Why Am I Having Anxiety And Lightheadedness After Withdrawing From Venlafaxine?

Posted on Sat, 8 Feb 2014

Question: I am taking venlafaxine and if I don't take it at about the same time every day, I have a humming, buzzing, or what I call squishing in my ears. I also get kind of light headed on and off if I don't take it on time. My nurse practitioner has no idea why this happens. It is very uncomfortable and causes me a lot of anxiety. It gets worse if I try to stop this medication and take a new one (which has been tried). I was told that I would have to live with it. Please help me.

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (6 hours later)

Brief Answer: Dependence Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for your query. What you have is dependence on the drug, which presents with symptoms similar to withdrawal even when the drug is taken few hours late. In such cases stopping the drug can leave in you bad problem. Unfortunately, you may have to stop the medication to get rid of the problem you are facing. But this had to be done in a tapering manner. Lowering the dosage over a period of time would help you to get of the drug and its dependence. Wish you good health. Regards,

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar