Nadiab

[Nadiab]

Been on antidepressants for over 20 years. Last 10 at least I have been on Effexor (Venlafaxine). It has taken me 12 months to get down from 150 mg per day to zero and I am suffering from withdrawal symptoms which have gradually got worse the lower the dosage. Last dose  of 15 mg was 4 days ago and I feel awful. Dizzy, groggy, anxious, exhausted, irritable, tearful......hot sweats insomnia - all doesn’t help as I’m 53 and menopausal too.  Help!

[ChessieCat]

Hi Nadiab and welcome to SA,

 

It's good that you have tapered slower than what the medical professionals would have suggested.  Unfortunately you have tapered too quickly and you are correct that you are suffering withdrawal symptoms.  Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Because you have only been off the drug for 4 days, and the last dose was 15mg (I am assuming that you were taking 15mg every day - if not the reinstatement dose may be lower - skipping doses is not recommended see Skipping Days vs Every Day Dosing Graph ), my suggestion would be to immediately start taking 15mg every day.

 

Please keep daily symptoms notes on paper and not what symptoms improve/worsen.  That way we will be better able to see if might need to increase the dose a little bit.

 

Please read Post #1 of this topic:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

It takes about 4 days for a dose to get to full level in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  You will to be patient and try not to panic.  It is better to start with a lower dose and increase by a small amount if needed than to risk taking too much.

 

Please also note that stabilising isn't linear.  See:  Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

It may take several months or longer before it will be okay to taper again.  It is better to hold for longer than to risk reducing again too soon. 

 

Tips for tapering off Effexor (venlafaxine)

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

 

Please create your drug signature using the following format.   Keep it simple.  NO diagnoses or symptoms please - thank you.

• details for last 2 years - dates, ALL drugs, doses
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I will provide some more information in the next post.  This is your own introductions topic where your can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

 

[ChessieCat]

Here's some additional information which might help you to understand what is happening:

 

When we take a psychiatric drug, we are adding chemical/s to the brain.  The brain then has to change to adapt to getting the chemical/s.  It might have to change something to do with A and then once that change has been made it affects B so another change has to be made and so on down the line.  It is a chain reaction, a domino effect.

 

The same thing happens when we take the drug away.  That's why it's possible to experience such a vast array of withdrawal symptoms, and they can change, and be of different intensity.

 

are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take

 

These explain it really well:

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

On 8/31/2011 at 5:28 AM, Rhiannon said:

When we stop taking the drug, we have a brain that has designed itself so that it works in the presence of the drug; now it can't work properly without the drug because it's designed itself so that the drug is part of its chemistry and structure. It's like a plant that has grown on a trellis; you can't just yank out the trellis and expect the plant to be okay. When the drug is removed, the remodeling process has to take place in reverse. SO--it's not a matter of just getting the drug out of your system and moving on. If it were that simple, none of us would be here. It's a matter of, as I describe it, having to grow a new brain. I believe this growing-a-new-brain happens throughout the taper process if the taper is slow enough. (If it's too fast, then there's not a lot of time for actually rebalancing things, and basically the brain is just pedaling fast trying to keep us alive.) It also continues to happen, probably for longer than the symptoms actually last, throughout the time of recovery after we are completely off the drug, which is why recovery takes so long.

 

AND

 

On 12/4/2015 at 2:41 AM, apace41 said:

Basically- you have a building where the MAJOR steel structures are trying to be rebuilt at different times - ALL while people are coming and going in the building and attempting to work.

It would be like if the World Trade Center Towers hadn't completely fallen - but had crumbled inside in different places.. Imagine if you were trying to rebuild the tower - WHILE people were coming and going and trying to work in the building!  You'd have to set up a temporary elevator - but when you needed to fix part of that area, you'd have to tear down that elevator and set up a temporary elevator somewhere else. And so on. You'd have to build, work around, then tear down, then build again, then work around, then build... ALL while people are coming and going, ALL while the furniture is being replaced, ALL while the walls are getting repainted... ALL while life is going on INSIDE the building. No doubt it would be chaotic. That is EXACTLY what is happening with windows and waves.  The windows are where the body has "got it right" for a day or so - but then the building shifts and the brain works on something else - and it's chaos again while another temporary pathway is set up to reroute function until repairs are made.