I follow this blog faithfully and have learned a lot, gotten immense encouragement and been helped in so many ways. Even if I don't respond or put a Like on your posts, please know that I'm still following you.
I've been off 150XR mg venlafaxine/daily for 5 and a half months now and am still very glad I'm off. I tapered very gradually and knew what to expect, thanks to many of you and some other reading and research I did. For the first four months, it was great. Then I woke up in the middle of the night from a very scary dream that threw me into a full-fledged panic attack. For the next month the anxiety was so strong at night that I didn't even sleep in my bed. I was on the couch with a light on and the TV on low. That anxiety seemed to feed off itself, too -- I developed a very powerful fear of fear! (I think you know what I mean!) When I saw my GP for a regular exam, I told him about it and he put me on 150XR mg of Wellbutrin. That seemed to help at first, but I didn't feel secure with it -- I think I'd been so badly spooked by the anxiety and panic. Since I always thought of Effexor as an antidepressant, I'd forgotten that I was on an anti-anxiety med before going on Effexor. I wanted to go off Effexor because it wasn't working on my depression anymore, plus I hated all the things it did to my body whenever I missed a dose.
Then two weeks ago, I was in a restaurant with my boyfriend, getting ready to eat, and I had anxiety/panic so bad we had to leave. He took me home and stayed with me and when it didn't subside, I asked him to take me to the ER. For me, that was huge!! The good news from the ER visit was that I wasn't having a coronary, so now when I feel anxious, I don't have to worry about that. The ER doc suggested increasing the Wellbutrin dose and adding a small dose of a beta blocker to keep the adrenaline from kicking in and starting the whole process. So that's what I'm doing now.
How well is it working? I think the beta blocker does help. When I feel anxious, the anxiety is lower-level, but it's still there. I'm also trying to work on other things to reduce it -- meditation, exercise, vitamins/minerals, watching my thoughts, etc. And here's a real biggie that may help some of the rest of you, too: I've discovered that my blood sugar level is an immense factor. When it gets low -- as it often does -- here comes the anxiety. I'm now trying to be sure I eat something nutritious every 3 or 4 hours -- many small meals during the day. This isn't easy -- right now I have the flu, so it's hard for me to eat and I keep telling myself that I'm anxious and woozy from being sick and from not eating enough. But as my doc pointed out, low blood sugar can cause a panic/anxiety attack. I know in my case that's definitely true.
I'm still a work in progress, which, frankly, I hate. I used to have a phobia about driving on the highway which was gone completely during my 25 years on Effexor. I regularly made 2-day solo drives without a second thought and drove all over Ireland by myself many times with never a problem. Now that fear is back. I'm not sure how to get rid of it, but I am determined not to let my life be circumscribed by it. Somehow I will get over it (I may even try hypnosis). I had hated to fly, too, but was able to do that with no real problem. Now I won't even consider it, but much of that is because flying has gotten to be so much more hassle. (And honestly I do not want to be trapped in such a small space with so many people.)
I told the ER doc about going off Effexor and said maybe I should go back on it because the anxiety was so fierce. He said, ``Don't throw out the baby with the bath water; try some other things first.'' So that's what I'm doing. I wish I could do all of this with no meds, but I don't think I can. I think I'm one of those people who has a small little piece of my brain that needs chemical help to work right. I don't have a problem with that. But my overwhelming concern these days is how to get over that fear of fear, and not go headlong into fear when I feel the first tinges of anxiety. I'm trying to live with discomfort sometimes without immediately taking my emotional temperature -- just notice it, shift my attention to something else, and let it pass. (For me, this is a real toughie!!) My thanks to everyone for all you've shared and best of luck to all!!