I tried years ago weaning off as slowly as possible. I gave up. I still take it . It’s been about 25 years. I don’t even know if it’s still helping.

I think that’s going to be my choice too. Just stay on it even though it’s not helping. It’s not worth the awful withdrawal symptoms you have to go through. I don’t understand how they can approve a drug that is so addictive like this. 😔

I think if someone has been on a medication for a long time and had increases in the dosage, too much tolerance of the med can occur and the desired effect no longer exists. Sometimes an alternative medication may be available that will provide the desired outcome. Concerns about medications, dosages, side effects should be discussed with the prescribing provider.

I’m a 54 year old female and was put on Venlafaxine 75 mg about six years ago due to menopause. It’s been about 8 years since starting menopause. Menopause was a nightmare to be honest and all you’re told at the Drs is “it’s a part of life” well I thought I was loosing it and it was hell so this was my only option at the time. Over the years my dose was increased up to 225 mg.
I’m ready to get off it so I’ve been tapering off with the direction from my Dr. and I’m currently down to 37.5 mg. I’ve had many withdrawal symptoms…fatigue, night sweats, fogging feeling in brain, sinus pressure with zaps, nausea, and a lot of dreaming at night. This is all with tapering so I can’t imagine going cold turkey. I will continue with the tapering and be off this for good.

Looking back, I feel there needs to be more resources and support for Menopausal patients. The symptoms I experienced during this stage made me a different person that I didn’t like. Health insurance companies need to support women at this stage with options like holistic health care not just conventional medicine. Conventional medicine Drs are too quick to just put you on an anxiety medication and not address the underlying problem. Some of this is due to insurance not paying for additional testing which should be done because our bodies significantly change along with our mental health during menopause.

I started trying to withdraw from Zomorph (morphine), some months before Christmas 2023, having been on a daily dose of 160mgs for 10+ years. Everything seemed to go so well, (by this time I was on 8mgs daily), that I decided to start reducing my Venlafaxine, (aka Effexor) - (I had been on 300mgs daily for 15+ years). I started getting the usual withdrawal symptoms but coped well with them until I was on only 37.5 mgs Venlafaxine and 30mgs Zomorph daily. At this point everything fell to bits. The withdrawals expanded to include: nausea, headaches, dizziess, high blood pressure, feeling freezing and shivering, feeling boiling hot and sweating, terrible stiff neck, severe aches and pains especially in back and legs, dry mouth, feeling as though needles were being stuck into me, crawling skin, brain zaps, ‘rushing’ sound in head, irritability, mood swings, tiredness and extreme lethargy, involuntary movements of eyelids, incredibly vivid dreams (so that I don’t know what is real and what I’ve dreamed), insomnia, lack of appetite, unsteadiness, fatalistic, reduced level of concentration, impatient, now lack of sweating…The final thing, although by no means the least, is the way my skin has been affected. It exudes a liquid (?) which combines with my skin, and then hardens. Some of it makes very small areas of my skin look grey/black, brown, and some looks shiny as though ‘cling film’ (saran wrap) has been stretched over, and moulded into it. I feel as though I have a rigid mask on all the time. As it hardens, it also tightens, which pulls at the skin. It also feels as if there are ‘bubbles’ under the skin in some places. Occasionally some peels off, but then reappears. It started in patches on my face, then spread all over it. It’s now all over my scalp, in my ears, up my nose, and I think it’s literally all over everywhere else. I have tried to get it off, but it’s like trying to prise concrete off your skin; your flesh feels bruised underneath, and your skin can actually tear off with it. If I manage to break a small area up, my skin plus the ‘stuff’ is like very tough, sharp sandpaper which shreds the skin from my fingertips. My doctor has prescribed Epimax paraffin lotion and Eumovate steroid ointment for my skin; and a coal tar shampoo and Betacap steroid lotion for my scalp. None of it seems to be doing any good, and in fact all the problems seem to be getting worse. My questions are:
(1) Should I be having any treatment for any of these withdrawal symptoms?
(2) Has anyone else had this awful skin condition?
(3)If do, how did you get rid of it?
(4) Any comments please?

I have been travelling for the last three days and accidentally forgot to take my medication for that amount of time. I woke up this morning very disoriented and dizzy. I took my pills as soon as I realized what was going on. Does anyone have any advice? I'm not trying to stop taking my medication, so many of the other threads don't apply to me. I have felt feverish all morning (checked temp, its 99) and I've been drinking a lot of water and have tried eating when I can. Is this a "just wait it out" scenario?