[ricksanch88]

ANECDOTAL: I went off of the lowest dose (37.5 mg) of Venlafaxine (effexor xr - SNRI) earlier this year. I felt like I was hungover most days, and a general vertigo feeling. It sucked ass, so I reached out to my doctor and he suggested I try to use CBD oil to help with the symptoms.

I tried it and it literally dulled the withdrawal by at least half. It made my days tolerable to the point that I could go to work and function like a human being.

[fibonachos]

My doctor actually transitioned me to Prozac from Effexor to help with the withdrawal symptoms. After slowly reducing the Effexor dosage to 37.5 mg, I switched to Prozac for a couple of weeks then simply stopped. I still experienced some symptoms but nothing like my previous (failed) attempts to quit.

Aside from the dizziness and head fog, the most unsettling side-effect of Effexor withdrawal was the ease with which I would become very angry... I'm NOT an angry person. At all. Also the... I hesitate to say "suicidal" thoughts because I don't think that's what it was. It was more of an indifference towards whether I lived or died.

After a few months it became clear to me that I still needed something, though nothing as strong as Effexor. Now I'm on a very low dose (10 mg) Lexapro. Combined with regular exercise I seem to have struck the right balance.

[gaoshan]

Going off Effexor was a nightmare for me. I would never take anything like it again... not worth it.

[seventhtiger]

Stopping Effexor did permanent damage to my nerves. It's been years and I still have symptoms. I will never take an antidepressant again after that.

[culot]

Effexor is one of the nastiest ones, even when not tapering off of it. A missed dose can mean brain shocks, and withdrawals can mean months of that, sometimes strong enough to knock you down.

I am ever surprised that they continue prescribing that one. Of the 10 I've been on that one was the harshest by far (though many others also had severe, dangerous side effects).

[hercynium]

I agree, as I've missed a dose here and there over the years and experienced the intense paresthesia and headaches and nausea from withdrawal.

Background: I've lived my entire adult life (and most of my teens) with severe chronic depression. In my early 20's I started taking pharmaceutical treatment, and once I found the right drug (after trying many over the course of years) my life became manageable. SSRIs helped but I experienced severe nausea on most of them, or worse. It was only when I tried SNRIs like Effexor that things started to get better. YMMV, IANAPsychiatrist, etc, etc.

A few years ago I switched from Effexor to Cymbalta. Same class of drug - The Effexor simply wasn't helping as much as it used to and the switchover was done with a long taper-down and replace period. I even bought a lab-grade scale to measure out the contents of the capsules so I could cross-over smoothly.

All that said, Cymbalta has the same withdrawal effects, on about the same time scale - a single missed dose. But I wouldn't give it up unless something better comes along. I still struggle with my depression and the SNRI is just one tool in my toolbox for managing it.

[ozmaverick72]

I have been taking Effexor for more than 10 years. Two years ago I thought it was no longer being effective for me so I tried to taper down and stop taking the mediation. Over a period of weeks I dropped down from 150 mg to 37.5 mg. I could not drop from 37.5 mg - I experienced complete insomnia and terrible anxiety and I started to experience tinnitus. I went back to see a psychiatrist who initially didnt believe that everything I was experiencing was due to withdrawal - I had to fill one of my old scripts and prescribe myself my original dose of Effexor to get back to some semblance of normality. My anxiety and sleep levels returned to normal but although the tinnitus lessened its still there today. I worked with my doctor and eventually decided to increase the Effexor dose and it has helped greatly with my anxiety and depression. Apparently there arent many people who have reported tinnitus as an Effexor sessation side-effect. My doctor says it must just be coincidence - anyone else experience the same thing ? Just a word of caution to anyone thinking of stopping their medication - do it slowly and with the support of a doctor. I thought I knew what I was doing but I probably reduced my dosage too quickly and maybe this ringing in my ears is the price I pay.

[coolthrowaway]

I experienced tinnitus when I started either Celexa or Lexapro. It started on the second day. It was pretty bad and I quit it the next day. My doctor said that she had never heard of that happening.

[ComputerGuru]

I just quit it (as a migraine prophylactic discontinued to a very delayed onset of lethargy side effects) and had a hell of a hard time explaining to my neurologist about those brain shocks. They were horrible for the first two weeks and so disorienting, and they persisted for well over a month. And that is with severe titrating of dosage to the lowest sold (37.5mg).

I used to err on the side of double-dosing rather than miss a dose if I wasn’t sure, it is an absolute hell of a dependency.

[selectiveshift]

I’ve been off Effexor for almost three years now and I still get shivers when I think about the brain zaps.

[saryant]

I started taking Lexapro a few days ago and my psychiatrist recommended I also try a CBD vape pen to go along with it, but also mentioned to be careful about sourcing as lots of CBD sources are snake oil.

[culot]

Does CBD have the same kind of high and anxiety and paranoia as marijuana?

What exactly did the psych recommend it for? Depression?

[taternuts]

CBD actually is the part in the weed that relaxes you and can calm the paranoia/anxiety caused by the THC. If you take a _lot_ of it, you might experience a similar kind of heavy-body type feeling you get with drugs but I wouldn't call it being 'high'.

It's kind of an issue these days because having something that's lower in THC and has CBD in it isn't as marketable as something with higher THC even though it would likely be a more enjoyable and relaxing high for most people. I believe CBD cannibalizes the THC to some degree so generally the higher the THC percentage in the plant the lower the CBD is, and even for someone with lots of experience it will give you more anxiety/paranoia.

[int_19h]

In legal recreational marijuana markets, at least, there are often whole sections in stores that are dedicated to stuff that's CBD-only and high-CBD combos (there's some anecdotal evidence that CBD and THC have some kind of synergy that produces better results than pure CBD).

[anon192831]

CBD is not psychoactive. So generally no. However CBD can have THC alongside it, which could have the anxiety/paranoia effects.

[gormenghast]

I'm on 225mg/day venlafaxine and if I miss a single day i get severe brain zaps, dissociation, exhaustion, etc.. it's hell

Once I ran out and couldn't get a doctors appointment, so ended up going to the hospital and begging them for a packet because I know the withdrawal would just wreck me.