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Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)
Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: 5 days ago | Replies (6299)Comment receiving replies
OK so I've been off Effexor/venlafaxine for just over two months and the withdrawals have been terrible. Not being able to sleep was the first issue which passed after about 1 month. I've been iratable and snappy with everyone. I had a panic attack at a work meeting for the first time in 20 years. Now I'm currently dealing with morning worry anxiety and generally feeling anxious. Although I feel mostly fine for most of the day, by the time 5pm arrives I begin to feel tired and sick which limits what I can do in evenings.
Worst symptom is now I'm getting uncomfortable shivering just after I try to fall asleep. It begins with hot flushes and feeling of like I may vomit, and then I go into uncontrollable shivers for half an hour or so. Eventually after about an hour the feeling disapates and I can fall asleep. I'm so close to starting back on them again. Someone please help.
Replies to "OK so I've been off Effexor/venlafaxine for just over two months and the withdrawals have been..."
@nathan5
Effexor makes profound changes to how our brains balance the neurotransmitters needed to function. When you stop, or significantly lower your Effexor, the brain has to wake up and start working by itself. The time this takes varies enormously.
You do not mention if your doctor has been involved in your getting off Effexor. I found the withdrawal symptoms (anxiety, agitation, akathisia and insomnia) very troubling and disruptive. When I had a particularly distressing day of ever-increasing withdrawal symptoms, I went to Care Now and the doctor (by a great stroke of luck) was familiar with Effexor withdrawal. She had me take three days off work and take a whole 5mg Valium twice each day to "get ahead" of the anxiety and akathisia and she prescribed more tablets to use as needed although her "get ahead of it" strategy was pretty effective. Since this acute episode, I use 1/2 of a 5mg Valium on occasion.
I don't want to rely on Valium and through trial-and-error came up with a number of supplements that help me and have listed the supplements I take in previous posts (click on my name to go back through and read). 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 feel for you! I was fine for about 3 and a half months after my taper ended. Then the anxiety returned -- which for me is far worse than depression; I can eventually make myself power through that. The anxiety got worse, becoming nearly constant, and finally culminated in a couple of panic attacks. I did not want to go back on Effexor!! My GP prescribed Wellbutrin, which I tried, but which didn't work well for me at all -- it can increase anxiety, which it did for me. I went off it, then he wanted me to try generic Celexa at 10mg for a little over a week to see if it would help. When it did, he increased the dose to 20mg, which is working fine. I also am taking 25mg of a generic beta blocker. I am so very, very, very relieved that the anxiety is gone!! (For what it's worth, I also try to keep my blood sugar level. When it's low, it predisposes me to anxiety and panic.) Good luck!!
@nathan5
Good Morning,
I am so sorry for what you are going through.
How you tapered off the Effexor can have an impact on what sort of withdrawal symptoms you have.
(I know this does not make things better.)
Anyway, it is important to remember WHY you were put on the Effexor in the first place.
If you suffered with anxiety before, the Effexor evidently kept the symptoms under control.
We need to remember that these meds do NOT CURE our symptoms, it just keeps them under control.
That being said, and I am NOT in the medical field, but it sounds like you still need some sort of med for your anxiety, or some sort of 'natural' substance.
Good luck!
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)
Nathan, what dosage were you on? And how did you taper? I’m on the brim of tapering too and soaking up everything I can to make it a decent journey. I never realized that the shivering is also part of this. I sure hope some relief and if something works for you no matter how small, let us know.
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@nathan5
Hey there Nathan,
Would you mind sharing how you tapered?
When I worked the closer to 5 it got the better I felt, lol.
You may be experiencing
hypnagogic jerks which are quite common but increase with stress, anxiety however I’m curious if you had this problem since you first started Effexor or did it begin after you discontinued it? One reason I ask is to be sure your not having myoclonic jerks, a type of seizure.
Do you have Diabetes, exercise after work or drink alcohol or caffeine after work?
Some good sleep habits are;
no caffeinated drinks several hours before bed, go to and get up at the same time every day, sleep with a window open, no music radio tv computer or phone use in the bedroom.
Best to sleep in a cool room.
get at least 7 hours of sleep.
Don't go to bed unless you are sleepy.
If you don't fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed.
Sleep in a cool room. Reduce fluids before bed.
No alcohol prior to bed
Don’t eat a large meal