Viibryd Withdrawal -- How I Felt (Page 2)
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Stopping Viibryd: From 40mg I tapered down to 7 days of 20mg followed by 7 days of 10mg. The biggest side effect I felt was mostly irritability and anxiety. I was able to go into work but tried to keep to myself. I felt sick. Didn't want to socialize. When I finally stopped the med completely it was pretty bad. I'm on day 6 now. Have been unable to work, drive or leave my house ... for fear of ending up in jail or hospital from flipping out. I feel a constant anger and want to break things, and have yelled at the top of my lungs to two people on the phone. I feel disoriented, dizzy, itchy, and confused (itchiness was actually nothing new for me). I'm confined to my house until further notice. Very unpleasant!

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After 2 months of coming back t oUS adding ALL the stressors back in my life, I felll to pieces, I can't tell you how many people could tell "something was off" fe know I'm on meds. Back on, and I am doing fine. I wish I could tell a different story, I cannot.
Back on meds for the forseable future, and I feel a lot better NOW. Wish I didn't have to have meds, but this is where I am.

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I stopped Viibryd July 3rd. I was taking 20mg and went down to 10mg for a week per my Dr and then just stopped all together. At first I was so dizzy and nauseous but now I'm so lightheaded from 11am-2pm that it throws me into an anxiety attack. I feel like I'm going to pass out. Has anyone ekse felt this and How long will this last?

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I could not have said it better. This medicine is awful and should not be taken.

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I was in Thailand on a 6 week vacation, knowing my Viibryd was going to run out, I decided to google going off of both sleeping meds and Viibryd(40 mg), and did it. I can tell you I had very little withdrawl symptoms, with the exception of ITCHING and vivid dreams. The way I feel is unbelievable, everything for me is crystal clear. I've lost weight, I'm sleeping which was my BIGGEST fear, and overall it has been an amazing experience. I was very nervous, by myself, but knew if there was ever a time, now was it. I read lots on google, esp. articles in support of no meds, which is where I wanted to be. I have been on antidepressants for min. 6 years. Sleeping meds for 1 year, I feel great. Stillitching, but I expected MUCH worse.I am very happy to be drug free, is my life perfect? No, but I didn't expect perfection, i just wanted to be off.

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I am on viibryd 20 mg. and Trazadone,clorazipam,terrazapam at night. Can u have anxiety in your stomach. I have done all tests fr stomach problems and all are negative. I am anxious and hungry all the time. I want to be normal again. Anyone out there have problems like mine.

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My experience with Viibryd... Female, over 50, was taking Wellbutrin for years. Was going through a rough patch with work and life stress so Dr. Prescribed Viibryd in addition to Wellbutrin. Started w/ 10 mg for 7 days, up to 20 for 14 days the finally at 40. In the year I took Viibryd all I thought about was FOOD! Dr absolutely insists that Viibryd is not to blame. Stopped going to yoga, less motivation in general. Overall gained 12 lbs. Since I've always taken pride in my weight the 12 ugly pounds made be feel down. But the oddest thing... I had constant, moderate breast pain for a solid year that I never attributed to V. After a year plus using Viibryd, just had this gut feeling that Viibryd played a part in my weight gain and lack of motivation. Started decreasing Viibryd from 40 to 20 with doctors approval. No significant weight loss. Remained at 20 for 2-3 months. On my own decided to try 15 using one 10 mg tablet and half of another 10 mg tablet. After 3-4 days of this lowered dose it occurred to me.... NO breast pain!! Also stopped thinking about my next meal or snack and stopped craving carbs. Went to 10 mg for 3 weeks... Lost 3-4 lbs. Being kind to my body, so I'm taking it slowly tapering off this med. Now I'm taking 5 mg and I am tired mid-day and want a nap. This week was ok as I timed this tapering off with a 'remain at home' vacation. Back to work tomorrow, hope I can keep awake. And about the itching... I should mention that, yes, I experienced that while taking 40 mg. I regret starting Viibryd. Yes, I was going through a rough patch but it was not worth adding another drug , especially one as new as Viibryd. Feel a bit like a guinea pig taking the newest "great drug". Again, a big side effect when taking Viibryd was lack of motivation and going places and tired from weight gain. I'm anxious to get this wonder drug out of my system.. But will decrease to 5 mg for two weeks, then last week will take .5 every other day. I feel pretty comfortable doing this. I do think it's worth repeating that decreasing slowly may be the key to successful transition. After all, even bonified drug addicts don't go cold turkey. It's not safe and why stress out your body and mind. I'll exercise some patience, and start being thankful for all the blessing I have.

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So, I'm not quite sure how long i've been on viibryd, 40mg. I noticed that I was becoming a hermit. Didn't want to see anyone or do anything. I would lay in bed at night trying to figure it all out and finally decided, it's the viibryd! Cold turkey 4 days ago I quit! Feeling excited, crazy dreams, itching like a crazy lady and vertigo. I'll take it! I already feel, in my head, a hundred times better. Funny thing is, I have always been very weight conscious and went through a spell when I got very sick and was put on steroids as well as going through menopause at the same time. Needless to say, I chalked my weight gain off to that. Anxious to see what tomorrow brings for the first time in ages! Cold turkey probably isn't the way to go but, I'm sticking with it! Bump on a log no more!!!!!

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DO NOT TAKE THE EFFEXOR. I'm going through withdrawal right now. It's the worst thing ever to go through. I just started the Viibryd and still having withdrawal for the Effexor. I was not told about any of the withdrawal and my Dr is closed with another Dr. As his emergency call. This other Dr doesn't know me so there is no help there. Withdrawal from this is crying, anger, rage, flu like systems, nightmares,shaking, brain zaps, headaches, hot flashes, confusion, light headed, many more. These are just what I experienced. I have even thought of suicide, just to make it go away. So please do not take this drug. Not trying to.scare anyone....just don't want anyone to have to go through the he'll I have been going through.

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I won't go into grave detail about my experience with antidepressants( 7 years on them, I am 28 now), however I am/already have tapered off of 20mg viibryd. I was originally switched to viibryd from pristiq about 1 year ago due to hormone issues/stage 4 endometriosis. During this time I gained about 10-15lbs (during viibryd and grueling Endo treatment). The beginning of August this year my doc and I decided it was time to do something about the weight gain and get off of the antidepressant. The plan was to taper off of viibryd (from 20mg to 10mg for 7 days, then to 5mg of celexa, then nothing), and be put on 37.5mg of Phentermine for the next 3 mos. During this tapering process I was admitted into the hospital for kidney stones, ended up having surgery. With all the pain meds I didn't even notice how the tapering off process was effecting me. Also, 2 days after my surgery I was on a flight to Costa Rica to visit my brother. Needless to say there was a lot going on so like I said before I did not notice how the tapering process was effecting me. Fast forward to this past Monday( prob about 1.5 weeks completely off the anti deps), I get home from vacay and start to feel a brain fog set in. Like a light switch in my brain has been turned off. Physically I feel great. Mentally I feel completely drunk and out of it. I was started on the Phen this Wednesday and I still feel the same. So my thought is that maybe I'm having Viibryd withdrawals?? No other side effects though. Just the brain fog. Today was so awful, I just went upstairs about an hour ago and took 10mg of my left over viibryd. Maybe not the brightest choice but feeling helpless at the moment. Any encouraging words or advice would be so great!!

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Ugh. Hang in there. I went through that and unfortunately, it tapers for a while but it DOES get better. I too had to stay by myselff and couldn't work or drive. I couldn't even walk straight. I had toI walk my dogs down the street but if a neighbor saw me they would have thought I was drunk. Please hang in there and commit yourself to your bed when things get bad. That is what I did. It was my safe place. I had no help through it nor any support in the house but that was probably a good thing as who knows what I would have done.

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I'll check into the other threads.
Yes, the psychiatrist has tried other anti-depressants before and after 6 months I don't know what happens, but I get the same serotonin toxicity....the withdrawals I am having, besides being depressed again, are weird feeling electrical zaps and headaches as well as sudden muscle spasms. The doctor said this is normal coming off of anti-depressants.

He told me Welbuterin is the only anti-depressant that doesn't cause serotonin syndrome, but I tried that once and the entire room was spinning....scared me to death.

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I cut the 40mg to 20mg in July and I am now on 10mg until I feel ready to cut it to 5mg and then I will try skipping the 5mg every other day, but this will be a few months from now. My body is still recuperating from the doctor cutting me off the Soma that I had been on for the last 7 years 4 times a day. What I found from this is that at first I felt like I was dieing and then I realized that the oxycontin was not killing the pain I live in, it was the Soma. I see my doctor tomorrow and I plan on talking to him about this. OTC pain meds are like taking sugar pills. I don't want to be on the oxycontin at all or any kind of ant-depressants...not after being hospitalized for serotonin poisoning from them..the more research I do the more I see they are dangerous...but my ankle will never heal, nor will my spine, and degenerative disk disease does not go away so there has to be something that is not so dangerous to control the pain. Living in pain disrupts the natural balance of the chemicals in the human body just as much as dangerous drugs. I've had it with Allopathic (Western) doctors and medicine. I am going to go back to seeing a Naturopathic MD.

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don't give in...I have been in your shoes..I just wanted to end it all, but my son would be devasted. I still have some depression...and weird headaches and zapping feelings in my head, but it's the excessive sweating from the slightest movement that is driving me crazy. I have been researching like crazy for organic supplements to help get the natural chemicals in my body straightened out...that's what pain killers and anti-depressants do...they screw up the balance of the body and the brain and that is why the withdrawals are a nightmare, but I'll be damned if they are going to rule my life anymore. the body has the ability to heal itself once it is given what it needs...natural...vitamins, amino acids..etc. My choice is down to one of two companies...Withdrawal Ease or Neuro Genetic Solutions...I think I will go with the last one. I used to see a Naturopathic MD years ago and I was healthy. Simply because I shattered my ankle and back and now have degenerative disk disease doesn't mean I need to shorten my life with these dangerous drugs...and that is what they do....I was reaching a stage where I didn't even recognize myself emotionally anymore. I would rather just sleep all day. I am fighting this with everything I've got. Just finding forums and talking to countless others who became addicted by careless or doctors that are truly ignorant of the nature and danger of these drugs really has helped. I don't feel so hopeless anymore. I have spoken to people who were on far more pain killers than I was and they finally got off of them. I found, for me, that tapering slowly and listening to my body tell me when it's time to taper off a little more works and I told my body cannot take cold turkey ever again, nor can it take tapering off in large does. I am looking for another doctor that will really "listen"...this is what I told my doctor.."you are not hearing me...you are not really listening".

Please fight this...there are so many of us out there going through and this is where I found support to continue on and I will beat this.

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Hi Alexandria...I just read your post & it made me sooo angry to hear your doctor pretty much took you off your pain killer with no notice or not much notice. Was this recently and how long had you been taking opiates? I guess it's possible he didn't want you to go the route of addiction medication, but you would have greatly benefited from suboxone, maybe you didn't want it?
I had a terrible addiction to opiates for about 6 years and went through withdrawals many times over in the course of those 6 years. I had not heard of suboxone ever and though I was able to quit opiates for good in November 2005 and get 5 years under my belt, I still had a very strong emotional attachment....I relapsed Feb 2010 (it was easy to do) and went through about 7 months of hell before reaching out to a friend who told me of suboxone; it saved my life, it really really did! Also, and i have told my doctor this, I think of suboxone as my anti-d sometimes.
I am actually taking Viibryd, 40 mg, I started it back in January!!! I am also taking wellbutrin (300 mg, I believe it is the generic xl) and by June I told my psychiatrist (I like her a lot) that for being on both Vii and Well, I really didn't feel EITHER of them working!! I get break through depression, like the kind where you have zero motivation and don't shower and don't know how I am going to function as a normal 42 year old woman who is normally a very independent and responsible adult.
I am sorry I do not remember the name of the person who posted before you, but even though I am not tapering and taking 40 mg, I have had rage issues lately and I joke with my sister but lately it isn't joking as much when I tell her to expect call from me in jail needing her to put up bail.
I am sooo tired of playing the anti-d game!!! All SSRIs are basically the same. I am considering giving Effexor a real try. I took it very briefly in 2008 and it worked very well!! I stopped taking it because my insurance wouldn't cover it anymore and I couldn't afford the out-of-pocket price that was close to $500 for 30. It was a nightmare of withdrawal since I had no warning and had no choice. I'd never let that happen again and I know better now - that's why your doctor pisses me off!! How could he have not considered what you would experience being cut off cold turkey....jerk!
How long did it take you to taper off of viibryd? I am feeling scared now especially with the post before u...I see my shrink in 2 days and am going to ask her about this. Sorry for going on & on, just reading these posts got my wheels turning! Keep me posted. I'm feeling unsure of all THREE MEDS right about now.
P.S, I suffer from occasional panic/anxiety for which I am prescribed lowest possible dose of generic Xanax (.25 mg) the instant, and .50 of the extended release...I never had an addiction with benzos and though it's been a help to me, I can only take it at night because it knocks me out, yes, the .25! I was prescribed 30 in March and still have 12 left. Please feel free to add any info, I am craving knowledge.

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I know what you are feeling. I have to stop taking the viibryd because it caused serotonin toxicity enough that I had to go in the hospital....and they were useless. I am also tapering off of oxycontin and was taken cold turkey off of soma...my body is exhausted and of course the depression is back. I have dengerative bone disease, especially in my spine aas well as I shattered my ankle so badly that I had to have 2 surgeries, metal plates, screws and bolts to keep it together. the surgeon is the one that didn't taper me off off the opiate pain medicine and here I am, two years later going through a living hell of withdrawals and the viibryd was the only anti depressant that worked but for some reason makes my brain produce and over load of serotonin that nearly killed me. I know how it feels to have family that just don't understand what we are going through...don't understand the emotional and physical pain of withdrawal, but the alternative is not an option....to stay on these drugs that will kill me eventually...no..I want my life back. I am looking into organic options to help withdraw with less severity. 5HTP..the one with B6 and Vitamin C is supposed to be the most helpful. It won't stop the withdrawals, but makes it more tolerable.

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I will look at those threads but I'm afraid I won't be able to make it much longer. My doctor said TWO WEEKS! She said every day would get better. Every day got worse and I literally have confined myself to my house and my bed when it gets really bad. There is no background/understanding of "withdrawal" in my family as no one smokes, drinks or is even around drugs. I'm the only one that has suffered from major depression/anxiety so I don't get much assistance although they love me I know that. I have no one who cares enough to be with me but I have friends. I just can't ask anyone. I did with one and she didn't show up. I am praying tomorrow will be better. I really don't think I can take this much longer.

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Hi gistell,

Sorry to hear about your situation with Viibryd. There's actually two other very active discussion threads here related to this medication, if you're looking for more advice or support from others who may also be going through something similar...

Discuss/Viibryd-220039.htm

Discuss/Viibryd-side-effects-221843.htm

I would encourage you take some time browsing through either of those threads to help get a better idea of what you might come to expect during the withdrawal process. Some people state that withdrawals can last weeks or months depending on how much and how long you've been taking it for. But I do believe there are ways to make it less severe.

Have you talked to your doctor about taking anything to help manage the symptoms you've been experiencing?

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