Thatsit4me Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 Hello everyone, I’m at day four of cold turkey from Effexor 75g, its not much fun but I’m hanging in there. Am i crazy or just stupid for embarking on this journey? Link to comment
Administrator Altostrata Posted September 7, 2021 Administrator Share Posted September 7, 2021 Welcome, @Thatsit4me I moved your post here to start your own Introductions topic. It's very high risk to cold turkey an antidepressant. By "not much fun", do you mean you're experiencing withdrawal symptoms? How long were you on Effexor? This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted. Link to comment
Neon Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 Hey, I know not everyone goes into protracted withdrawal and you might be fine. But I did that and it landed me in hell.. if I could redo it I would instantly and do a slow taper. Its just not worth the risk. My life is in total shambles and has been for a long time. If somebody told me not to do it in the beginning I would be insanely thankful right now. I dont want to scare you but please think about it really well if you want to risk it. Effexor is notoriously difficult to withdraw from. 2010-2020: Venlafaxine (between 37.5mg and 225mg (CT twice from low doses 2018, 2020) and Trazodone (between 25 and 50mg, CTd twice without problems) April 2021: Crash with OCD, anxiety, akathisia after taking benzo and microdosing mushrooms 11th June-2nd July(3 weeks total): Seroquel 150mg, Seroquel XR 50mg, Trazodone 150mg, Zoldem 10mg July 2nd-Feb 15: Venlafaxine between 37,5 and 75mg, Olanzapine between 2,5 and 5mg August 22nd: introduce 0.5mg Lorazepam (0.25 10am, 0.25 7pm) December 7th: stop morning dose Lorazepam without problems January 10: Reduce evening dose from 0.2mg to 0,15, cant sleep and take 1.5mg Lorazepam, plus forgot to take my Venlafaxine that day --> severe crash with suicidal akathisia go up with Lorazepam to 4mgs, starting 4mgs on March 28th February 15th: increase Venlafaxine to 93,75, tried 150 with bad reaction, slight increase seemed to settle the akathisia a bit June 14 lose sleep, return of akathisia in full force 20th June increase Lorazepam to 5mg current medication: Venlafaxine 93,75mg (8am) Olanzapine 3mg (9:30pm), Lorazepam 5mg taken 4x daily at 8-12-17-21:30 o'clock Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted September 8, 2021 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted September 8, 2021 23 hours ago, kenny171 said: I stopped cold turkey from 37.5 mg. The first few weeks were the usual brain zaps and foggy head, but at about a month and 2 weeks began experiencing severe nausea, stomach pain, chest pain, and back pain. I could not make it any longer as I was exhausted. Began taking Effexor again a few days ago just to make the symptoms stop. Unfortunately, it only diminished the withdrawal symptoms instead of taking them totally away. Still dealing with stomach pain and back pain. The nausea is better, but still there, and I've began experiencing pretty severe anxiety, waves of depression, panic, and weirdly times of numb emotions. Hopefully you'll do just fine, but if you begin to show more severe symptoms of withdrawal, I would wait to reintroduce your medication. Hi kenny171 and welcome to SA, Please start an introduction topic for yourself. That way you can document your own journey and be supported by the SA community. * NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA * MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: (6 year taper) 0mg Pristiq on 13th November 2021 ADs since ~1992: 25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq: 50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity) Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021 LAST DOSE 0.0025mg Post 0 updates start here My tapering program My Intro (goes to tapering graph) VIDEO: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management Link to comment
thenextguy Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 On 9/6/2021 at 7:22 PM, kenny171 said: I stopped cold turkey from 37.5 mg. The first few weeks were the usual brain zaps and foggy head, but at about a month and 2 weeks began experiencing severe nausea, stomach pain, chest pain, and back pain. I could not make it any longer as I was exhausted. This is the worst part about the withdrawal process, IMO. When it starts out you might think it's not so bad and so you'll ride it out. But then things start getting worse! Aren't things supposed to get better the longer you're off the meds? Well, in the long run, yes, but in the short run things can get worse. And then if you wait until things get too bad, the benefits from reinstating are smaller. 1 -Since 2017-ish I've been on Cymbalta & Mirtazapine. At max dose it was 120mg cymbalta and 45mg mirtazapine. This combo was meant to deal with a depressive episode and it worked. Over the next few years I tapered down from those high doses. I had tried to get off the cymbalta twice and had to reinstate twice. I don't remember when. Maybe 2018? 2019? -Since 2020 I've been stable 20mg cymbalta and 7.5mg mirtazapine (this is mainly for sleep now). I have come off of the mirtazapine before without trouble, but still take it occasionally for sleep. -August 2nd began taking 10mg prozac as a bridge to attempt to get off cymbalta. Took 10mg for about a week then 20mg for a few days. Stopped taking the cymbalta and was doing okay for a bit, but things didn't seem to get better and maybe have been getting worse. -8/25/2021 - 20mg cymbalta and struggling. Stopped the prozac. I'm struggling, but I can probably ride this out if I had to. My concern is that things will continue to get worse, as they seem to be doing. -8/29/2021 - things started to get worse. Probably prozac withdrawal. Reinstated 20mg prozac. -9/2/2021 - 20mg cymbalta, 5mg prozac, 7.5 mg mirtazapine --> 9/24/2021 - 20mg cymbalta, 5mg prozac, 3.75 mg mirtazapine --> 11/7/2021 - 20mg cymbalta, 3.75mg prozac, 3.75 mg mirtazapine --> 4/24/2022 - 20mg cymbalta, 3.75mg prozac --> 6/5/2022 - 20mg cymbalta, 3.33mg prozac -4/25/2024 - Finally started tapering again this year after a long break and some unrelated health matters. I'm now down to just 15mg of cymbalta/duloxetine and doing well! Link to comment
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