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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Planning To Taper Off Venlafaxine. Concerned About The Side Effects

Hi !
My name is Melanie.im 44 yrold and female. I'm currently taking venlafaxine 150 mg.... Been on for about 5 yrs. actually like it the best of all the medications I've tried. Life situations happened and I couldn't seem to deal with my problems very well. Now that I've been going to church and stop drinking completely and still working out. Husband and I are back in love ,I'm ready to get off TODAY!!!... I'm going to taper myself off . Just worried about the horrible side effects. I have the will power and strength no matter what. I'm noticing joint pains ( like disc lower back left side) and hip left side?? not sure where this is coming from. It's defantly effecting my drive to work . A lot of continual aches through the day and especially in morning? Could you give me some feedback on how to help that and withdraws that I'm sure to come?what will I expect?
Fri, 19 Apr 2013
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Internal Medicine Specialist 's  Response
Dear Melanie

Nice to hear that you life is back on tract and you are ready to stop the antidepressant medication .Only problem with this approach is the rebound anxiety and severe mood fluctuations ,which can happen when these anti depressants are stopped in one go ,especially after taking them for a long period of time.

Some times these side effects can be severe enough to cause major disturbances.

I will advise you to talk to your doctor and try to reduce the dose in graded way ,rather than abruptly stopping the medication, 150 mg dose probably need few months to be tapered off completely without compromising the quality of life.

Hope it helps.
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Planning To Taper Off Venlafaxine. Concerned About The Side Effects

Dear Melanie Nice to hear that you life is back on tract and you are ready to stop the antidepressant medication .Only problem with this approach is the rebound anxiety and severe mood fluctuations ,which can happen when these anti depressants are stopped in one go ,especially after taking them for a long period of time. Some times these side effects can be severe enough to cause major disturbances. I will advise you to talk to your doctor and try to reduce the dose in graded way ,rather than abruptly stopping the medication, 150 mg dose probably need few months to be tapered off completely without compromising the quality of life. Hope it helps.