sunnysideup69: what can I do to stabilise on venlafaxine

[Cocopuffz17]

Hey! Glad to hear you are doing better! That is great news to hear :). You have a great weekend! 

[sunnysideup69]

And...my lovely window closed. But it was a good long one this time....for me...8 whole days. 

Yesterday was WD normal, kind of average.

 

Today am really tearful, and anxious, I know exactly what triggered it. Was sposed to be going home to visit parents this morning but had to put it off because yesterday, I started to get a sore throat. Am pretty sure it's just hayfever as I don't have a temperature. But I got myself super anxious about it, worrying about going to see my parents with potential 'symptoms' as they are elderly etc. So, have called my parents and have said I will travel down tomorrow. It's raining here today and the sore throat has gone, so I think it was just pollen, my eyes are a bit itchy, too. Pollen and anxiety.

 

My nervous system is still quite quick to fire up at triggers, I believe this is showing me. More self soothing today, more self care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cigale]

1 hour ago, sunnysideup69 said:

More self soothing today, more self care.

 

You did the right thing by being cautious about your visit. Take care my friend. Hugs 

[sunnysideup69]

Thanks @Cocopuffz17 for your good wishes before. My window wobbled a bit on Friday and yesterday, was quite symptomatic. Got a bit stressed about travelling home, but am sort of okay again now. It's anticipatory anxiety, I know. One day even this will calm down.

 

Thanks @Cigale, appreciate it. Took temperature yesterday and it's normal. Was sneezy with itchy eyes. I'm sure it's allergies. Today am going to travel. Have woken up too early with a bit of a cortisol rush, but I guess it's to be expected. Am nervous about travelling and about seeing my parents after two bereavements....it feels emotionally very loaded.

Yesterday, I just couldn't face it and my body said no.

 

It's also because it means I'm slowly coming out of lockdown and that's a huge change, again, so am not gonna be surprise if it creates some waves.I also said yes to doing some catsitting for my friend, yesterday...not sure when yet, but am gonna do it. It's scary, to come out of hiding, but am slowly doing it. I've been a hermit with little human interaction since March 6th.

[Cigale]

You are courageous and so very caring my friend! When I am struggling with an upcoming visit or even talking to someone on the phone, I ask myself to think of that other person and what my visit means to them. Just remember what a gift your visit is for your parents. And let them love and dote on you all they want. I am virtually holding your hand today. HUGS!

[sunnysideup69]

2 minutes ago, Cigale said:

You are courageous and so very caring my friend! When I am struggling with an upcoming visit or even talking to someone on the phone, I ask myself to think of that other person and what my visit means to them. Just remember what a gift your visit is for your parents. And let them love and dote on you all they want. I am virtually holding your hand today. HUGS!

Thanks so much @Cigale, that means a lot xxx

[sunnysideup69]

❤️ Stabilisation update for week beginning Sunday 21st June ❤️ 

6 windows, one day average, one wobbler of a day. I'd say I'm getting a lot more stable as the weeks roll on, been happening since May 8th.

 

The wobbler day had a cause...it was anticipation of visiting my parents, intense fear of infecting them, also just anxiety about train travel and about coming out of isolation after three months. Plus, it was bound to be emotional - I haven't seen them since February and two of our family have died in that short space of time. 

 

Healing is definitely happening, there's been a shift again over May and June. I'm going to coast a bit until I feel mostly really well. Also, I want to get back to work in September/ October before I think about making any medication cuts, as that could be a bit of a stressful time.

[Longroadhome]

@sunnysideup69

 

great that you are stabilising and yes wait until you get back into work life routine before thinking about tapering 

onward and upward !! 

[Erell]

Thank you for sharing the good news ❤

[Tom37]

Your doing really well. Have been following your progress from a far.

 

I would definitely give yourself some time before tapering as been a very stressful time for many of us and you don’t want to undo your hard fought stability by going too early.

 

May it keep getting better.

 

 

[sunnysideup69]

4 hours ago, Tom37 said:

Your doing really well. Have been following your progress from a far.

 

I would definitely give yourself some time before tapering as been a very stressful time for many of us and you don’t want to undo your hard fought stability by going too early.

 

May it keep getting better.

 

 

 

Hey @Tom37,

Good to hear from you, I saw your update and it also seems you're levelling out! Thank God, I'm so appreciative of just feeling even vaguely normal these days.

 

Thank you and yes, I'm really not in a hurry to taper. I'm thinking I'm going to just coast along for a while, there are going to be some more big changes before the end of the year and I want to be as stable as possible. Going back to work in school is going to be one of them....I think that's gonna be quite a challenge after so long away/ in lockdown.

 

I'm just reading and getting myself ready for a Venlafaxine taper. Most likely, will leave it until next Spring. I need a few months reprieve from feeling awful.

[Malbec37]

On 6/30/2020 at 6:27 AM, sunnysideup69 said:

The wobbler day had a cause...it was anticipation of visiting my parents, intense fear of infecting them, also just anxiety about train travel and about coming out of isolation after three months. Plus, it was bound to be emotional - I haven't seen them since February and two of our family have died in that short space of time. 

 

Healing is definitely happening, there's been a shift again over May and June. I'm going to coast a bit until I feel mostly really well. Also, I want to get back to work in September/ October before I think about making any medication cuts, as that could be a bit of a stressful time.

 

Hey @sunnysideup69 Good to hear healing is definitely happening and yes I think it wise to wait until there is real life stability before making any more reductions...it's frustrating as all we want to do is get off the meds but it can be really tough when things are rocky AND we are reducing and experiencing WD symptoms. Such a tough journey but we can only move forward day by day and hold where we need to. I am in a similar boat where I want to start reducing again but I also need to find a new job and also need to find a new person to live with....both could potentially be stressful so I have to think carefully about how to juggle it. 

 

All I keep holding onto is that one day we will get there and be free of taking medication. It WILL happen

[Tom37]

Good plan as even when you get to the point of bring ‘normal’ or close to it our nervous system will still be very fragile. Add a pandemic into the mix and there is a lot going on for us all.

 

One thing I do find on here is quite a few people give up on holding and start to taper and it makes things even worse. They don’t get stable in 12 months and think it’s not going to happen and may think it’s  the drug so start tapering. I would say the true time period for stabilisation is a lot longer than most think and I know a couple of people on here who took 3 years to get there. Your clearly getting better so things are doing what they need to sort that brain out.

[Lynnardgirl]

4 hours ago, Tom37 said:

Good plan as even when you get to the point of bring ‘normal’ or close to it our nervous system will still be very fragile. Add a pandemic into the mix and there is a lot going on for us all.

 

One thing I do find on here is quite a few people give up on holding and start to taper and it makes things even worse. They don’t get stable in 12 months and think it’s not going to happen and may think it’s  the drug so start tapering. I would say the true time period for stabilisation is a lot longer than most think and I know a couple of people on here who took 3 years to get there. Your clearly getting better so things are doing what they need to sort that brain out.

So glad I read Your post . I was thinking 

it’s time to taper again been 17 months and still not stabilized ! Has to be the drugs, thanks 

I will be holding a while longer 

[sunnysideup69]

On 7/1/2020 at 9:57 AM, Malbec37 said:

All I keep holding onto is that one day we will get there and be free of taking medication. It WILL happen

 

Thanks @Malbec37 it WILL happen. Indeed. I'm gonna hang out here anyway whilst waiting to taper. Want to be as stable as possible. 

 

13 hours ago, Tom37 said:

One thing I do find on here is quite a few people give up on holding and start to taper and it makes things even worse. They don’t get stable in 12 months and think it’s not going to happen and may think it’s  the drug so start tapering. I would say the true time period for stabilisation is a lot longer than most think and I know a couple of people on here who took 3 years to get there. Your clearly getting better so things are doing what they need to sort that brain out.

 

Thanks @Tom37, I agree. I'm holding on until I'm stable and I've been that way for a while. I don't want even tiny glitches. I feel as if I'm heading for feeling pretty normal and then, if I have to coast for a year, just to make sure, I'm going to do that. 

 

8 hours ago, Lynnardgirl said:

So glad I read Your post . I was thinking 

it’s time to taper again been 17 months and still not stabilized ! Has to be the drugs, thanks 

I will be holding a while longer 

Hang in there, we're all healing. It just takes time.

[sunnysideup69]

Note to self; crappy diet still affects me. Had sugary stuff two days running at my parents' home and having a kind of exhaustion wave now. No other symptoms, just really tired. Took about 48 hours to kick in, which is normal after a sugary binge. Not really that bad, but it happens every time.

[mstimc]

2 minutes ago, sunnysideup69 said:

 

Thanks @Malbec37 it WILL happen. Indeed. I'm gonna hang out here anyway whilst waiting to taper. Want to be as stable as possible. 

 

 

Thanks @Tom37, I agree. I'm holding on until I'm stable and I've been that way for a while. I don't want even tiny glitches. I feel as if I'm heading for feeling pretty normal and then, if I have to coast for a year, just to make sure, I'm going to do that. 

 

Hang in there, we're all healing. It just takes time.

Sunny,

If there's one thing I learned its to listen to my body and emotional state when I tapered.  I think I was unsuccessful in my first two tries because I wanted to stick to a schedule.  The final and successful time I tapered a consistent amount, but the time between tapers was dictated by how I felt and if I was ready.  It took longer but went much smoother.  Hang in there!

[sunnysideup69]

Thank you @mstimc,

I spent a lot of time the other day working out a schedule and thinking 'it's gonna take me ages to taper,' feeling a bit dissatisfied. But then I realised that I want this next taper to mean off meds for life....so it doesn't actually matter how long it takes.

[mstimc]

2 minutes ago, sunnysideup69 said:

Thank you @mstimc,

I spent a lot of time the other day working out a schedule and thinking 'it's gonna take me ages to taper,' feeling a bit dissatisfied. But then I realised that I want this next taper to mean off meds for life....so it doesn't actually matter how long it takes.

That is so true!  It took me three years, but compared to my whole life, that wasn't much, especially considering how low my quality of life was when I was using the meds and wihdrawing.

[sunnysideup69]

1 minute ago, mstimc said:

That is so true!  It took me three years, but compared to my whole life, that wasn't much, especially considering how low my quality of life was when I was using the meds and wihdrawing.

 

Gonna take me about 5 years, and that's if I don't make long pauses along the way. BUT, if that's what it takes to remain off meds for the rest of my life, then I'll put up with it.

[mstimc]

On 7/3/2020 at 1:23 AM, sunnysideup69 said:

 

Gonna take me about 5 years, and that's if I don't make long pauses along the way. BUT, if that's what it takes to remain off meds for the rest of my life, then I'll put up with it.

Exactly!  And think of how much stronger you'll be knowing you can handle this!

[Longroadhome]

On 7/3/2020 at 9:23 AM, sunnysideup69 said:

 

Gonna take me about 5 years, and that's if I don't make long pauses along the way. BUT, if that's what it takes to remain off meds for the rest of my life, then I'll put up with it.

Sunny 

5 years ? How did you calculate 

seems a long taper ? 

[brassmonkey]

Our recommended taper of 10% every four (4) weeks has a half-life of 6 months. So after six (6) months you are taking half as much medication. Starting at 75mg that would give a taper of 3.5 years to get to 1mg if all goes well. At that point you start The Endgame Taper which takes about another year before you can make the jump to "0".

[sunnysideup69]

9 hours ago, Longroadhome said:

Sunny 

5 years ? How did you calculate 

seems a long taper ? 

Sounds long but that's the reality. Ten percent reductions of Venlafaxine, I'm currently at 75mg. I calculated holding for six weeks each time. 

Could actually take me longer if I take a break from tapering.

[Longroadhome]

Why holding fir 6 weeks between tapering ? 
thr brass monkey reduction is 2.5 % taper per week for 4 weeks Then 2 week hold before starting again 

[sunnysideup69]

Update for week commencing Sunday 28th June 2020

 

❤️ A decent week, some windows, mostly WD normal.

WD normal for me has improved. Sleep and anhedonia are the main issues. Oh, and skin is still breaking out a bit, but it's clearing a lot quicker.....so again, improvement.

Some days, instead of waking with the intense anxiety, I wake feeling a bit flat and uninspired. Again, this tends to lift as the day progresses and I get engaged with things, plus it's circumstantial....lockdown is quite boring. Can't blame everything on WD 😉 Also, in WD normal, I still seem to be 'checking in with my mood.' Not all the time, but it's there.

 

For me, a 'window' is feeling completely normal, no symptoms, not even thinking about WD. Just getting on.

WD normal is now completely tolerable.

Managed a trip home last weekend, several work online meetings this week, a chat with the boss on the phone and also a friend came over for lunch yesterday ( was exhausted afterwards, though.) Diet hasn't been great this week, bit of extra gluten and some sugar, but I haven't crashed badly.

I MUST focus on sleep routine this week. Falling asleep too early.

 

 

[sunnysideup69]

44 minutes ago, Longroadhome said:

Why holding fir 6 weeks between tapering ? 
thr brass monkey reduction is 2.5 % taper per week for 4 weeks Then 2 week hold before starting again 

So, that's still a ten percent reduction and six weeks 😉 It's just a more cautious way of doing a cut of ten percent.

 

Don't forget, it's your starting dose that determines how long your taper will last. You guys started at ten or twenty mg of a drug. I'm starting at 75, so it will take me longer.

[sunnysideup69]

On 7/4/2020 at 9:14 PM, brassmonkey said:

Our recommended taper of 10% every four (4) weeks has a half-life of 6 months. So after six (6) months you are taking half as much medication. Starting at 75mg that would give a taper of 3.5 years to get to 1mg if all goes well. At that point you start The Endgame Taper which takes about another year before you can make the jump to "0".

 

Thank you  Think I need to go back and do the calculations again......actually I was basing it on cutting by ten per cent and holding for 6 weeks, being very cautious.

Still waiting for better stability before I start but I'm feeling like it's coming. Waves are not as bad. Mainly just a bit flat/ anhedonia/ exhaustion but can cope.

[Erell]

1 minute ago, sunnysideup69 said:

 

Still waiting for better stability before I start but I'm feeling like it's coming. Waves are not as bad.

 

So pleased to read this dear Sunny ☀️

After bumpy months, no rush  : enjoy your quiet times 🤗

 

Take care ❤

[sunnysideup69]

1 minute ago, Erell said:

 

So pleased to read this dear Sunny ☀️

After bumpy months, no rush  : enjoy your quiet times 🤗

 

Take care ❤

 

Hello @Erell and thank you xxx yes, I'm trying to exercise patience. It's hard when you really want to get going, but I feel like I need to wait until really settled. Nervous system is still pretty fragile, I react to stressors in quite an exaggerated way. A few more months of holding for me, I think...and then a gentle first bit of taper.

[Erell]

Just now, sunnysideup69 said:

 

Hello @Erell and thank you xxx yes, I'm trying to exercise patience. It's hard when you really want to get going, but I feel like I need to wait until really settled. Nervous system is still pretty fragile, I react to stressors in quite an exaggerated way. A few more months of holding for me, I think...and then a gentle first bit of taper.

 

To be honest, when I read your posts you really amaze me.

You've been through a lot lately and you've shown a lot of strenght !

 

You deserve some peacefull time ☺

[Cigale]

On 7/5/2020 at 7:19 AM, sunnysideup69 said:

Managed a trip home last weekend, several work online meetings this week, a chat with the boss on the phone and also a friend came over for lunch yesterday

 

This is such great news @sunnysideup69! You are doing such a good job pacing yourself through this long journey. I could use some of your patience, that is for sure. 😉

 

I so want to help! So first I am sending you a hug 🤗! And I am also sending you a spreadsheet for tracking your eventual taper. You may have already seen it from SA member Jozeff, or you might have your own system. I would check its accuracy though since I think it shows a longer taper than Brassmonkey outlines.

 

Hope your week continues to be sunny!

Sunny_Taperspreadsheet.xls

[sunnysideup69]

@Cigale, thanks so much for that! Going to take a look. Hope you are doing ok?? xxx

[sunnysideup69]

Well, I've started vlogging my experience on a youtube channel. I just think it's really important to get the info out there about psych drug WD/ destabilisation. I also noticed that on youtube, there's a LOT of peoples' very short WD experiences. I think it's important to voice the experiences which aren't so straightforward and are more protracted.

 

Haven't put my actual name on the channel so I'm a bit harder to find. So, if you want to come and say hello on the channel, please message me and I will give you the channel name, link. 

[Hanna72]

1 hour ago, sunnysideup69 said:

Well, I've started vlogging my experience on a youtube channel.

That’s great sunny, good idea getting it out there and show the people who have longer experience in the withdrawal journey🙏
I would love the link if you can send it to me.

Have a good one 🥰

[Longroadhome]

I would too 

thank you 😊