admike: Hello. First post, venlafaxine tapering struggles

[admike]

Hi, 

I am 37 male (not a native english speaker so please excuse my english). I read a lot from this forum many other sources on the internet. I have been taking venlafaxine XR 150 mg several years, then switched to XR 75mg without big issues, after another year I tried taking only about half capsule. Couple of weeks later taking even less than half capsule daily I decied to go cold turkey. Bad idea! After horrible withdrawal, I gave up the fourth day and reinstated. I developed tinnitus since that, but I get used to it. Now I would like to taper slowely and get off this medicine. I have Velaxine from Egis (Hungarian pharma company) which come in small pellets (each about 0.30mg). Pellets have different sizes- they are obviously coated for extended release. Strangely they have also two colors- white and yellow (there are much more yellow than white pellets). Could it be that white pellets are with immediate release and yellow are with extended release? Also, I wonder if amount of venlafaxine is the same in each pellet and only the coat mass differs. Tried asking manufacturer and pharmacy, but they were reluctant to share any information:(

I am glad to be here, always good to know we are no different and share our troubles. 

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, admire.  Your English is fine.  We're happy to help you taper off Venlafaxine XR.  I'm not familiar with the Hungarian Egis brand or why they have two colors.

 

We recommend tapering by no more than 10% of current dose every four weeks.  Some have to taper more slowly.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

The following link is specifically about tapering Venlafaxine, including XR.  It gives information about how to get the nonstandard doses needed for a 10% taper.

 

Tips for tapering off Effexor (venlafaxine)

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium (glycinate is a good form) and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you cans questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here--and especially so before you continue your taper.

 

 

 

[admike]

@Gridley thank you very much for your warm words. I am happy to be in such a nice community. I see you managed to almost get off from Lexapro- congratulations, hope you are doing well! 

I tried to post question about amount of medicine in those venlafaxine pellets to the thread you linked, but I may not have enough persmissions to do so or something. Anyway, I don't think someone else could give an answer than the manfucturer. So frustrating they refuse to communicate. When I asked them politely- "don't separate dosage, crush pellets, ask your doctor etc", they even threatened me with off label use penalties  (after I tried lying I am a doctor).

I have already been taking omega3 and magnesium, tried other supplements to deal with tinnitus like betahistine, ginkgo, taurin, dlpa, vinpocentine, but none seem to help much. 

 

[Gridley]

6 hours ago, admike said:

 

I tried to post question about amount of medicine in those venlafaxine pellets to the thread you linked, but I may not have enough persmissions to do so or something

It's better to post all your questions here in your Introduction topic so all your information is in one place.  I'm sorry the manufacturer is so uncooperative.  They are trained to give you the official "party line" and nothing else.