@rascal1
Saw in a later post that you meant to refer to Effexor.

I did not have anxiety UNTIL I was off Effexor for 6.5 weeks and the withdrawal symptoms began. I didn't have the agitation, akathisia, dizziness, or insomnia until then either. I was never on Effexor for emotional, or psychiatric issues--but quitting it, GAVE me those issues. Cause and effect were pretty obvious to me.

I think it's interesting [d*mn irritating] that doctors are pretty quick to tell those quitting Effexor that when they start feeling anxiety that that means you're relapsing and need to go back on the drug, but those same doctors don't tell these patients also now experiencing dizziness and nausea that we should check for gastric problems, inner ear and balance issues, or sinus infections!

Effexor/venlafaxine works by increasing and regulating the levels of two different neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, also called noradrenaline and serotonin) in the brain. At low doses, venlafaxine prevents serotonin reuptake (i.e., it leaves more serotonin in the system). At higher doses, it inhibits both serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake. Serotonin helps control a number of processes within the brain such as mood and emotions, anxiety and aggression, sleep, appetite, memory and perceptions. Norepinephrine is a stress hormone that affects parts of the brain that relate to attention and response and it underlies the fight-or-flight response, together with epinephrine.

Post-Effexor, supplementing with L-tryptophan helped me the most--because the body changes L-tryptophan into serotonin and my brain was used to having more serotonin after many years of being on Effexor. I use L*dtke brand. You must NOT take while still on Effexor.

I've been taking supplements for 10 months. I started out taking them 5 times a day and am now down to 3 times per day. It's not my intention to take supplements forever, but it does take some time for the brain to learn how to make/balance neurotransmitters on its own again. Recently, I've noticed that my most troublesome times (weekends--because I am not distracted by workday tasks) have gotten much better, so I am going to try eliminating the third dose.

Jump to this post