Hello All,

I am so pleased to have found a site like this where I can read about other people going through the same experiences as myself, right now! This is my second stab at becoming free of Venlafaxine forever... and I am trying so hard but the side effects are unbearable for me too :-(.

I suffer from chronic migraine (managed with Propranolol and Tryptans) and have done since I was about 18 years old (I am now 44 years young); since then I have had depressive episodes intermittently over the years and have been successful with Citalopram to overcome the feelings. I have been lucky in that I have never had suicidal thoughts, self harmed or anything too serious... just felt down, angry, irritable, sad, had social phobia... that sort of thing. Taking Citalopram over a couple of years put me back on track until the next episode, but I could live with that and I didn't suffer terribly tapering up/down off the drug either, apart from a little anxiety. All in all, I knew a suffered from time to time, but life was kind to me.
5 years ago I lost my nana, my world, my everything... one of the most special people in my life in the most cruellest of ways and my world crumbled... I can't hold back the tears still as I type. I had a breakdown and totally withdrew from life. My GP put me on Venlafaxine 3 x 37.5mg per day and I took it gladly, knowing that I just needed a little helping hand while I came to terms with my situation, I would soon be feeling okay, back on track and then I could drop the drug.
Tapering up - hallucinations were the most disturbing thing for me. I felt rubbish anyway so I didn't complain, I told my GP at the time but he was not concerned. I heard voices regularly but it was the spiders... oh my the spiders, they were enormous!! Casually watching the television with my husband and they would appear, begin multiplying and dropping off the TV onto the floor... running around the walls etc... luckily I am not scared of spiders... but my husband is (lol). I began to realise it was all in my head and didn't vocalise when I saw them after a while (for the sake of my husband!).

Tapering down I have come to realise, is not nice at all! I read something similar a little further back, given we are in this awful situation where we have to isolate, I too am working from home. I thought what better time than to finally drop this this last 37.5mg? I must say that I went cold turkey about 2 years ago when I couldn't get hold of my prescription and I literally thought I was dying, Monday couldn't come soon enough for me to replenish and within a couple of hours of taking the drug I felt vaguely 'normal' again! That is when I realised I needed to get off this nastiness that is keeping me on an even keel, I didn't want to have to rely on a drug that could make me feel so bad if I didn't get it, it didn't feel right, I wanted out.
With support from my GP I have tapered since. I was at 37.5mg for about 6 months, I wanted out but I was scared because I knew what was coming. Nevertheless, this time is right and I am day 5 of no drug... whoop... I feel proud that I have gotten this far! The constant nausea, diarrhoea, fogginess; the scary brain zaps, lack of sleep and crying over the slightest of things (happy or sad) are becoming unbearable. I've worked out, based on the half life, how long it would take for the drug to be negligible in my blood plasma and the calculation tells me 3 days tops, it's not the reality though, and you guys have articulated that too clearly also... I think it's making me anxious at the thought.

I can't give up, I won't give up... I can do this (I keep telling myself)... I just hope these effects don't last months like some posts I have read. I have read elsewhere that Benadryl (antihistamine) helps with the symptoms, I looked up a scientific paper and read how it contradicts Venlafaxine, hence why you should never use it whilst taking the antidepressant... I'm going to give it a go, along with the vitamins and omega supplements mentioned earlier in the thread. Thank you so much for the release in words, it really helps. Good luck in your journey everyone, and stay safe xxx