Convulsive Shaking And Heart Palpitations With Venlafaxine Withdrawal?
Jan 12, 2015
I have been on antidepressants for 11 years, for OCD, and on Venlafaxine for roughly 6 years. At its highest i was on 225 mg plus 5mg Abilify. About two year ago my OCD had been under control for a good few years so i wanted to come off the medication for that reason but also I was suffering with chronic tiredness (falling asleep at work) and headaches that the drs could find no explanation for and I thought the drugs might be causing this. So I started reducing my meds.
I am off the Abilify and have got the Venlafaxine down to half a 37.5mg tab in the morning and a quarter tab in the evening. This has not been without its problems though. I could deal with the nausea/head zaps etc but about five/six months ago I tried reducing from 37.5mg every day to every other day (on the 'advice' of my GP who said it was 'such a baby dose you should be able to come off it in two weeks' ha!) and this resulted in my having heart palpitations (rate of 130bpm) and severe shakes and ending up in A&E. GP and doctor in A&E were both sceptical that withdrawal could cause this. GP made me do a 24hr heart ECG thing which came back normal so she put it down to 'anxiety'.
There were other (less severe) instances of heart palpitations in the following months that became less frequent. Then yesterday I couldn't remember if i'd taken my Venlafaxine in the morning so I took a quarter of a 37.5mg tab in the afternoon and a half of a quarter (crazy maths i know) in the evening. I then woke up suddenly at 1am and proceeded to get violent shakes and a feeling of a burning sensation in my brain. I got my partner to call an ambulance but by the time the paramedics got here the shaking had stopped and they said i was ok to stay home.
Has anyone had similar problems with convulsive shakes or heart palpitations with Venlafaxine? I want to come off it but these symptoms are alarming and no one in the medical profession seems to understand, all are dismissive of Venlafaxine withdrawal and even more so if you mention what you've 'read online'! But reading other people's experiences of this nightmare drug are reassuring me that i'm not insane (or at least no more than i was anyway).
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Has anyone experienced heart palpitations throughout the day and a fast heart beat that wakes you up in the morning. I'm going to the doc to make sure its nothing serious but i have suffered with panic attacks and hypochondria for years this is just new symptoms.
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hi for about 8 weeks now i have been having what feels like heart palpitations,i have visited my gp and 2 said they thought i was having panic attacks and 1 thought a stomach ulcer i have ended up in hospital twice due to me going light headed feeling sick and having numbness down both arms and racing heart both times i was watching tv when it happened! its driving me insane i have had 3 ECG's all came back normal i sometimes have pain in my left shoulder or in my upper back around shoulder blades or in my upper stomach both sides, i have sat and taken my pulse when it happens but my heart rate doesn't seem to change, i have another appointment with the doctor on monday but feel like im being laughed at and not listened to!
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Anyone recommend a supplement to help me calm down and relax, as I'm withdrawing from Venlafaxine and I'm really having a difficult few days!
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I was put on diazepam for anxiety disorder along with sertraline 50mg I am 4 weeks on sertraline but have been taking diazepam for approx 2-3 months max 6 mg daily I dropped the dose to 2mg once daily around 3 weeks ago and 4 days ago stopped completely although my jelly legs and shakes are there I have been experiencing stomach pain bit like period pain but still wakes me I would like advice on how long these jelly legs and stomach aches will last as my anxiety is spiralling out of control thinking I have something serious wrong with me i've also had blurred vision and feeling sick.
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So I just got back from a ER a few hours ago. Why? Well I'll tell you. About 3 days ago or so I started getting heart palpitations while laying down after I took my Seroquel to get ready to sleep. They would last about a half hour to a hour and 15 or 20 so palpitations I would eventually fall asleep. I thought nothing of it but then it happened again the next night and the next ect. I started developing panic attacks cause I was concerned that I had a heart problem or something was wrong. I couldn't tell if my anxiety was causing the palpitations or the palpitations developing the anxiety ugh. So tonight I started getting them and they just wouldn't stop and then I went into full panic mode. I thought oh god im gonna have a heart attack I know it. So I begged my dad to take me to the ER and they assessed me and my vitals were about 60-70 BPM when I got there and then they took some blood and I got a EEG or EKG? Not sure I've never had one before but it was the one with the cords they put on your chest, legs, sides and it literally takes 10 seconds and it came out perfect and so did the blood work. The doctor said because of the propanol that I take which calms the heart down during a panic attack that I'm having "extra beats" because of the calm when I take my propanol. I asked him why this came on all of a sudden and he doesn't know it just happens. He said they're usually benign but to make a appointment with my GP to get a heart monitor to wear for a week just as a safety precaution. I asked him what causes this and he said caffeine, sugar, smoking ect. I asked him what about not eating and drinking enough because I haven't been doing much due to my IBS being pretty bad recently. He said that could be it as well but to still follow up with my doctor. I'm still scared cause im still having them (well I had 1 since I got home) i keep constantly checking my pulse and worrying when the next one will come that it's making my anxiety sky rocket. Has anyone else encountered this problem? I'm still afraid even though I was told it was ok. My anxiety brain is saying that the tests were wrong and they missed something ect. Ugh I hate anxiety. It seems like it's one thing after another. Id love to hear what you guys think of this. Thanks.
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Almost 3 weeks ago I stopped Mirtazapine cold turkey. I was on a small dose of 7.5mg but I'm also a small person (8 stone) and that dose seemed to work for me. Just before I stopped I tried to taper but then changed my mind and double the dose which almost immediately gave me some nausea, palpitations and very bad muscles and joints pain. I stayed on that dose for a week but none of the symptoms cleared completely so on Friday 30.05 I stopped it completely.
Next few days were dreadful, with nausea, palpitations, ringing in the ears (and ear pain), burning skin on legs and arms, painful joints and muscles, especially left leg, muscle twitching, back pain, insomnia. They don't all come in at once and I do have a better moment or day but pretty much i'm still in pain most of the time and exhausted. I'm sure that the fact i've been on an antibiotic (doxycycline) for a bacterial infection drains the body as well and perhaps contributes to feeling ill but my GP says it shouldn't matter.
Please can anyone having a similar experience reply to this post. My GP just took my hope away today telling me that I don't have any withdrawal as he's never had a problem with this drug, but the only other choice is probably a serious autoimmune disease, which I'm terrified to think of. I never had any muscle or joint pain until about 4 weeks ago and now having a very sad time thinking what happened to my life as I'm not able to look after my family. I just want to have my hope back that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's a few more weeks or months...
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Anyone who suffers anxiety knows what heart palpitations feel like. About 2 months ago, I was having them non-stop for days went to ER. They could see them on the monitor but said EKG looked okay and blood tests were normal. I still get them almost daily. They are scary and incredibly annoying, but I just try and cope with them. Well anyways, today I got to work and right after doing shift change, the phone rang and I needed to go assist a resident up on third floor. I don't like the elevator we have so i walked up the stairs. By the time I got up there I was so short of breath I could barely talk. And my heart rate was 144 and I could feel and literally see my heart beating. After sitting down and resting for about 5 minutes the pounding just stopped. I still have the palpitations though. The shortness of breath I am wondering if it is even related. I am 5months pregnant and I know that with my uterus expanding it can cause that. but something like this has never happened before. Last year I went to a cardiologist who did and EKG told me I had a sinus arrhythmia which is not serious and sent me on my way. I have smoked for a bout 7 years now, sometimes heavy others not so much. I have stress on a daily basis, and I do consume probably too much caffeine. I am 21 and otherwise in good health. Major anxiety though. Anyone have this happen before and turned out fine? I don't mean to sound like a hypo but I have two daughters already and it scares me to death to wonder where they would end up if anything were to happen to me.
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So..my daughter wanted to go shopping. I felt a little blah, tightness in chest before we left. A light was changing from yellow to red, and i made a very fast right hand turn so i wouldn't be stuck at a dreaded red light. After the turn I felt a burning in my stomach that quickly spread throughout my whole body. I glanced in the mirror and was bright red..had to pull over. Heart started slamming and so fast...legs shaking. Opened the door, and got out to get air..telling myself im ok, im ok as my daughter sat there ( really sad) 20 mins later and heart slowed enough to drive and here i am. Daughter very angry and confused. Cold feeling in my arms, headache and a slight burning in chest and exhausted. Feeling guilty. Although i feel i managed ok...and made it through...ehh...feel bad. Does this even sound like a panic attack?
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I currently have some heart palpitation issues , then a vein got slightly bigger and is showing on my right leg and it hurts sometimes , but now this new things shows up. I don't know if those things are related but i don't wanna bug my doctor no more.
Can anyone tell me is this anything to worry about or not?
Veins are being showed on my stomach .. I am very fit 22 year old , i work out /etc.
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This has been the worst 3 weeks of my life with these perimenopause symptoms. I'm soon to be 49. I thought my symptoms were getting better. Then on March 8th started having bad stomach cramps and low back pain which lasted 2 1/2 weeks. Then the terrible indigestion started with heart palpitations and then of course major anxiety. My period which has been about every 18 days since December is now late. I live each day in fear and terror of heart palpitations and anxiety. I seriously feel like I might die everyday. This is absolutely no way to live. I feel bad for my poor husband and daughter. I am no wife and mother at this time. My daughter is 21 but I still feel horrible about the state I'm in. Sorry for the vent. Feeling hopeless like this journey will never ever end.
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I suddenly started feeling not myself like out of body and my heart is beating so fast! I can't stop shaking, feels like someone is squeezing my head and really hot I hate this it feels like I'm gonna loose control
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having heart palpitations and heavy feeling in chest when at rest. thought it could be anxiety related since i lost both my parents suddenly and my job of 17 years in less than one year. i see a shrink and am prescribed ativan and klonopin. when discomfort happens, i have taken anywhere from 2 to 6 mg. of ativan and 1mg. of klonopin and discomfort does not subside. i have not mentioned this to my doctor right now because during routine physical 9 months ago protein and blood are showing up in my urine. i have no physical symptoms-no pain and blood is not visible. have had a kidney ultrasound and CT scan and they are clear. also was checked for diabetes and results were negative. seems like if there is a problem the doctor can see, i would feel something. have an appointment with a urologist but this also happened about 10 years ago, had a cystoscopy and things were fine. i should also add that i am a smoker for 35 years-have decided to try to quit.
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Atrial Fibrillation is very scarey when i had it for 9yrs an didn't know it for 6 my old doc treated me for panic attacks till one day i couldn't control it an drove myself to the er (don't remember how i got there) an heart stopped 7 times less then 10 mins and heart rate was up to 203 a min they had hard time getting iv in but after they did they had to put lopressor in me about 6 time till it got to normal i had to stay in icu for a week then they released me with a lot of med and vitamins an it worked for a while but the last month i have none stop palpitations and i'm trying my hardest to relax but nothing works i could be watching tv or laying in bed it wont stop i went to doc he did blood work came back normal ....
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during normal annual physical doctor found protein in urine. ran tests for diabetes-tests were negative. he re-checked 3 months later and protein was not present, but blood was. about 10 years ago another doctor found blood in my urine and i went to see a urologist and had a cystoscopy which came out normal. he told me that rarely there are people with traces of blood in urine for no reason. since then i have had regular physicals and no mention of abnormal urine test results have come up. now, out of the blue not only is blood coming and going(not visible to naked eye)but protein shows up and the numbers that show my kidney function are a little bit out of average range. doc sent me for kidney ultrasound and CT scan which came out clear. i have an appointment with a urologist, but am still curious about this problem. also, in reading stories on this website, i found an odd similarity in stories about having urinary problems and heart palpitations(which i have not mentioned to my doc). the palpitations started about 6 mos. ago. i thought they were related to anxiety since i have lost both my parents suddenly(they did not pass away together) and my job of 17 years in less than one year. i see a shrink on a regular basis for depression and he prescribes lorazepam and klonopin to me. when these palpitations escalated to having pressure in the center of my chest i tried taking anywhere from 2 mg. to 6 mg. of lorazepam and 1 mg. of klonopin to ease the pain and attributing symptoms to anxiety, but the meds did not help. i have not had any other heart related symptoms like pain in arm, jaw, or shoulder. could these two sets of symptoms be related? like i mentioned before, just reading other stories where both things were mentioned struck me as so odd!! perhaps someone could shed some light on this situation for me.
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have been suffering from palpitations every now and then for the past few years but they have been getting a lot worse recently to the point where if I walk up one set of stairs my heart goes berserk and I have to catch my breath once I get to the top. And sometimes just randomly it will feel like it's pounding so hard and fast and nothing I can do to calm it down just wait. I suffer high blood pressure and take medicine. I'm 22 years old. Healthy I'm not overweight. My doctor recently said for me to get a 24 hour heart monitor which I did yesterday and no waiting on the results. Has anyone else had similar symptoms to mine? Or does anyone know what it could be besides anxiety cause I know what anxiety feels like and this is different. It's like my heart just goes crazy sometimes! I'm anxious about the results! If anything was bad they would contact me within a couple of days of receiving the heart monitor right? They say wait up to a week but if urgent will be sooner.
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I have some strange feelings and etc for around 6 months. I don't have any panic attacks or anxiety from long time ago, but something is wrong with me. For example in morning I stand up from bed and my heart rate goes to around 130 or when i climb up stairs ( around 20 of them) i get heart rate around 170 per min. That's not normal I know, but I have had heart ECG, heart ULTRASOUND,blood tests and etc and everything is fine. But on left side of chest I have pressure, feels like some organ is swollen or I don't know, maybe lung is pressed or something. I had also lungs x-ray but it came out fine. When heart is beating fast, i feel pain in my upper chest like in my airways, and when my heart calms down i have sore upper chest. 1 month ago i got maybe palpitations but not sure if it's palpitations, happens most when im standing. I get fast squeeze in left chest like my left lung is squeezed, but in this second my heart stops beating and then starts after 1sec beat fast and again slowly. I really dont know what to do, because im sure i dont have anxiety or panic. I was on xanax,citalopram,lexotanil for long time and nothing helped me for that. P.S My left leg is always cold,mostly when im laying down. Sometimes i get vibrating sound in my left chest and i don't know what is this. Mostly im scared if its my heart or what... Doctors said im okay, but i still feel not normal and without full access to live my life.. I had also brain scans,neck x ray and all is fine. All tests I had everything is normal. What do you think I should check? Please don't write about psychology problems, because its not this and im sure its not in my head.
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I'm 21 year old female college student and have to get my feelings out there. Since someone very close to me was diagnosed with cancer almost 3 years ago I have developed severe undiagnosed health anxiety, and every time I bring up the fact that I have bad anxiety to my Dr. we kinda just laugh it off/it isn't taken seriously. I have had physical symptoms (constipation, headaches, heart palpitations, indigestion, difficulty focusing my eyes, neck pain, TMJ, fatigue, overall anxiety about everything, and i feel lightheaded when standing up too fast) and I'm here to ask if you think these symptoms are caused by my anxiety or an actual health issue. I always feel every little pain or "off" feeling in my body, and immediately attribute it to some sort of cancer or disease. I think seeing all of these stories on social media of sick people etc. hasn't helped. i've had blood work, a CAT scan of my digestive tract, a holter monitor twice, and an ECHO since these things have happened, and they've all said things were normal. I would really appreciate any input as this is causing real stress.
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which supplements to buy to help me with withdrawal of Effexor!
I've read that a good quality Omega 3 supplement will help and maybe 5 htp?
It's day 3 of withdrawal and I'm feeling so so tired and in need of some energy!
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Yes it's me again, last few days I've felt agitated and on edge now this afternoon I'm full of tears!, is this part of withdrawal? I feel very very isolated and I just need to know if this is to be expected!
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My psychiatrist has just agreed that I can try reducing my antidepressant medication. I'm on 225mg venlafaxine and 30 mg mirtazapine, and he's suggested I gradually reduce the mirtazapine first, and see what happens He's warned me that i might notice less sedation, so sleep less well. Are there any other withdrawal symptoms I should know about? Anyone else tried it?
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