1. < Depression & Anxiety

Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Posted by richyrich @richyrich, Nov 2, 2016

I have been taking Effexor/Venlafaxine for years and tried to get off it a few times but each time I try to give up the chemical withdrawal symptoms are a horror story and I give up giving up. Anyone got any tips or tried and tested strategies? Thank you

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.

texasduchess | @texasduchess | Apr 27, 2019
In reply to @babydoll "Good Morning everyone! I have no idea how to start a thread, so I just hit..." + (show)
@babydoll

Good Morning everyone! I have no idea how to start a thread, so I just hit reply! I am looking for suggestions. I have been Effexor free since February! Yes, I had a horrible time, had to have a bridge of Prozac, didn’t help at first, but now I feel great. I still get anxiety, but not as bad. My problem now is restless leg syndrome! I have had this diagnosis for years and take Requip for it, but since stopping Effexor it is worse than ever! I can not sleep for the aching feeling of having to keep moving my legs. It starts around 6 PM and I’m walking, dancing, whatever to keep it at bay! Has anyone else had this problem? Also, I want you all to know that each and everyone of you are in my prayers, this is a journey we are on to feel better and I love the support and suggestions that I read from you all! Keep smiling your all beautiful and worth it!

Jump to this post

@babydoll
I read many years ago of a folk remedy--you put a bar of soap (unwrapped) under your bottom sheet probably somewhere around your knees. No one knows why this works (when it does). Here's some info off the net: Supposedly gives off magnesium. Not every brand does the trick (folks who try this say Dial and Dove don't work); Dr. Oz recommends soap containing lavender. One site re this says, "One possible explanation for the soap effect is the fragrance. A chemist suggested to us that the most popular soaps all seem to have the fragrant compound limonene in their scent.... We suspect that transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are involved. (Limonene activates TRP A1.)"--https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2017/11/27/why-put-soap-under-your-bottom-sheet/

REPLY
1 reply
texasduchess | @texasduchess | Apr 27, 2019
In reply to @sandij "I wouldn't say we have a bad marriage but we are very different people. He has..." + (show)
@sandij

I wouldn't say we have a bad marriage but we are very different people. He has always pointed out that I get "too emotional" and reminds me that "not everybody is like you". LoL. As for the rage and crying jags, effexor never has helped with my emotions, I've always had dark nights of the soul at times, even as a child, I feel things very deeply and always wondered if there was a "normal" how would that feel?
He knows all about the withdrawal and what it entails since I went through it before with neurontin and that was far worse than this has been.

Can we every really pinpoint why we feel the way we do or what is causing our emotions? There are so many factors at play and constantly changing, from our physical bodies aging, environment, our parents getting old and needing care, etc. Its hard to say what's the chicken and what's the egg.
I know I've been using the forum to vent. I realize I'm lonely but I must have very high standards for friends. It never fails that I will make a friendship and then the other person starts telling me all kinds of crazy sexual stuff in their marriage or other things I really do not want to hear! Lucky me to hear everyone else secrets, but really?
I'm sitting here watching the bluebirds right now, I'm so grateful that they appear right when I need them. We have many cardinals, hummingbirds, doves, and finches but the beauty of the bluebird never ceases to take my breath away.
Hope everyone has a great day, and thank you for being here.

Jump to this post

@sandij
I'm glad you're taking a breather; during this last year, I learned how beneficial getting natural light to my eyes is to lifting my mood and calming me. How lucky you are to have so many beautiful birds to watch--guess they're delighting in Spring while delighting you. Thanks for the lovely image.

REPLY
Brightwings AKA Cute Susie | @brightwings | Apr 27, 2019
In reply to @merpreb "@sandij- I do not know how many people who are married to people who are like..." + (show)
@merpreb

@sandij- I do not know how many people who are married to people who are like each other. My husband and I balance each other out. I'm so sorry that you are so frustrated. Have you considered therapy? I haven't looked back in your posts so if you have already posted about this I'm sorry. How do you handle people who talk about personal information like sex?

Jump to this post

@sandij
The last 5 years of my marriage (40 years) were not the best. We loved each other, but I didn't realize the extent of our financial problems until I found myself $364,000 in debt after he died. That's what changed him and made him drink so much. I had no idea.
I myself was stuck in years of illness compounded by years of MS relapses, hence the huge debt, but I discovered only half of it was mine.
.
We were not available to each other because of our own challenges. And when Frank came and kept me alive around valentines day, while I could not see him or hear him, we communicated with our brains. I was stunned as he was the real causes of the emotional sepatation we both felt.
We each did not understand the most important thing the other person was going thru. That was the root of our distance. 5 years is a long time...All that is corrected now. It feels peaceful inside now for us both.
.
Sending you some peace. Put it in your pocket and take it out and let it flow thru you, if you choose...then put it back to use another time. There is an unlimited amount in it.
Bright Wings

REPLY
sandij (Sandi James) | @sandij | Apr 27, 2019
In reply to @merpreb "@sandij- I do not know how many people who are married to people who are like..." + (show)
@merpreb

@sandij- I do not know how many people who are married to people who are like each other. My husband and I balance each other out. I'm so sorry that you are so frustrated. Have you considered therapy? I haven't looked back in your posts so if you have already posted about this I'm sorry. How do you handle people who talk about personal information like sex?

Jump to this post

@merpreb we went to marriage counseling soon after my ailing mother in law came to live with us. We had been married for one year when she needed help, and my two sisters in law wouldn't have her, so I became her caregiver until she died a year later. The counseling only helps to the extent that an individual will address their issues, and to the experience of the counselor to confront them. I thi k this happens far too often, therapists who allow their clients to ramble and never push them to see any deeper.

REPLY
1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Apr 27, 2019
In reply to @sandij "@merpreb we went to marriage counseling soon after my ailing mother in law came to live..." + (show)
@sandij

@merpreb we went to marriage counseling soon after my ailing mother in law came to live with us. We had been married for one year when she needed help, and my two sisters in law wouldn't have her, so I became her caregiver until she died a year later. The counseling only helps to the extent that an individual will address their issues, and to the experience of the counselor to confront them. I thi k this happens far too often, therapists who allow their clients to ramble and never push them to see any deeper.

Jump to this post

@sandij- Very well put

REPLY
1 reply
Brightwings AKA Cute Susie | @brightwings | Apr 27, 2019
In reply to @merpreb "@sandij- Very well put" + (show)
@merpreb

@sandij- Very well put

Jump to this post

@sandij
I actually shuttered when I read ailing mother law....just saying... a recipe for disaster. BW

REPLY
sandij (Sandi James) | @sandij | Apr 27, 2019

Yes, I had met her only once, before Loren and I got married in 2010. She had her 88th birthday several months after we had moved her in with us, I remember making a celebration and her only response being "I don't want to live to be 89". I admit, I was not empathetic, I had turned my life upside down for a stranger whose own family would not take her into their homes. It was a daily struggle to keep her compliant with her medications and diet and demands, and when she made that statement all I could think of was well...why am I bothering to take care of you at the expense of my health and mental well being, my career, my marriage?
I was the only one with her when she died. Nobody in her family asked if her death was peaceful, if she had last words, nothing. I'll never understand that, because I would want to know that information if it was my parent!
The funeral was held in North Carolina where she had a plot in the veterans cemetary, her deceased spouse, Lorens father had been military. Members of the family came from other states and all rented a house together for several days. I knew I could not participate and hold my tongue and my husband went without me. He has said that it was then he knew he could never count on me for anything, that I didnt have his back. He didn't know the horrible things that his mother would say about him and how I told her never to disrespect him in his own home.
Isn't it the strangest thing the way that our memories come upon us seemingly from nowhere? I hadn't remembered any of that for quite some time. Here's hoping that a larger portion of the memories that will crop up during this process will be of pleasant and happy times. I've had many of those in my life and it would be good to keep those front and center.
8 days effexor free today. Hope everyone is doing well. I'm sorry I dont respond to everyone by name, but it's difficult to keep up with on this phone and I stay away from the computer when I'm not working at it.

REPLY
4 replies
Brightwings AKA Cute Susie | @brightwings | Apr 27, 2019
In reply to @sandij "Yes, I had met her only once, before Loren and I got married in 2010. She..." + (show)
@sandij

Yes, I had met her only once, before Loren and I got married in 2010. She had her 88th birthday several months after we had moved her in with us, I remember making a celebration and her only response being "I don't want to live to be 89". I admit, I was not empathetic, I had turned my life upside down for a stranger whose own family would not take her into their homes. It was a daily struggle to keep her compliant with her medications and diet and demands, and when she made that statement all I could think of was well...why am I bothering to take care of you at the expense of my health and mental well being, my career, my marriage?
I was the only one with her when she died. Nobody in her family asked if her death was peaceful, if she had last words, nothing. I'll never understand that, because I would want to know that information if it was my parent!
The funeral was held in North Carolina where she had a plot in the veterans cemetary, her deceased spouse, Lorens father had been military. Members of the family came from other states and all rented a house together for several days. I knew I could not participate and hold my tongue and my husband went without me. He has said that it was then he knew he could never count on me for anything, that I didnt have his back. He didn't know the horrible things that his mother would say about him and how I told her never to disrespect him in his own home.
Isn't it the strangest thing the way that our memories come upon us seemingly from nowhere? I hadn't remembered any of that for quite some time. Here's hoping that a larger portion of the memories that will crop up during this process will be of pleasant and happy times. I've had many of those in my life and it would be good to keep those front and center.
8 days effexor free today. Hope everyone is doing well. I'm sorry I dont respond to everyone by name, but it's difficult to keep up with on this phone and I stay away from the computer when I'm not working at it.

Jump to this post

Wow.......I mean, really WOW.
I am so sorry. I guess I am speechless.
Death is so painful when relationships are strained...but you already knew that.
I feel the residual pain in you. Can you draw it to get it out of you? You have carried this long enough. Let it go.....
I could not have gone to that funeral either.
This is just sad all around. BW

REPLY
texasduchess | @texasduchess | Apr 28, 2019
In reply to @sandij "Yes, I had met her only once, before Loren and I got married in 2010. She..." + (show)
@sandij

Yes, I had met her only once, before Loren and I got married in 2010. She had her 88th birthday several months after we had moved her in with us, I remember making a celebration and her only response being "I don't want to live to be 89". I admit, I was not empathetic, I had turned my life upside down for a stranger whose own family would not take her into their homes. It was a daily struggle to keep her compliant with her medications and diet and demands, and when she made that statement all I could think of was well...why am I bothering to take care of you at the expense of my health and mental well being, my career, my marriage?
I was the only one with her when she died. Nobody in her family asked if her death was peaceful, if she had last words, nothing. I'll never understand that, because I would want to know that information if it was my parent!
The funeral was held in North Carolina where she had a plot in the veterans cemetary, her deceased spouse, Lorens father had been military. Members of the family came from other states and all rented a house together for several days. I knew I could not participate and hold my tongue and my husband went without me. He has said that it was then he knew he could never count on me for anything, that I didnt have his back. He didn't know the horrible things that his mother would say about him and how I told her never to disrespect him in his own home.
Isn't it the strangest thing the way that our memories come upon us seemingly from nowhere? I hadn't remembered any of that for quite some time. Here's hoping that a larger portion of the memories that will crop up during this process will be of pleasant and happy times. I've had many of those in my life and it would be good to keep those front and center.
8 days effexor free today. Hope everyone is doing well. I'm sorry I dont respond to everyone by name, but it's difficult to keep up with on this phone and I stay away from the computer when I'm not working at it.

Jump to this post

@sandij
Brightwings said it ... wow, really wow. What a sad story. I am so sorry--upholding and supporting one another is a two-way street and the upholding and supporting is more than just keeping a roof over your head.

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.