venlafaxine withdrawal

you probably read it all before, venlafaxine / effexor / and its evil side effects on withdrawal.
brain shivers? all i can say is that it feels like tingleing all over my face. my teeth tingle, my eyes tingle, my whole head inside tingles grrrrrrrr.
vertigo? i ride a trike to work everyday and i have a very strange feeling of no fear and dizzy spells whilst riding fast, whilst standing behind my desk at work ( tyre and exhaust sales receptionist ) it feels like my brain is swimming around in my head. if i bend down for any reason i lose my balance.
madness? am i really mad ? or is it all the others. 1 minute i feel like i can cope with the problems of the whole world the next minute i feel like i have the problems of the whole world to deal with with not knowing where to start.
i never stand in 1 spot for long i am bouncing all over the place.
my fingere s do the typing at work ( booking out invoices ) but when i stop and look i dont know how i managed to get it all right or even if it was really me that typed it all. most of it i just cant remember typing in at all.

if you wondering what this is all about

i am stopping my intake of effexor / venlafaxine i was on 75mg a day for 15 years and 150mg a day for approx 3 years of that.
the day before yesterday was my first day off of them then last night i split a 75mg capsual and took half of it. today has been a little strange to me like my body was not mine. last night i had some very vivid dreams strange dreams. comical really.
tonight i am not going to take any effexor i despratetly want to get of this nasty drug.
tonight i feel a little strange but i am refusing to take it.
check back tomorrow
carl

(((((((((((((((((Carl))))))))))))))))) Perhaps you should go more slowly withdrawing on the meds with doctors advice? I'd imagine going off of any drug can be rather difficult.

Effexor is well known for having the absolute worst discontinuation syndrom of any of the Anti D's. Rather than doing it on your own, you should probably be doing a taper 37.5 mg at a time working with a Dr.

thanks for the replys my wife thinks the same . come down slowly.
i know this isn't a blog but i am just updating my feelings from the past 24 hours.
last night i slept not too badly but i woke with one hell of a head on me.
felt a bit like i had been hit on the top of my skull by a bus.
i took 200mg of nurofen migraine relief and 200mg of modafinil and it seemed to ease the pain a little.
i went to work feeling rather dizzy and having audible hallucinations (sounds like a tin roof flapping about in the wind) spent the morning feeling weaker and weaker by the hour.
i had to take 100mg of dihydracodine by 1pm as my head was hurting like hell and i was starting to get confused and forgetting to carry out the tasks i had set myself at work. at 2.20 i started to be physically sick and feeling faint. 3pm and 3.40 i was again physically sick. i have felt a little on the low side today. feeling like i just couldnt cope with quitting this drug . but i really want to get off it so i just keep repeating to myself "positive mental attitude".
on the plus side i feel a lot better this evening and although i didnt fancy eating anything i really enjoyed my meal my wife made.
going to slow the withdrawal down a bit and take half a 75mg effexor each day for a week see how i get on. my dr tells me that there is no smaller tablet than a 75mg in the uk so its rather inaccurate splitting the capsuals but i do a rough split.
check back tomorrow

just a quick update tonight
i fell much much better than yesterday.
i took half a capsual last night and i think it made me feel more like my normal self again
going to take half per night for a week then reduce to quater and see if it works coming down that way
check back tomorrow

another update
i just want people to know what i am going through in the hope that it may help some one else one day .
i have had another good day today.
yet again i took half a capsual last night. am i depressed ? i dont think so, i have managed to halve the pills and yet still not feel low, or am i just in remisson , could it be that after 15 years on this drug i am just addicted and my depression if i ever was depressed has benn supressed by this drug.
there are so many questions i ask myself that i just cant seem to answer,
maybe i;ll never find an answer, chicken and egg senario ?
for now i am happy to continue on my course to recovery from this drug slowly but surely i will beat it .