Hello everyone,

I have been suffering for about a year and I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m hoping someone here might be able to offer some guidance.

In June 2025, I developed akathisia while withdrawing from pregabalin. My doctor diagnosed me with depression and anxiety and prescribed vortioxetine.

However, after taking vortioxetine for about two months, my akathisia did not improve. Instead, I developed new symptoms. The most troubling was severe anhedonia. I lost interest in almost everything and could no longer experience pleasure.

At the end of August 2025, I underwent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). During that period, I stopped vortioxetine abruptly.

After finishing TMS, I experienced a brief improvement for about 5–6 days. During that time, I felt almost normal again. However, after that short window, my condition deteriorated dramatically. I developed severe brain fog, worsening anhedonia, and profound fatigue.

My doctor then prescribed desvenlafaxine (Toludesvenlafaxine), but I have never felt that it helped me.

In October 2025, I was still able to leave the house and function relatively normally. By January 2026, I found that I could barely go outside. Even short outings would trigger intense nausea and vomiting.

The anhedonia has never gone away and remains my most disabling symptom. I feel as though the medications have not helped me and may even have made things worse, but I don’t know what to do next.

I have reduced my dose of Toludesvenlafaxine from 80 mg to 40 mg. However, when I tried to reduce further from 40 mg, I experienced severe and unbearable withdrawal symptoms.

My symptoms are mostly psychological rather than physical. I feel an overwhelming sense of emptiness, as if there are no neurotransmitters left in my brain. Nothing feels enjoyable. I have no motivation, no desire to do anything, and I experience extreme fatigue. The suffering is intense.

What confuses me is that I do not experience many of the withdrawal symptoms that people commonly describe, such as dizziness or “brain zaps.” Instead, my symptoms are primarily emotional and cognitive.

I still take the extended-release formulation, and liquid formulations are not available where I live. Because of this, I don’t know how I can taper safely.

My questions are:

• Can I still recover from this?

• Do these symptoms sound like withdrawal, medication side effects, or something else?

• How should I proceed with tapering when only extended-release tablets are available?

• Has anyone experienced severe emotional withdrawal symptoms without the typical physical symptoms?

I would be grateful for any advice or shared experiences. Right now I feel lost and have very little hope.

Thank you for reading.

Hi @ansnidnsh

Welcome to the forum!

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are tapering and/or experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications and withdrawl syndrome. We are not medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice. We simply offer support and opinions which you could use as talking points with a medical provider knowledgeable in withdrawing off psychiatric medications.

 

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules and the disclaimer located here: Guidelines

 

Please make sure your signature is kept up to date with your drug history. This will allow members to see some basic information about your drug history and situation so that they may help you best. Information on how to do this is located in the FAQs section above, but here is a direct link: Update Signature

Once this is done, future posts made by you will have this signature turned on by default. For this reason please keep it clear but condensed as possible. Could I ask you to write your signature in English for me please?

Please use the format outline here Preferred signature/drug history format

I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

11 minutes ago, ansnidnsh said:

Hello everyone,

I have been suffering for about a year and I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m hoping someone here might be able to offer some guidance.

In June 2025, I developed akathisia while withdrawing from pregabalin. My doctor diagnosed me with depression and anxiety and prescribed vortioxetine.

However, after taking vortioxetine for about two months, my akathisia did not improve. Instead, I developed new symptoms. The most troubling was severe anhedonia. I lost interest in almost everything and could no longer experience pleasure.

At the end of August 2025, I underwent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). During that period, I stopped vortioxetine abruptly.

After finishing TMS, I experienced a brief improvement for about 5–6 days. During that time, I felt almost normal again. However, after that short window, my condition deteriorated dramatically. I developed severe brain fog, worsening anhedonia, and profound fatigue.

My doctor then prescribed desvenlafaxine (Toludesvenlafaxine), but I have never felt that it helped me.

In October 2025, I was still able to leave the house and function relatively normally. By January 2026, I found that I could barely go outside. Even short outings would trigger intense nausea and vomiting.

Your nervous system has been through a lot this past few years. Coming off a Psych drug quickly causes WD and WD/injury. This is often mistaken for a worsening 'mental condition' and treated with more drugs. Unfortunately adding more drugs to a dysregulated/injured nervous system causes more harm, I liken it to pouring gasoline onto a fire.

13 minutes ago, ansnidnsh said:

The anhedonia has never gone away and remains my most disabling symptom. I feel as though the medications have not helped me and may even have made things worse, but I don’t know what to do next.

Anhedonia is a common side effect of these drugs and is likley to main mechenism by which they work, turning down your emotions when you are distressed may be helpful for a time. But often it is too much people, we are designed to feel things after all, and suddenly not being able to can be very distressing indeed.

It may lessen as you reduce your dose, but your nervous system is likley very upset at this point and will need to heal. This healing process starts whilst on the drug, so don't worry about that although it will likley need to finish it's work once you are off it.

16 minutes ago, ansnidnsh said:

I have reduced my dose of Toludesvenlafaxine from 80 mg to 40 mg. However, when I tried to reduce further from 40 mg, I experienced severe and unbearable withdrawal symptoms.

My symptoms are mostly psychological rather than physical. I feel an overwhelming sense of emptiness, as if there are no neurotransmitters left in my brain. Nothing feels enjoyable. I have no motivation, no desire to do anything, and I experience extreme fatigue. The suffering is intense.

What confuses me is that I do not experience many of the withdrawal symptoms that people commonly describe, such as dizziness or “brain zaps.” Instead, my symptoms are primarily emotional and cognitive.

I still take the extended-release formulation, and liquid formulations are not available where I live. Because of this, I don’t know how I can taper safely.

My questions are:

• Can I still recover from this?

• Do these symptoms sound like withdrawal, medication side effects, or something else?

• How should I proceed with tapering when only extended-release tablets are available?

• Has anyone experienced severe emotional withdrawal symptoms without the typical physical symptoms?

I would be grateful for any advice or shared experiences. Right now I feel lost and have very little hope.

Thank you for reading.

It is really important to taper slowly, letting your body set the pace. There are two main approaches to tapering, hyperbolic, and the 10% rule, which are covered in our tapering docuement. Tapering Information

 

Essentially you should taper no more than 10% of your previous dose in a month holding as things get tricky. Often 10% is too much. As we go lower the pace needs to be slowed due to the hyperbolic response of the brain to the drug.

• Yes you can still recover from this, and you will! The brain and body are very smart and are constantly striving for homeostasis, balance. This process happens in a non linear way with ups and downs we call windows and waves. The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

• Yes I have no doubt your are in WD/WD injury, plus as you say potentially some drug side effects in the too.

• Toludesvenlafaxine is not widely used outside of China I don't think, it is the first time I have seen it. You have a few choices, you can taper your extended release formulation. Most XR formulations come in beads inside of a capsule. It sounds like you have a slightly unusual drug in that it comes in a conventional pill. You can probably either cut the pill to reduce the dose, weighing it on a set of micro scales, or suspend the pill into some water and reduce this way. If you make a liquid it will become IR and you will need to dose at least 2 times a day. Here is our guide on making up DIY small doses. Preparing Doses for Tapering - Weighing & DIY Liquids

• Yes everyone is differnet in terms of what symptoms they experience, please try to not go down the rabbit hole of looking for someone just like you and comparing yourself with them. It isn't a good idea IMO, just accept the symptoms that you have and work on coping skills to deal with them day to day whilst you taper and your body heals.

Please take hope from us here, we understand you, we validate your experience and we are here to help you.

Please make sure you ask as many questions as you need here, and check with us before proceeding with your doctors suggestions as they won't understand the process of safely tapering and recovering from an injury from these drugs.

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

Chippy

Hi @ansnidnsh. I’m really sorry for what you’re going through. Like you I’ve been through a lot of different med changes in the past year, starting with quickly coming off duloxetine which caused a lot of withdrawal symptoms for me.

If it helps, my worst symptoms right now are also mostly mental. I have severe brain fog all the time, cognitive issues, some anhedonia (although it’s improving), and anxiety and depression that come and go. I also have some physical symptoms like nausea and headaches, but they’re mostly manageable. I’ve never experienced dizziness or brain zaps. If you look around this forum you’ll see that lots of people here experience profound psychological withdrawal symptoms, so you are definitely not alone.

I hope you find this forum helpful, you are very welcome here 😊

14 hours ago, Chippy said:

你好@ansnidnsh

欢迎来到论坛！

 

这是一个由志愿者运营的社区论坛，旨在帮助那些正在逐渐减少精神药物剂量和/或正在经历戒断综合征困扰的人们。我们并非医疗专业人士，无法提供医疗建议。我们仅提供支持和意见，您可以将其作为与熟悉精神药物戒断的医疗服务提供者沟通的要点。

 

请仔细阅读论坛规则和免责声明，链接如下： 指南

 

请确保您的签名信息与您的用药史保持同步。这样，其他成员就能了解您的一些基本用药史和情况，以便更好地为您提供帮助。您可以在上方的常见问题解答部分找到相关操作方法，或者点击以下链接直接更新签名： 更新签名

完成此操作后，您以后发布的帖子将默认启用此签名。因此，请尽量保持签名清晰简洁。能否请您用英文帮我写一个签名？

请使用此处提供的格式大纲作为首选签名/用药史格式

得知你最近遭遇了这么多困难，我深感遗憾，但你在这里一定会得到很多支持。

过去几年，你的神经系统承受了很大的压力。停用精神类药物会迅速导致戒断反应和戒断损伤。这种情况常常被误认为是“精神状况”恶化，并被给予更多药物治疗。不幸的是，对一个失调或受损的神经系统施加更多药物会造成更大的伤害，这就像火上浇油。

快感缺失是这些药物常见的副作用，很可能是其主要作用机制。当你感到痛苦时，压抑自己的情绪或许能暂时有所帮助。但对很多人来说，这往往难以承受。毕竟，我们生来就应该感受各种情绪，突然失去这种能力确实会令人非常痛苦。

随着剂量减少，症状可能会减轻，但此时你的神经系统可能处于非常不稳定的状态，需要时间恢复。这个恢复过程在服药期间就开始了，所以不用担心，尽管停药后它可能需要一段时间才能完全发挥作用。

缓慢减量非常重要，要让身体自行调节节奏。减量主要有两种方法：双曲线减量法和10%法则，我们的减量指南文档中对此有详细介绍。减量指南信息

 

基本上，一个月内减量幅度不应超过先前剂量的10%，因为情况会变得复杂。通常10%的减量幅度过大。由于大脑对药物的过度反应，减量速度必须放慢。

• 是的，你仍然可以康复，而且你一定能康复！大脑和身体非常聪明，它们不断地努力维持体内平衡。这个过程并非线性，而是有起伏的，我们称之为“窗口”和“波动”。“窗口与波动”稳定模式

• 是的，我毫不怀疑你患有戒断反应/戒断反应损伤，而且正如你所说，可能还有一些药物副作用。

• 托鲁地文拉法辛在中国以外地区并不常用，我也是第一次见到。你有几种选择，可以逐渐减少缓释制剂的用量。大多数缓释制剂都是胶囊装的。听起来你用的药有点特殊，是普通的药片。你可以把药片切开来减少剂量，用微量天平称重，或者把药片溶解在水中稀释。如果制成液体，它就变成了速释剂，你需要每天至少服用两次。这里有一份关于如何自制小剂量药物的指南：逐渐减量用药——称重和自制液体

• 是的，每个人的症状都不一样，请不要陷入寻找与自己情况相似的人并与之比较的怪圈。在我看来，这不是个好主意。接受自己的症状，并努力学习应对技巧，以便在逐渐减量和身体恢复的过程中，更好地应对这些症状。

请相信我们，我们理解你，我们认同你的经历，我们愿意帮助你。

请务必在这里提出您需要的所有问题，并在采纳医生的建议之前先咨询我们，因为他们不了解如何安全地减少这些药物的用量以及如何从药物损伤中恢复。

与此同时，如果我是你，我会这样做：

 

保持水分充足 

 

- 饮食要以健康、干净的天然食物为主，避免食用加工食品和糖类。

 

-远离咖啡因、酒精、抗组胺药以及任何其他精神活性物质。

 

初期应避免服用营养补充剂，因为它们常常会刺激神经系统。尽量通过食物获取营养。

 

以后，您或许可以考虑添加鱼油和镁。一些耐受性良好的人发现它们对神经系统有镇静作用。如果您决定尝试，请务必谨慎，每次只尝试一种，从小剂量开始，观察身体反应。

 

每天散步非常重要，只要你能做到就尽量多散步。散步可以让你呼吸新鲜空气，还能补充维生素D，这对你的大脑非常有益！

 

非常欢迎您来到这里，希望您觉得这个网站对您有所帮助。

奇皮

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I genuinely appreciate it. Your words have given me strength during a very difficult time.

When I finally recover, I hope to come back to this website and share my experience, so that it may give hope and encouragement to others who are still fighting their way through this journey.

6 hours ago, SarahMc said:

你好@ansnidnsh我很抱歉你正在经历这些。和你一样，过去一年我也经历了很多药物调整，一开始是突然停用度洛西汀，这给我带来了很多戒断症状。

如果这能帮到你，我现在最严重的症状也主要是心理上的。我一直感觉脑子昏昏沉沉的，认知能力也下降了，还有些快感缺失（虽然正在好转），焦虑和抑郁也时常发作。我也有一些生理症状，比如恶心和头痛，但大多都能控制。我从来没有经历过头晕或脑电波震荡。如果你在这个论坛里看看，你会发现很多人都有严重的心理戒断症状，所以你绝对不是一个人。

希望这个论坛对您有所帮助，非常欢迎您的到来😊

Thank you for your response. I’m truly sorry for everything you’ve been through. No one should have to endure so much suffering. I sincerely hope that brighter days are ahead and that you make a full recovery as soon as possible.

9 hours ago, ansnidnsh said:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I genuinely appreciate it. Your words have given me strength during a very difficult time.

When I finally recover, I hope to come back to this website and share my experience, so that it may give hope and encouragement to others who are still fighting their way through this journey.

It is a pleasure, please feel free to post here and ask as many questions as you need. And yes WHEN you recover please come back and tell us about your experience, it will help many others.

12 hours ago, ansnidnsh said:

Thank you for your response. I’m truly sorry for everything you’ve been through. No one should have to endure so much suffering. I sincerely hope that brighter days are ahead and that you make a full recovery as soon as possible.

Thanks very much. None of us should have ended up in this position, but in time we can all recover. I look forward to reading your success story one day 😊

Welcome to the forum.

You've had a lot of information from @Chippy about the question you asked about tapering, so I will leave that one. I will give my thoughts on the others though:

On 6/1/2026 at 8:09 AM, ansnidnsh said:

• Can I still recover from this?

Absolutely you can, yes. Many have experienced similar harms and symptoms, and have gone on to slowly and safely taper off of these drugs and then go on to recover. It can vary a lot in terms of time and difficulty, as well as severity of symptoms, but the majority of people do seem to go on to recover IF they safely come off of drugs and stay off of them for the long term.

On 6/1/2026 at 8:09 AM, ansnidnsh said:

• Do these symptoms sound like withdrawal, medication side effects, or something else?

They sound very much like the common experiences of others in support groups for those harmed by taking these drugs, and withdrawing from them, yes.

On 6/1/2026 at 8:09 AM, ansnidnsh said:

• Has anyone experienced severe emotional withdrawal symptoms without the typical physical symptoms?

Yes, there have been many like this, who eventually safely tapered off their drugs and went on to recover.

There are also some currently going through this who are posting on this forum right now.

On 2026/6/3 at PM4点47分, Luke said:

欢迎来到论坛。

你已经从很多方面获得了信息@Chippy关于你问的减量问题，我就不回答了。不过，我会谈谈我对其他问题的看法：

当然可以。许多人都经历过类似的伤害和症状，他们通过缓慢而安全地逐渐停用这些药物，最终康复。康复所需的时间、难度以及症状的严重程度可能因人而异，但大多数人如果能安全停药并长期坚持，似乎都能康复。

听起来很像其他在服用这些药物和戒断过程中受到伤害的人的支持小组中的常见经历。

是的，有很多这样的人，他们最终安全地逐渐减少毒品用量并康复了。

目前也有一些正在经历这种情况的人在这个论坛上发帖。

Thank you for your reply. It makes me feel much more at ease.

A week ago, I tried reducing the dose, but it didn’t go well. Now I’m considering trying again with a much smaller reduction, but I feel a little scared…

Also, is it really possible for me to recover after tapering off the medication? Will my body and brain be able to heal themselves over time? Is my recovery supported by the body’s natural ability to heal?

Yes, it is possible.

@Chippy has linked you to the Tapering Information - Tapering - The Antidepressant Harm and Recovery Forum

Please read through this. In general, most support groups recommend tapering by no more than 10% of your dose per month. Keep in mind, that this would mean the amount you drop by would keep getting smaller.

The key to a successful taper is going slowly, at a pace that your body can handle.

1 hour ago, ansnidnsh said:

A week ago, I tried reducing the dose, but it didn’t go well. Now I’m considering trying again with a much smaller reduction, but I feel a little scared…

Can you rate your symptoms out of 10 for us? 10 being awful and 1 being mild?

I would suggest you wait till you have a prolonged period where your symptoms are around 1-3/10 before reducing. We call this WD normal

When you do I’d start really small. Maybe 1% to test the waters.

1 hour ago, ansnidnsh said:

Also, is it really possible for me to recover after tapering off the medication? Will my body and brain be able to heal themselves over time? Is my recovery supported by the body’s natural ability to heal?

Yes! Your brain is designed to heal. It is doing it all the time. 😀