As promised, my successful tapering off Effexor (Venlafaxine)

in reply to @reginald56 Thank you. My doctor suggested Prozac for a replacement while tapering off Effexor. In other words, use the Prozac and taper off of that. I had a horrible reaction after taking the Prozac yesterday. I am going to try skipping today's dose and see how it goes every other day, still measuring out the beads in the capsules. Interestingly enough, last night was the first night in weeks that I actually slept, and I attribute this to not taking the Effexor XR.

Yeah, I finished my final dose 6mgs two months ago and am still having withdrawal symptoms. Lots of anxiety, tears, sweats, and feeling cold

I went cold turkey off of 37.5 mg. I had been at 75 for about twenty years. The reduction in dosage had been accompanied by having another drug added and wasn't supposed to lead to tapering off, but the combined impact of the two drugs sent me into a pretty dark hole (as in suicidal), and I decided over a weekend that sucked mentally to simply stop both drugs. The first week was pretty miserable, but it did let up after that. I've been off of it for a month now, I still have the odd dizzy spell, but overall I feel like my head has cleared. Like a fog has lifted after many many years. I've developed serious concerns about this drug. I personally think it messed with my mind and led me into some avoidable depressive spells where I was actively moving toward self harm. I think it should be prescribed with much greater caution than it is presently given (and no one - NO ONE - ever told me that getting off of it would be so difficult).

I've since started a totally different prescription, one better suited to bipolar depression which is what I have been diagnosed with. So far much better. There is data indicating that in some bipolar patients, Effexor has a flipping affect, sending people into precisely the sort of depression the pills are supposed to prevent, and I suspect this is what happened to me. My psychiatrist has indicated that she thinks this might well be the case.

My appetite since the medication changes has definitely increased, but I don't know how much of that is owing to quitting Effexor, and what's due to the new drug, but I had also dropped thirty pounds owing to depression-driven self-starvation, so weight gain isn't a major concern yet. At this point I'd rather be fat than suicidal, however, so I'm just kind of rolling with it.

I need to update my experience. I previously noted that I had titrated off of fifteen years of 450mg a day of Effexor/Venlafaxine. I strict diet and daily exercise made a big difference. Nonetheless, after thirty days of being off the Venlafaxine I became suicidal and anxious. Anxiety has never been part of my illness.

I ended up in the hospital and dropped into the worst depression of my life. I even tried to hang myself but stopped when I didn’t pass out. My provider tried a number of alternative medication but eventually I have ended up back on venlafaxine at a 150mg.

Initially my anxiety increased even further when I first restarted the venlafaxine. I was prescribed .5 of lorazepam, that didn’t touch it. Eventually the anxiety has subsided but the depression has not lifted. I am also back on bupropion, lithium, Latuda and Seroquel for sleep.

When I was diagnosed fifteen years ago I was mildly depressed. I was also very successful and married with four beautiful children. Over the next four years I became incredibly manic and destroyed my life. Interestingly, the depression never lifted. Even when I was manic I still felt the press to take my life.

I have spent hundreds of hours researching my condition and the treatments I have received. I’m not sure I ever should have been put on medication to begin with. I’m even less sure that SSRI’s and SNRI’s work on my biology.

Unfortunately, I believe my body has become so used to the medication that I may not be able to live without them, whether or not they work. One thing that is for certain are the side effects.

Now I am functioning, barely, I just want to die every waking minute. My greatest comfort comes from the knowledge that my life will end one day, hopefully soon.

Be very careful with these medications, they change the way the body functions.

May everyone live in peace and good health.

I have a close relative who has bipolar, stopped taking their medication a number of years ago, but going through a very difficult time now and needs to get back on some type of drug therapy. It's concerning to read the negative effects people are having while trying to find a medication that works for them. I understand that not all drugs react the same for everyone, but I'm looking for as much personal information as I can gather to learn more about bipolar meds, so just want to thank everyone who shares their experiences as well as the side effects with the different medications.

I'm diagnosed with bipolar depression and I wound up in the hospital on the brink of suicide last year. I'd been on Effexor for 20 years, and they kept me on it. More recently, I quit cold turkey in the depths of another bout of suicidal depression. If anything, quitting was an act of intended self-harm, not an attempt at getting better. I did it in a fog of darkness, fully intending to worsen my condition. It was an immediate act of self-harm that was easy to do and didn't immediately cost me my life. Bad reasoning, to put it mildly.

Yet a funny thing happened. Despite the incessant brain zaps (I'm still getting them now and then), my head cleared. The base level depression that was my daily reality lifted. Meanwhile I began researching. I went to PubMed studies and the like, not Reddit and Facebook. What I learned from digging is that there is data indicating that venlafaxine causes some biploar patients to "flip." Instead of reduced depression, it escalates it for them. I think that's what happened in my case. I have not been suicidal since stepping off of it. I'm used to at least mild suicidal feelings pretty much daily. Those feelings have gone away lately, and for the first time in many years.

I'm wondering if you're in the same boat, if the drug itself is driving you further down. It's something that, from what I read, occurs with a minority of bipolar patients on antidepressants, but it does happen. And according to one of the journal articles I consulted, venlafaxine is particularly tricky when treating bipolar. There's an international bipolar society (I forget their name now) that advised after extensive study not putting bipolar patients on antidepressants, and especially not venlafaxine, which seems to be the most likely one to cause some patients to flip.

I did start a prescription for lamotrigine, which is used for treating epilepsy patients. Anti-seizure drugs have seen some success treating bipolar patients, and this one seems to reduce the depressive cycles, and I'm hoping it does. Even though I quit one drug (and will not return to it under any circumstances), I don't trust myself not to spiral again. But for the moment, I'm feeling far better than I have in many years, and I'm increasingly of the opinion that getting off of venlafaxine was the key.

I don't want to diagnose you, I'm neither a doctor nor do I know your medical history even if I was. But it's worth talking with your doctor about the potential reverse effects brought on by venlafaxine. I'm really skeptical of its use after my experience. And I think the research is heading in the same direction.

See my reply to dfb above.

Thank you!

I have read the same research. I do not want to be on venlafaxine. Resuming the medication was deemed to be need to stop the extreme discontinuation effects. I had been on 450mg and am now one 150mg. It seems to have halted some of the discontinuation effects.

My goal is to stabilize and the titrate off it. I am quite a distance from stable, however. It is interesting that you mention having good luck with lamotrigine. I have taken it before and it seemed to help.

I have to stop taking lithium because of the many side effects. Adding lamotrigine might be a good idea.

Thank you for your response. Your situation seems somewhat similar and I appreciate your input. If I have to live I want to stop suffering so.

I hope you live in peace and good health.

I really hope you're able to find some sort of balance. The despair is evident in your posts, and it's familiar to my experience. It's only been a month, so it's too early to say for certain, but I do feel getting myself off of Effexor has thus far proven to be a good move. I feel like a fog has lifted from my head. Like I'm suddenly here and present again. It's the damnedest thing. I really question that drug.

Thank you for your comments.

For what it's worth, the discontinuation effects from venlafaxine began about a month after I stopped taking it. I had also come off several other drugs at the same time, so who knows? Somewhere between starting the med reductions and stopping completely, I had two months where I felt like the man I used to be. I am not confident that I can repeat that happy accident.

I am happy for you that you are off Effexor/Venlafaxine. I too am diagnosed with bipolar depression. I'm not sure that's accurate as I've not had a manic episode in ten years. Nonetheless, venlafaxine is a dangerous drug. I suspect we'll read about a class action suit in the fairly near future.

I wish you and everyone peace and good health.