rbrum: Withdrawing from Effexor /venlafaxine for third time

[rbrum]

Hi

I'll share a little of my story.

 

In 2004 I took Effexor for less than a year having been depressed, tapered off slowly over a few months with no withdrawal issues. This time the Effexor definitely lifted my mood significantly. I took the slow release version 75mg.

 

In Summer 2010 I took Effexor for 3 weeks, for what in hindsight was PTSD and stopped with no withdrawal issues.

 

In Sept 2011 I started taking 75mg Effexor XR for depression. There was no big improvement, I wasn't sure if the medication even made a difference but didn't want to stop in case things got worse. Interestingly I got a big improvement once I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and started taking levothyroxine.

 

Around Spring 2013 my symptoms of depression had significantly reduced, enough to declare myself 'better'. I decided to give myself 6 months of feeling good before withdrawing. In Sept 2013 switched to 37.5mg Effexor or a generic venlafaxine twice a day and after 10 days tapered to half a tablet (18mg) in morning, 37.5 mg in evening, just by using a pill cutter. At this point I went through a relationship breakup so decided to postpone withdrawal and went back to the full dose, just in case the medication was providing me with some support.

 

I started to withdraw again this year. I again started by tapering to half a tablet in the morning and a whole one in the evening. I then continued on this dose for a few weeks before reducing to half for both morning and evening in August 2014. The next stage was to reduce to a quarter tablet in the morning and a half in the evening. It's impossible to be very scientific about these reduced sizes - my inexpert pill cutting meant the quarters varied hugely in size.

 

I decided not to be in any hurry over this, which my doctor agreed was sensible. If I felt bad or low then I paused and just continued on the current dose. 

 

I am now, November 2014, on a quarter tablet both morning and evening and occasionally forget one or both. I plan another week or two at this dose and then I will stop the morning dose.

 

It will be good to come off this medication. I do wonder if I will become depressed again. Statistically I know it is likely.

 

I wanted to add my voice to the mix partly to reassure that not everyone has difficulty withdrawing - although I did take it much slower than the standard advice. 

 

 

[Improving]

Glad to hear you aren't going through the nightmare than many of us have experienced coming off of Effexor. Not rushing it this last time has probably been a huge help! I really hope that you don't fall into depression again, statistics aren't always right, there can be outliers....here's hoping you are one of them and manage to stay depression (and Effexor) free.

[Petunia]

Hi,

Welcome to SA, thank you for posting an introduction and for filling out your signature. 

 

If you have used your real name as your user name, you may want to consider changing it for reasons of privacy.  Posts here show up on google searches if someone were to search using your name.  If you wish to change it to a pseudonym, please contact an administrator or ask here in your thread, please let us know what you want it changed to.

 

I'm glad that the medication for hypothyroidism has helped with depression.  If you taper slowly and carefully off the effexor, there is a good chance the depression wont come back

 

Even though you have been tapering slower than the standard advice, you have still been tapering too fast.  We suggest reducing by no more than 10% of the current dose every 4 weeks, this reduces the risk of withdrawal symptoms arising.  Please read through this post which will explain why:

 

http://survivinganti...0-of-my-dosage/

 

This article shows why its important to taper slowly at low doses.

 

Here are our tips for tapering off effexor:

 

http://survivinganti...or-venlafaxine/

 

I hope you will consider slowing down, now that you are at a low dose, this way there will be less risk of withdrawal symptoms arising after you stop completely.

 

Please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing.

 

Petu.

 

 

 

 

[rbrum]

Thanks Petu, My real name is not rbrum!

 

I've read those articles - and others. I have a little spreadsheet comparing my tapering to the 10% recommended here

 

I think what has worked for me is the gaps between each reduction. It has often been more than 4 weeks and I am then very certain that my mind and my body have stabilised on the new dose. Then the only question is whether they will cope with the next reduction, which is 25% or 33%. 

 

I might add in some eighth doses to my schedule!

 

I think everyone is different and there is no one solution. For some the very quick tapering recommended by the drug company will work fine.

 

The trouble with internet forums is that people who experience no problems will not take the time to read and to post their stories. it is generally those who are going through a tough time who reach out for support. It is wonderful for those who are having a tough time to be supported. Unfortunately to the casual reader googling for information it will look as if everyone has a tough time. I experienced this with the treatment I received for my previous hyperthyroidism (over active). The reactions I read on the web were so negative I refused the standard treatment for 8 years or so. When I eventually had it my reactions were nothing like as bad as I had read and I regretted having refused it so long. Effectively I had believed the web forum over the advice of my consultants, one of whom was an international thyroid expert with clinical trials to her name. 

 

Anyway I'll let you know how I get on.

[Rhiannon]

Agreed--by the very nature of this forum we mostly only see the people who have trouble.

 

Sounds like you're doing okay. We do see rather commonly that people who come off ADs rather faster than we recommend, can get hit with a delayed withdrawal reaction three to six months out. If that happens you will probably think (and be told) that your "depression" has returned, but it's actually delayed withdrawal.

 

I'd highly recommend reading Anatomy of an Epidemic for an understanding of how ADs have changed depression from what used to be a one time and self limiting condition to something chronic. I consider that "must" reading for anyone who has taken or is taking ADs.

 

Hopefully you will continue well and do fine.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, rbrum.

 

Your logic about the selection factor in Web support forums is correct.

 

However, it's also true people often have the most trouble in the last leg of the taper. What is there to lose by reducing by a smaller percentage to allow your nervous system to better accommodate to the changes?

 

The expectation that "relapse" is common after going off antidepressants is based on misdiagnosis of withdrawal syndrome as "depression." Very gradually going off the drug lessens this possibility.

[rbrum]

people often have the most trouble in the last leg of the taper. What is there to lose by reducing by a smaller percentage to allow your nervous system to better accommodate to the changes?

 

 

Absolutely nothing to lose apart from minor inconvenience of pill cutting :-)

 

I will attempt to cut to 1/8 pill doses, it'll be imprecise but I don't think I'll react to that. Anything smaller would require crushing to dust and then using jeweller scales, my tablets are already tiny.

[Hudgens]

It's well known that some lucky people have no problem starting and stopping antidepressants, but we don't get

their stories on the site for obvious reasons. Thanks for posting. And I really hope your depression doesn't come back.