Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

@catamite
Dram*mine (or Bon*ne), an OTC drug, for motion sickness can really help with the dizziness and nausea. I cut the pill in half and take a half about every 5 hours. If it doesn't help in an hour, or so, I take the other half.

I follow politics very closely, and this past Friday had me over the edge. I handled it by turning off the tv and deep breathing. I just finished reading Winds of War and War and Remembrance, which, as you know is a 2000 pager. Good books do help keep one's mind off one's self. I agree. kbmayo, I thought you had stopped. You can do it.

@catamite I might add, Dramamine does tend to make you drowsy. I took one last year and regretted it. We were on a special vacation in Hawaii and took a helicopter ride. I thought I might need one (I really did not, the ride was very smooth) and by the end of the hour I actually dozed off! I would never take one if I thought I might have to drive within the next few hours.
JK

Good discipline!!! 100% with you. Politics is like throwing gas on a low grade fire. With effect withdrawals, I consider politics a magnesium fire. Look that one up and it’s easy to see why politics are bad and no one will want to be around us.

I’m with you in Dramamine. Took one for the first time and that my body mass of 260lbs would deal with it. Nausea is the pits but the next day was horrible in that I felt like I hadn’t slept for days. The hangover (no alcohol) was heavy handed.

@renwald I had no hangover effect, but I missed the end of the helicopter tour which was annoying. I was groggy for a very short time after that, then fine.
JK

So, I last wrote Thurs before F-U doc appointment. He started me on lowest dose Celexa (10mg) & I felt the effects within an hour or 2 on Fri. Thank God! My "balance" is back...I feel like myself again, instead of a tightrope walker, with no safety net. I work several days a week & teach teens at church, so can't be grossly emotional 24/7. As to other symptoms (clumsiness, dizziness) I'm having an MRI of brain; plus 2 other meds were changed/decreased. For me this was invaluable, as I prefer to live a viable life; not glued to my couch forever.

Saturday -- yesterday -- was my last dose, a tiny one -- 5 beads! Felt really weird this morning not to take one -- it's been a foundational part of my morning routine for 25 years. Haven't read any Herman Wouk in a long time; may have to try those. The really long reads are especially great -- they put you into an entirely different world for hours! I do have a stack of good, new fiction from the library and reading always helps me. Plus, it's a great time of year to be reading with a cup of some sort of special tea beside me. I've also re-started burning a kind of candle whose fragrance I love and I'm now treating myself regularly to a small bouquet of fresh flowers from Trader Joe's and a weekly lavender epsom salts bath soak. Plus, I happened to find a very special throw pillow at my local Target which simply says ``Grateful.'' I have it on a chair across the room and glance at it regularly. Everything that helps me to change my perspective and remind me that I'm worth taking good care of seems to calm me down and make things a bit better. Thank you so much for your encouragement!!

kb mayo I have been taking epsom salt baths too. And buying flowers for myself! It seems we are on exactly the same path.Today is day 15 off, I think and I am feeling so so much better. On the negative side, I am being criticized by my son and daughter for not spendidng enough time with my very pregnant daughter in law. I have only been able to say that I am unwell. They just don't get it. If this were cancer or any other illness, they would get. It very much hurts my feelings to be criticized in the middle of a major crisis. The best news of all is that I think I will be fully functioning in another week

No, correction. I am on day 16 with no effexor.