Venlafaxine

[rpowell01]

Anybody here taking Venlafaxine? Be careful of not taking it for two days, I just found out the hard way for the past few days....Worse medicine withdraws I ever had...

[rpowell01]

that sounds like something else completely new & unrelated. I'm sure by the time you're getting this you've already tended the problem you've described, but I can tell you from personal experience with venlafaxine I have never experience similar symptoms ranging from the buttocks area down to the calf muscle. Your assumption of a pinched sciatic nerve would've been my first guess if you hadn't even mentioned sciatica as a matter of fact. Do you carry your wallet in your back pants pocket on that side? If so is the wallet a thick wallet? In other words just be looking out for all different signs and causes for things that could be putting extra pressure on that particular buttock area if in fact the sciatica is acting up. If it is not and it is in fact a medicine side effect I'd greatly appreciate if you availed me of that fact on here. Best wishes & God Bless.

Yep thats exactly what it was. I had to get a Toradol shot at the James A. Haley hospital. I always get pain down the left and/or right side of my buttocks but never like this in my legs. Now I know what is causing my constant leg pains but it was in both legs. Really weird, because my left leg started hurt days before this and then boom both my legs started hurting but the pain was greater than I have had experienced before. I had problems walking for 2 days because they felt weak also but that Toradol shot did the job and now I have to watch myself. I am a lot better and I have to now watch what I do. I don't know what I can pick up or can't. I cannot even get on my knees and do any work or it goes out.

I am also finally on my last low dosage Venlafaxin pill and well I can feel the difference. I don't feel like a bug anymore but the pain in my arms and chest muscles are worse than it was whenever I was on Venlafaxin. Like I said I rather deal with the pain than feeling like a bug. That is my reaction to that medication.

[Tbird]

Please never try to take yourself off of any of the meds they give us. Venlafaxine is on my evil drug list. The withdrawal is wicked and quick, miss one morning and it starts. When I was on it I was bordering on rage or crossed over into rage everyday. With that being said I would not quit any meds my doc gave me without being tapered off, because if done the wrong way it causes more problems.

If I want off something, my doc is very good about tapering me off and switching to something else. PTSD and depression are bad enough alone without screwing up my meds. So I am very cautious about everything. Been in the system since 1991 and have been through so many meds, it's dizzying to even think about it.

I take 7.5 Mirtazapine at night, anything higher and I go on a eating binge it's really strange. They gave me Ambien for sleep, then took me off of it. Side effects and liver problems. They gave me Serequel to take when I am on the edge of rage and it works pretty good for that. I don't have to take it everyday, just when I feel I am reaching the tipping point and the Xanax isn't helping. I only take the Xanax when I can't calm myself instead of 3x per day as prescribed. I take 200mg Zoloft everyday and that seems to be working pretty good for me.

If I have to go the VA Hospital for a regular doctor's appointment I usually need a ride, because I need to take the Serequel and Xanax before I go just to get through the building and the appointment. It's like the VA is a trigger for me, I've tried all my calming and relaxation techniques, but it seems meds are the best way for me to manage the appointments.

I have a dental appointment on Friday and I am going to try and not take anything and see how it goes.

Oh my I am rambling, sorry.

[rpowell01]

She gave me 15 mg of Mirtazapine after deciding to take me off the Venlafaxine. I took the Mirtazapine once and that was it. It made me sleep 20 hours and I can't do that. All that lying down causes my neck, back and all the radiculopathy hurt worse. My sleep is messed up because of the Venlafaxine and everything is backwards for me at the moment. Also, now that the pain has seriously come back I thought I was having a heart attack last night (Sunday-Monday) but of course its the radiculopathy from my neck. If there is anything i can wish for it would be for somebody to go in my neck and correct this issue. It is not fun and it is hurting me more than anybody can ever know.

A good thing is James A. Haley Hospital in Tampa has transferred all my stuff to them out of the Bay Pines System at my request. I did this as I was denied 2-3 times from the Bay Pines system to see a surgeon at James A. Haley. I have a appointment over there next week.

Edited June 26, 2012 by rpowell01

[rpowell01]

Well its been a week (I think, I lost what day it was, truly) since I took the last low dosage of Venlafaxine and well the "brain and body zaps" are horrific. They come and go throughout the day. I mainly get them in the morning right after I wake up. I read on the net that the people are taking Vitamin B and Omega 3 that helps to dull or give relief to the zaps. I am going this morning to CVS to pick some up.

Also my lower back to my leg issues have all come back yesterday just by me carrying a small basket with eggs in it at the grocery store. There is something going on with my lower back because if I walk around the house one time my legs begin to go weak and start to hurt and I feel the pain in my lower back at L5-S1...not good but hopefully the docs at James A. Haley can figure it out soon.

I thought about something that I remember. I remember telling an orthopedic surgeon who I was seeing last year about these same kind of symptoms but at that time they weren't as bad. I am wondering if this is related to my cervical spine or thoracic spine issues.

He did mention thoracic outlet syndrome. Anybody have this and does this sound like a symptom?

Edited July 2, 2012 by rpowell01

[rpowell01]

Well I think I have come up with a solution. I read on the net people actually opening up the capsules and weening themselves off it is this way. It seems the pharmacyst lower dosage does not help and a lot of folks have these brain zaps. As luck would have it I still have a whole bottle of the medication on my counter so I did what others have done and opened the capsule, dumped out all the little beads inside (a couple hundred from what I could see) then I put about 30 of them back in a capsule and took it. As of this moment the brain zaps are still there but now tolerable enough it does not affect me.

Also I was testing what brings on these zaps while I was waiting for my appt today and it seems that if I turn my eyes to the right it brings them on. If I turn my head and/or eyes to the left I am fine. Even if I turn my head to the right it brings on the zaps. Odd but something in the left part of the brain seems to cause it or the left side of the brain or something else up there produces the serotonin that causes these withdrawal effects.

I will see how long that dosage I created last and will adjust the dosage then wean myself off over the next 20 days. I just don't think the low dosage they give you is accurate. I believe they should change the dosage by mg and not by how many you take in one day. JMHO.

I write this just in case others ever experience the same thing to help them learn about it.

Edited July 3, 2012 by rpowell01