Withdrawal symptoms from Venlafaxine?

thenightman

Hello,


I was on a 75mg daily dose of Venlafaxine XR for just under 2 years. Agreed a plan with GP of reducing dose down from 75mg to 37.5mg for a month and then stopping completely. I took my final tablet on Tuesday and have experienced brain zaps, ringing in my ears, slight dizziness and sweats since. I assumed these would only last a day or two as Venlafaxine has a short half life compared to other antidepressants.



However, I'm still experiencing these symptoms just as badly today and am just curious if anyone else who has come off these tablets experienced similar and how long did it go on for?


Thanks & apologies if this is in the wrong place!

lurker2000

That sounds way to fast to come off them to me - I'm reducing another AD at the moment and no way would I just stop like that. You should have had alternate days of the lowest dose for a while before fully stopping. Check back with your doctor if these issues persist.

thenightman

He said something along the lines that venlafaxine doesn't last all that long in the body like other AD's do, so tapering off that way would just prolong the withdrawals. He's a fairly clued up doctor so I trust him.

Symptoms are gone since Friday now for me, took about a week and a half overall for them to cease. Now the battle to stay off them begins!

lurker2000

I switched to Lexapro after a few months on effexor as I had chronic insomnia with it. I had been taking it for anxiety but I had read that it was hard to get off and was just relieved to switch - tapering off Lex now - down to 2.5 and feeling like I'm alive again. 2019 was the worst year of my life - I hope your taping was a success - kudos to those who live with Anxiety and depression long term,

I'm on Venlafaxine for nearly 2.5 years. I f-ing hate the stuff. It seems to keep me stable and 'normal' in terms of mood for stretches of time and then out of the blue and sometimes because of some trigger, I get this massive bout of distress and anguish, suicidal ideation etc. It's been getting a lot more frequent the last 2 months, the suicidality episodes happen more regularly. They are short-lived but extremely intense and I find myself each time gathering more courage to act on the urge. The intent is getting stronger with each bout.

I've tried to talk to my GP and my psychiatry team about coming off this drug but they won't consider it. They say I have to be stable for 6 months first. There's no way that's going to happen because it's the drug that's causing these intense episodes and higher frequency of their occurrence. I had no idea when I went on it that Venlafaxine is notoriously difficult to get off and that the withdrawal syndrome is horrendous.

A year into this drug, I asked to switch to something else. They wouldn't hear of it. They said they wouldn't change the drug but they did increase the dose!!! After a few days on the higher dose (being a good little compliant patient, I did what they instructed - fool, me) and I got a fright one morning when I woke up and my eyes were full of floaters. I hadn't bumped my head or anything. There was no reason for them to be there. It freaked me out. I decided it must be the increased Venlafaxine. I brought myself back to the original dose. The floaters went away quickly then. When I told the doctor, he said no that wasn't because of the drug.

On Friday doing some research online about this drug because the increased suicide sh*t is alarming me, I found this: "Venlafaxine can increase eye pressure, so those with glaucoma may require more frequent eye checks." While it's not definitive proof that the eye thing was a side effect, it points to a possible link. I'm certain it was because of the drug. It never happened before or since and there was no other apparent cause.

Another tidbit I found:
"A study conducted in Finland followed more than 15,000 patients for 3.4 years. Venlafaxine increased suicide risk by 60% (statistically significant), as compared to no treatment. At the same time, fluoxetine (Prozac) halved the suicide risk."
Wtf? My doctor knows I have a history of suicidality. Why would she put me on Venlafaxine?? Also, did she know how hard it is to come off it? Why did she pick this drug?

I was on Lexapro (escitalopram) for about a year until about 9 months before I started Venlafaxine and lexapro was great apart from some (not very severe but annoying enough) side effects so I came of it.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to get my doctor to agree to weaning me off this thing. I'm only on 75mg! There's no way I'm halving it. So I'm doing more research to find the safest way feasible.

I'm finding this useful:
https://discoveryrehab.com/a-guide-to-getting-off-of-effexor-xr-addiction-withdrawal-symptoms-detox-timeline/

It's incredible how dangerous and disruptive this drug (and many others) is. And it baffles me that they're prescribed at all.

spring lane jack

I came off them very fast as I had been reducing them for about two weeks but a more urgent issue which almost resulted in my death arose therefore I was in hospital for few days and never took one again and had zero withdrawal symptoms but during the time I was on them I would get the zaps etc if I forgot to take one. I was advised to skip days to ween off them.

tdf7187

I was on this briefly during the summer and had no withdrawal symptoms when I stopped (I didn't get much benefit from being on it, so it cuts both ways). However I seem to be the exception as many experience withdrawal symptoms with this medication and other SNRI's.

alanzo27

I had been prescribed a trial period of Venlafaxine 75mg (Effexor XR) this summer. I had awful side effects including withdrawal and found them ineffective. I had previously been taking Sertaline 150mg and found it beneficial but it caused blurred vision and caused me to sleep often.

I have been trialling Citalopram (Cipreger) 20mg since September and so far I have gotten negligible results. I have noticed it causes my heart rate to increase and chest discomfort. I do have a heart arrhythmia and murmur. My GP is aware of this and I am also taking 20mg of Propranolol (Inderal) twice per day to help control palpitations and other symptoms. I have had an awful year but I am in consultation with a Psychologist for assessment of various possibilities.

Wanderer78

alanzo27 wrote:

I had been prescribed a trial period of Venlafaxine 75mg (Effexor XR) this summer. I had awful side effects including withdrawal and found them ineffective. I had previously been taking Sertaline 150mg and found it beneficial but it caused blurred vision and caused me to sleep often.

I'm still on sertraline, down from 150 to 75, not far off a year now, came down due to blurred vision, still having minor vision issues, but no where near as bad as 150 dose, mood relatively stable on them

thenightman

I tried to resist going back on Venlafex due to the crap withdrawal last year, but mood has gotten so low last month (living alone in a minimal contact pandemic doesn't help I suppose) that GP pretty much said I'd to go back on them or it might be hospital time. Resisted the Xanax script this time at least, cos I'm dreadfully afraid of getting addicted to them cos they work so well.

Been taking 75mg venlafex since Thursday and sleep is still slightly fecked up, will hopefully settle down when I get onto my work routine next week again.

Meeoow

thenightman wrote: »

I tried to resist going back on Venlafex due to the crap withdrawal last year, but mood has gotten so low last month (living alone in a minimal contact pandemic doesn't help I suppose) that GP pretty much said I'd to go back on them or it might be hospital time. Resisted the Xanax script this time at least, cos I'm dreadfully afraid of getting addicted to them cos they work so well.

Been taking 75mg venlafex since Thursday and sleep is still slightly fecked up, will hopefully settle down when I get onto my work routine next week again.

Best of luck to you, I hope they help. Stay strong, we are over the worst of this pandemic.