Is venlafaxine difficult to withdrawal?

[Steamm]

I've tried once and it was a living hell.

 

[Xander_McG]

There's been a lot of studies on it and from what I've read it can be very very hard to withdraw from it. It's bad enough for me when I just miss 1 dose, it feels like I am constantly dizzy and nauseous and my head starts aching

 

[ecmnesia]

from what i've heard and experienced, yes.

I miss one dose and it's already an absolute hell. I'm just so afraid of it, that i think I want to be in it for the rest of my life.

If you are going to stop, you should talk to your doctors, for other drugs, take alcohol abstinence for instance, there are some medicines that can help going through the process, maybe there is something similar to effexor as well.

 

[ThrownAwayTom]

It's doable over a long period of tapering, but cold turkey would mess you up. I take two 75mg a day and if I miss just one I get light headed and my ears ring.

 

[Sinkinshyp]

from what I read it can be very uncomfortable. I took it for hot flashes but when my son died I needed anti depressants. My doc slowly weaned me off the venlafaxine and added a different anti depressant. I don't know if because we added a different one it wasn't so bad or I don't remember it to well. The last 3 years I've been in a fog. I don't remember it being to bad. I know when I missed it I felt awful prior to my son death. I think the key is weaning it down and possibly adding something different.

 

[Ghost2211]

Yes, that one needs a ridiculously slow taper if you don't want nasty side effects. If only they talked to people about what coming off the meds would consist of before prescribing them....

 

[Acopia]

I have no intention of ever coming off Venle now because of the horrendous illness I develop when I try.

The dr suggests switching it for something else and I flatly refuse and tell them they'll have to think of another plan.

 

[Mm80]

Yes imo its a pretty nasty drrug. Took it and withdrawal takes ages

 

[vacant_n]

I've never gone more than a few days without it and the withdrawal even for that was awful. I was irritable, my mood spiked downward hard, I was getting constant brain zaps, and everything had the strongest sense of unreality. If I ever tried to stop it would have to be a very slow taper.

 

[Noodlebug]

Yes it is horrid. Feels like your brain is being squeezed and shocked at the same time. From what i remember, it was pretty bad for 2 or 3 weeks and then slowly improved. Don't think I would take it again.

 

[TooConscious]

Shit man that was a horrible. I was an alcoholic at the time of taking it so if you understand alcoholism we often miss our pills struggle to sort prescriptions. I would be having just as bad feeling of withdrawal from 225 or 325 I think, of venlafaxine than I was 30 units alcohol. Something about that drug isn't good, I'm pretty sure it binds strongly to the noopadrenaline receptors like amphetamine. Don't quote me on that. But it definitely feels 'speedy'.

 

[ThrownAwayTom]

Shit man that was a horrible. I was an alcoholic at the time of taking it so if you understand alcoholism we often miss our pills struggle to sort prescriptions. I would be having just as bad feeling of withdrawal from 225 or 325 I think, of venlafaxine than I was 30 units alcohol. Something about that drug isn't good, I'm pretty sure it binds strongly to the noopadrenaline receptors like amphetamine. Don't quote me on that. But it definitely feels 'speedy'.

Yep, I'm not sure on the exact science but it has a very strong effect on certain receptors. When I was young I took stuff like MDMA at festivals and parties. You can take all the mdma you want whilst on venflafaxine and itll have no effect whatsoever.

 

[VivaldiBR]

I reduce to the dosage test (37,5 mg) and tried to withdrawal several times, and always had headchaches and nauseas. And one day i just pass the withdrawal symptoms and get better. But in a few months i had psychosomatic gastritis, so i had to take venlafaxina again. Now i take 3 times a week, with no withdrawal symptoms. Let's see now if I remove this garbage of my life

 

[grungeCat]

For me venlafaxine withdrawal is similar to morphine withdrawal, apparently the hardest of the hardest. However I managed to lay off morphine but never venlafaxine.

 

[Steamm]

btw I take risperidone and lithium as well.

 

[Lupgevif]

For me it was very hard, but I wouldn't call it hell, I could withstand it very well and I even stopped taking it willingly for some periods of time. But I'd get dizzy very fast, my sleep would become heavier and less restful and after somedays I'd even have nightmares and wake up hallucinating. I did get brain zaps, but very rarely. In contrast, I noticed I'd laugh and cry easier.

 

[UpandDownPrincess]

Your doc might be able to transition you to another AD and then have you withdraw from that. Prozac is used a lot for this if you are over 25.

 

[elfgyoza]

A while ago I decided to half my dose occasionly from 300mg to try and taper by myself. I never got brain zaps and the other things people are listing, but I just started taking it properly again because I can't go a night without getting drenched in sweat :(

I wish I never started taking it. A crisis team doc prescribed it for me, I never considered the long term effects because my mind was just completely empty at that point

 

[watsonsmith]

Personally I didn't have any issues and I stopped pretty much cold turkey last year. I was only taking it for about 3 months though so that might be a factor.