Any one taking VENLAFAXINE?!
Question: I have been taking these for bout 7 years now and up till last year i was takeing 3x75mg aday but I have cut down to only takeing 1x75mg daily, but I wonna cut down even more, but when I miss one tablet out I get realy bad withdrawn symtems, plus it affects my sex drive. can you help
Answers: I have been taking these for bout 7 years now and up till last year i was takeing 3x75mg aday but I have cut down to only takeing 1x75mg daily, but I wonna cut down even more, but when I miss one tablet out I get realy bad withdrawn symtems, plus it affects my sex drive. can you help
Venlafaxine is known to be the most difficult of these antidepressants from which to withdraw - add in the time you have been taking the medicine and the fact that withdrawal can become more intense for some people at the lower doses and I'd agree with what another poster has said.
Slow and steady.
Have a read up on antidepressant withdrawal ('The Antidepressant Solution' by Joseph Glenmullen) so you understand the nature of the situation. That will explain why you feel so bad when you miss-a-day - the half-life of the drug is only 5 hrs, so you are effectively going into withdrawal between doses, as well as give you an account of bead counting.
Then have a chat with your doctor?
With bead counting you can come down by small increments. If the withdrawal is severe, you simply reduce by a smaller amount. As the other poster stated, this method can work. It might take a while - and the counting is a bit fiddly - but it means a person doesn't face large % cuts in dose, and can therefore control the process.
You already know you are likely to be fairly sensitive to the process from the 'miss-a-day' experiences - so a little reading up, and a thorough discussion with your doctor, should mean you can approach withdrawal with a high level of knowledge and produce a suitable (but flexible) taper.
P.S. lots of people attempt to drop from 37.5mg-0mg and suddenly find themselves in a world of hurt. For those particularly affected, it can take months to taper down through 'just' 37.5mg.
you can just start coming of tablets you have been given by a doc speak with them and let them know your concerns they might advise something
Reduce current dose by 37.5 mg PER WEEK until you have reached zero.
You need to speak to your doctor about cutting down.
i used to be on 225mg of venlafaxine, it is quite difficult to reduce but it is possible, I had to go from 225 to nothing in 3 weeks due to pregnancy, the side effects are unpleasant for about a week but they do go, expect to feel dizzy though and when u tur your head your eyes seem to take a while to catch up! Most anti-dep affect sex drive, or itcould be depression itself is lowering your libido.
The key to Effexor withdrawal is the slower the better. I know more then one person who has broken the capsule open, counted out the beads then every few days subtract a couple more beads. Considering the time that you have been on this med I would draw out the taper process as long as possible