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@notaround

Update: now off venlafaxine completely for a full week as of tomorrow. The first few days were torture. Even with Prozac to help. But now I'm getting better. Huge improvement over trying before without Prozac as and adjunct. From the withdrawal at any rate. Lingering headaches that don't respond to my attempts at problem solving (flow chart basically - first water and food then sleep then ibuprofen) hurt obviously. My sleep schedule is closer to a cat than a human. Up for a few hours, asleep for a few hours until the middle of the night to early morning when I get a surge of nervous energy.

The much bigger problem is Depression hitting me over the head hard, especially being now unemployed (laid off at the end of January).

I'm definitely going to seek out a different antidepressant, since I'm unfortunately someone who has this for life and don't believe in the whole 'no medicine' movement. That attitude scares me since those are the people who try to tell me I'd be cured if I did X Y or Z. As if Depression is a character flaw or punishment rather than a medical condition.

I'm still here. One day at a time, hour by hour.

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Replies to "Update: now off venlafaxine completely for a full week as of tomorrow. The first few days..."

@notaround- Good for you!!! I have also had depression and anxiety for a very long time. I don't intend to wean myself off of anything right now as I am stable. I take Welbutrin and Zoloft. I also bought a "Happy Light". I sit in front of it every morning for 1/2 hour. Please believe me when I say that I have NOT been depressed since I started using it. I have done a lot of hard work on getting myself back to being content and am excited about some plans that I have made. Getting out, no matter how difficult it is, is so important and it gets better every time you do it!