4 ms·

I also went cold turkey from escitalopram about a decade ago, and my experience was not as tame as yours; my ideation kicked into 6th gear, with paranoia, nause

I also went cold turkey from escitalopram about a decade ago, and my experience was not as tame as yours; my ideation kicked into 6th gear, with paranoia, nausea, and insanely intense and vivid dreams every night. That was while on a 10mg dose. I have been on over-max-dose venlafaxine for nearly a year now. I think it has been an enormous improvement in my life on nearly every axis, but if I miss a dose by even a few hours I get zaps, confusion, and dizziness. What happens to me now if I become unable to access my meds for more than a couple of days really keeps me up some nights.

dib258 1mo ago
Venlafaxine has a small half-life so that might be why if you miss a dose by a few hours you'd get withdrawal symptoms. Drugs is leaving fast you body and so concentration is quickly decreasing. Apparently there's a extended-release, don't know if it's already what you have but maybe you could ask to try another SNRIs that has a longer half-life.
- vermilingua 1mo ago
  Yep I’m on XR, I’ve tried taking half my dose twice daily instead, which did smooth out the effects a bit but also made me much more likely to miss a dose. Not really any other solution other than tapering afaict.
  - dib258 1mo ago
    Yes, or you could ask your doctor to go on another one with longer half-life. At least that would give you more room to miss by a few hours a dose and not going haywire into withdrawal. Especially when anxiety is already a problem and withdrawal symptoms kicks back the anxiety stronger... Hope you find something that suits you!
touisteur 1mo ago
Venlafaxine has also been a godsend for me. My doctor started me on ut first and past the two weeks of rebalancing (big ideation swings and so much calling to act on it...) and all kinds of pains (digestive mostly), it literally allowed me to smile again, which my wife realized hadn't happened in over a year. I can relate to the feeling when missing a dose. No tolerance for being forgetful. Lots of anxiety brought by this tether... and the permanent anorgasmia (in my case) is sad but I was dying... Sadly I built tolerance over 2 years and had to stop, taper off (horrible experience) and try others (most that were cited in this comment section). All had painful and very annoying side effects and tapering was a pain after trying and each time feeling so disappointed and tired. Most worked on reducing ideation but the costs (inability to concentrate, brain fog, sometimes inability to work) were too high. Turns out tolerance to venlafaxine ebbs out after some time, so after a moment I was able to restart for a year until I didn't need antidepressants anymore. I've learned reading forums of the gamut of experiences with antidepressants and just want to add a voice to 'they can work, great even, not perfect' and between dying and trying them (with clear open eyes about the tradeoffs) I'd advise trying.

dib258 1mo ago

Venlafaxine has a small half-life so that might be why if you miss a dose by a few hours you'd get withdrawal symptoms. Drugs is leaving fast you body and so concentration is quickly decreasing. Apparently there's a extended-release, don't know if it's already what you have but maybe you could ask to try another SNRIs that has a longer half-life.

vermilingua 1mo ago
Yep I’m on XR, I’ve tried taking half my dose twice daily instead, which did smooth out the effects a bit but also made me much more likely to miss a dose. Not really any other solution other than tapering afaict.
- dib258 1mo ago
  Yes, or you could ask your doctor to go on another one with longer half-life. At least that would give you more room to miss by a few hours a dose and not going haywire into withdrawal. Especially when anxiety is already a problem and withdrawal symptoms kicks back the anxiety stronger... Hope you find something that suits you!

touisteur 1mo ago

Venlafaxine has also been a godsend for me. My doctor started me on ut first and past the two weeks of rebalancing (big ideation swings and so much calling to act on it...) and all kinds of pains (digestive mostly), it literally allowed me to smile again, which my wife realized hadn't happened in over a year. I can relate to the feeling when missing a dose. No tolerance for being forgetful. Lots of anxiety brought by this tether... and the permanent anorgasmia (in my case) is sad but I was dying... Sadly I built tolerance over 2 years and had to stop, taper off (horrible experience) and try others (most that were cited in this comment section). All had painful and very annoying side effects and tapering was a pain after trying and each time feeling so disappointed and tired. Most worked on reducing ideation but the costs (inability to concentrate, brain fog, sometimes inability to work) were too high. Turns out tolerance to venlafaxine ebbs out after some time, so after a moment I was able to restart for a year until I didn't need antidepressants anymore. I've learned reading forums of the gamut of experiences with antidepressants and just want to add a voice to 'they can work, great even, not perfect' and between dying and trying them (with clear open eyes about the tradeoffs) I'd advise trying.