in a country where covid is not restricting life atm.)  I am doing better with emotion regulation, albeit that it's a big thing to figure out and I'm still very much in the middle of that (terror is a frequent visitor, ha).  Even though a lot of my energy is still taken up by managing my illness, there is now quite a lot of room around it where I enjoy life, friends, and creative pursuits.  I am anhedonic much less often, and much less intensely, and I have figured out how to make my way out of anhedonia reeeeeasonably reliably.  I am very clear on my values and needs and am making a life for myself that aligns with those things.  I am still not using medication except for tiny doses of lorazepam very occasionally (10 doses per 6 months-ish, generally), but that's just to interrupt spirals so I can sleep when necessary.

 

Effexor feels very far away now.  I do sometimes wish there was a medication that could curb the intensity of some of my symptoms without numbing me, and without dulling my creativity/sexuality/sense of self.   But in a world where no such medication exists (for me; I know it does for some), I am really pleased with how much I have been able to do with therapy and self-directed recovery work.  

 

I lay all this out here because when I was trying to rid myself of effexor, it felt interminably, permanently, desperately, awful, and I would have liked to read these messages from future me telling me that that was the withdrawal talking.  That it will probably always be hard, but it won't always be quite so relentlessly hard, and there will be a lot of things to love in the future too.  If anyone's where I was, I hope that message helps you too.  :)

Was on 300mg Effexor from 2013-2015, tapering down to complete withdrawal in April 2016.  Reinstated following unmanageable withdrawal symptoms.  On 10 mg daily from June 2016 to early 2017.  Tapered veeerrrry slowly down to 0 by early April 2017.  Drug free since then.  Currently doing fine off the drugs, albeit dealing with significant unprocessed trauma issues with weekly psychologist sessions.  Full complex definition of "fine" at my success story thread.

 

Previously on Citalopram maximum dose 2004 to 2009, withdrew to nothing 2010, onto fluoxetine maximum dose 2010 to 2013, then tried several different meds that I don't remember for 4 months in 2013, settling on the Effexor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Karma changed the title to Anonymous784 Successful withdrawal from effexor/venlafaxine
  • Moderator Emeritus

@Anonymous784Thank you for sharing another chapter of your success story.  It's inspiring to me to see other people recover from this.  I'm also working hard on learning to cope with life without psych meds.  Keep up the good work!  Jennifer

Please do not private message me.  Only tag me for urgent questions about tapering and reinstating - thank you.  

 

***Please note this is not medical advice.  Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a doctor who understands psych meds and how to withdraw from them, if you can find one.

 

Lexapro   Started Apr 15 2010 - 10 mg;  started taper August 2017, recent taper info: Apr 2 '20  0.18 mg; Jul 16  0.17 mg, Aug 23  0.16 mg, Oct 7  0.15 mg, Nov 8 - 0.14, Jan 16 '21 - 0.13, Feb 7 - 0.12, Feb 22 - 0.11, Mar 26 - 0.10, May 21 - 0.09, June 15 - 0.08 Aug 16 - 0.07, Oct 6 - 0.06, Nov 21 0.05, Dec. 17 0.04, Jan 14 '22 0.03, Feb 19 0.02, Apr 18 0.01, May 15 0.005,  Jul 8, 0.00.  Psych Drug Free as of July 8, 2022!!  Woohoo!!!

other meds: Levothyroxine 75 mg

magnesium in small amounts at 4 AM, before bed

suppl AM: fish oil, flax oil, vit C, vit E, multivitamin, zinc

suppl 8 PM: magnesium 350 mg, extended release vitamin C, melatonin 2 mg

 

Paxil 2002 - 2010, switched to Lexapro 2010 

Trazodone 50 mg. 2002 - 2019, fast tapered in 2019 

Xanax 0.5 mg as needed 2002 - 2019, up to 3x weekly 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I’ve been sitting at the kitchen table sobbing this morning, so your report was a balm. I’ve been off Effexor since June 2019 after quick taper with the psych and have Prozac down to 2.0 mgs

Fluoxetine 1997-2014, 2015, 10-40 mg. GAD and DR symptoms returned  April 2013.

Bupropion 2013-14, 4 mos; Lexapro 2014; Cymbalta 2014. Gabapentin 2014; Mirtazapene 2014. Buspirone 2015.

Venlafaxine Dec. 2015 – May 2019, 150 mg, tapered to 0 in 3 weeks, May-June 2019

Bupropion Mar 2017 – July 2019 300 mg, tapered to 0 in 3 weeks, July 2019

Fluoxetine/Prozac May 2019 – present, tapered from 20 mg started Jan 2020, linear 10% every 4 wks.; tapered 6 to 4 mg June, 2, 2020; 4 to 1.8 mg Aug. 26, 2020; updose from 1.8 mg to 2.0 Nov. 16, 2020. Holding at 2.0 mg as of Mar 14,2021. April 14, 2021 updosed to 2.5 mg.

D3 2,000 mg; Omega 3 360 EPA/240 DHA; Magnesium Chelate 250 mg; Inositol powder started Nov 12, 2020; Theanine 400 mg; cranial electrotherapy stimulation device, self-treatments started Mar 14, 2021.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, I too am dealing with the underlying trauma and it is hard to know which is withdrawal and which is trauma. Anxiety is debilitating my life. I have been 5 months off my final dose and it is extreme. Lots of praying, crying, avoiding. I am considering some intensive trauma therapy. I just keep hoping I get more stable first. I'm sure ghat is the reason I got on the meds in the first place. 

Paxil  2000 - 2002  Tried unsuccessfully to discontinue

2002 - 2010 A series of trial and error, Wellbutrin, Effexor and unsuccessful attempts to discontinue.  

2010 - 2017 Lexapro With several unsuccessful attempts to withdraw 

2012 - 2017 Lamictal Successfully withdrew Lamictal no problem

2017 - 2020 Switched to 40mg. Prozac to prepare try another Withdrawal. 

2020 - On 15mg Remeron for a few months during withdrawal

Completely off of Antidepressants since Sept. 2020

Klonipin as needed throughout the process. .25 mostly, some .5, some .125,  2 to 12 times per mo.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator Emeritus

@rachie I identify with you.  Please hang in there.  It is probably WD in large part.  From all I've been reading, it takes a while after jumping off SSRI's for the brain to fully heal and recover.  So a lot of you symptoms are probably due to that.  Jennifer 

Please do not private message me.  Only tag me for urgent questions about tapering and reinstating - thank you.  

 

***Please note this is not medical advice.  Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a doctor who understands psych meds and how to withdraw from them, if you can find one.

 

Lexapro   Started Apr 15 2010 - 10 mg;  started taper August 2017, recent taper info: Apr 2 '20  0.18 mg; Jul 16  0.17 mg, Aug 23  0.16 mg, Oct 7  0.15 mg, Nov 8 - 0.14, Jan 16 '21 - 0.13, Feb 7 - 0.12, Feb 22 - 0.11, Mar 26 - 0.10, May 21 - 0.09, June 15 - 0.08 Aug 16 - 0.07, Oct 6 - 0.06, Nov 21 0.05, Dec. 17 0.04, Jan 14 '22 0.03, Feb 19 0.02, Apr 18 0.01, May 15 0.005,  Jul 8, 0.00.  Psych Drug Free as of July 8, 2022!!  Woohoo!!!

other meds: Levothyroxine 75 mg

magnesium in small amounts at 4 AM, before bed

suppl AM: fish oil, flax oil, vit C, vit E, multivitamin, zinc

suppl 8 PM: magnesium 350 mg, extended release vitamin C, melatonin 2 mg

 

Paxil 2002 - 2010, switched to Lexapro 2010 

Trazodone 50 mg. 2002 - 2019, fast tapered in 2019 

Xanax 0.5 mg as needed 2002 - 2019, up to 3x weekly 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@rachie By chance, have you gone to therapy? Last summer I started EMDR therapy....talk about a LIFE CHANGER for me!!! It deals with trauma in your life. And trauma can mean different things to different people.....I am down to just going once a month...but it has helped me tremendously!!!

2005-2020 diff AD for trouble sleeping, switched multiple times. 

2020 Dec Escitalopram 10 mg

2021 Jan 10 mg -start BMS taper w/2 wk hold

2022 March 3.63 mg

2022 July 2.65 mg

2022 November 1.96 mg

2023 February 1.48 mg

2023 August .90 mg

.25mg Melatonin (as needed)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I am doing emdr with a trauma therapist now and may go to an intensive that she is recommending. I know the withdrawal is brutally real and longggg. I also know I had trauma issues before I got on meds. So it's two sides of a coin and I need to deal with both. 

Paxil  2000 - 2002  Tried unsuccessfully to discontinue

2002 - 2010 A series of trial and error, Wellbutrin, Effexor and unsuccessful attempts to discontinue.  

2010 - 2017 Lexapro With several unsuccessful attempts to withdraw 

2012 - 2017 Lamictal Successfully withdrew Lamictal no problem

2017 - 2020 Switched to 40mg. Prozac to prepare try another Withdrawal. 

2020 - On 15mg Remeron for a few months during withdrawal

Completely off of Antidepressants since Sept. 2020

Klonipin as needed throughout the process. .25 mostly, some .5, some .125,  2 to 12 times per mo.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

@Anonymous784  Thank you for continuing to inspire me and give hope to so many here.  I had previously read your success story and added it to my folder of success stories that I appreciated.   After 5 years of tapering venlafaxine, I have finally jumped to ZERO drug as of May 5, 2023.  I have just read your success story again, and it still inspires me.  Thank you for writing such a hopeful story, which helps me to keep going through my six symptoms to a brighter tomorrow.

 

Larry

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."  Romans 12:12

See LarryS Health History

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/18063-larrys-tapering-off-venlafaxine-effexor-225mg/?do=findComment&comment=575976

 

Aug 2014 start Venlafaxine 225 mg.

Other Pharmaceuticals per day:  Amlodipine Besylate 5 mg

Vitamins per day:  C 1,000 mg; D3 50 mcg; Probiotic 218 mg; Fish Oil 1,600 mg; Magnesium Glycinate Liquid 165 mg; CoQ10 40 mg; Saw Palmetto 320 mg; Calcium 250 mg; Red Yeast Rice 1,200 mg; Plant Sterol Esters 1,000 mg

Start Taper: 225 mg to 55 mg; June 5, 2018, to June 15, 2019

49 mg July 16, 2019; 44 mg August 13, 2019; 49 mg (up 11%) Aug. 26, 2019: 44 mg Sept. 10, 2019; 40 mg Oct. 8, 2019;  37.5 mg (6%) Nov. 6, 2019; 49.5 mg (up 32%) Nov 18, 2019; 44.5 mg Dec. 30, 2019; 40 mg Jan. 27, 2020; 36 mg Feb. 24, 2020; 32.5 mg March 23, 2020; 29.2 mg April 20, 2020; 26.3 mg May 18, 2020; 23.7 mg June 15, 2020; 21.3 mg July 6, 2020; 19.2 mg Aug. 4, 2020; 17.3 mg Sept. 1, 2020; 15.5 mg Sept. 29, 2020; 14.0 mg Oct. 27, 2020; 12.6 mg Nov. 24, 2020; 11.3 mg Dec. 15, 2020; 10.2 mg Jan. 5, 2021; 9.2 mg Feb. 2, 2021; 8.3 mg March 9, 2021; 7.4 mg April 6, 2021; 6.7 mg 5/4/2021; 6.0 mg 6/01/2021; 5.4 mg 7/13/2021; 4.9 mg 8/10/2021; 4.4 mg 9/9/2021; 4.0 mg 10/14/2021; 3.5 mg 11/11/2021; 7.5 mg (up 200%) 12/6/2021; 6.75 mg 1/17/2022; 6.00 mg 2/21/2022; 5.62 mg 3/21/2022; 4.87 mg 4/25/2022; 4.50 mg 5/30/2022; 4.13 mg 7/5/2022; 3.75 mg 8/1/2022; 3.38 mg 9/7/2022; 3.00 mg 10/5/2022; 2.63 mg 11/02/2022; 2.25 mg 12/1/2022; 1.88 mg 1/5/2023; 1.50 mg 2/9/2023; 1.13 mg 3/16/2023; 0.75 mg 4/20/2023; ZERO mg 5/5/2023

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use Privacy Policy