Hello,

I guess I'll just get right into it. I started paxil when I was in my mid teens as my mother suggested for "depression." She has been diagnosed "bi-polar" and has been on meds for as long as I know. Somewhere I the next 10years or so I ended up on Lexapro. I had had started drinking severely within that time. In maybe, 2019 my psychiatrist added effexor 37.5 to the lexapro. In 2025, I went to rehab to stop drinking. While there we dropped lexapro and went to 150mg effexor. I started to get my life together and things were pretty good. Not great. But I wasn't depressed or anxious and I could function well. Last year, since I was in a good place, I thought I'd try to taper the meds. As per the psychiatrist I skipped doses to 0 in 4 ish months. Things were ok for about 2 months and I started to feel something wasn't right. I jumped back on effexor 37.5. The next few months I was either having WD or side effects. In October 2025, things cleared up and actually were very good until April 2026. In or around April I decided to change my diet some and began to feel worse. Progressively symptoms got worse, anxiety, weird skin buzzing, tingling, lethargy, I noticed tinnitus louder, blurry vision got worse, and less interest in things. I went to the Dr. For blood work and it showed low sodium and vitamin d. Effexor contributes to low sodium. I went to the hospital and they got my sodium up and was given high dose vitamin d. I took the full course of the VD and started to supplement at a lower dose after as per the Dr. orders. Since then, I had sleep issues (which have seemed to get better this week), depression, anhedonia, anxiety, symptoms OCD, tingling and numbness, muscle twitching, worse blurred vision, worse tinnitus, loss of libido, gi issues, ect.

I wanted to introduce myself and hopefully find a couple answers and support.

Has anyone reinstated and things go really good and then after 6 months start to have WD?

Is it possible that the 37.5, stopped working and got cause WD.

Has anyone changed there diet and went into WD?

Has anyone had these type of side effects after taking high dose vitamin d while having a sensitize nervous system? If so how long did the wave last for you?

Any support would be truly appreciated. The depression, anhedonia and lack of interest are my biggest troubles right now. I'm functioning-ish but I don't know what I should do going forward. Do I just wait and see if things re stabilize? How long should I wait until I either try to go up or continue to go down? I know going up is not really suggested here, but things were really good for 6 months.

Either way I'd like to send out my thanks to the folks that started this forum. When I started to consider these current issues being the meds I went back to SA and found that is was read-only and was truly depressed about it.

I guess I'll leave it there. Sorry for the novel

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.

 

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

6 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

Has anyone reinstated and things go really good and then after 6 months start to have WD?

The nervous system can be very unpredictable and healing non linear, given all the drug changes you endured, yours will be very sensitive and some of the supplements or even diet shifts could be responsible for you crashing like this. I note this in your footer with no dates: "Tapered hydroxyzine over 2 months or so" maybe this taper ties in with things getting bad?

6 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

Is it possible that the 37.5, stopped working and got cause WD.

Yes, sometimes when a person hits tolerance the drug can go paradoxical and causes issues, I would be careful assuming this is the case though as tapering out of it is often the only choice, to convince the brain to reaccept the drug at a lower dose. Tolerance or "poop-out" or Tachyphylaxis

Do you notice you are worse shortly after taking your dose?

6 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

Has anyone had these type of side effects after taking high dose vitamin d while having a sensitize nervous system? If so how long did the wave last for you?

Taking supplements definitely can bring on a crash or worsening of symptoms and we advice not doing this. Medications, Supplements and Other Substances in Withdrawal 

6 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

ny support would be truly appreciated. The depression, anhedonia and lack of interest are my biggest troubles right now. I'm functioning-ish but I don't know what I should do going forward. Do I just wait and see if things re stabilize? How long should I wait until I either try to go up or continue to go down? I know going up is not really suggested here, but things were really good for 6 months.

Id like to hear a bit more about the timing of the changes and the interactions between these changes and symptoms appearing or worsening to see if things are genuinley related or if we think the crash came from nowhere, if that is the case it could be tolerance, I'm not so sure it is though.

If it is a crash caused by supplements and or changes to diet, I would not move your dose at all. And I would definitely not move your dose up in either case. If the timings align with supplements or changes my advice would be holding and waiting to stablise.

6 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

Either way I'd like to send out my thanks to the folks that started this forum. When I started to consider these current issues being the meds I went back to SA and found that is was read-only and was truly depressed about it.

Pleasure, glad you found us.

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

Thank you so much for your response. I guess it's possible that the hydroxyzine contributed to things. I don't know the exact month but I think I finished them in Dec. or Jan. I tried to taper them over the course of a couple months after taking them for a couple months.

As far as the meds pooping out, part of me knows that the only option is to get off them. I'm just so afraid at this point, which makes part of me think I should try to go up. But I plan to give this decision a lot more thought and time to try to stabilize. I haven't noticed any reactions or things getting worse. I take the pill at 830pm and am usually up til around 2am, as I work the evening shift. Actually I usually feel slightly better at night.

I've stopped all the supplements since Monday. It seems some of the symptoms I have been having started when I started the vitamin d from the Dr, then got even worse when I started supplementing after the prescription was finished. I feel like the vitamin d cause some of its own symptoms.

I don't have the exact date I changed my diet. But it seemed shortly after I started to feel progressively worse. I believe I changed my diet in March or April and noticed I started not feeling right shortly after. I think I remember noticing I wasn't feeling right and thinking it's because I change things and would take some time to adjust. But things just kept getting progressively worse. I figured that holding and stopping the supplements were the best course of action at this point.

I've tried to broaden my diet some more but not sure if it's balanced. I was on a high protein low carb diet and it seemed as tho it was working well. And I'm drinking water but I have to be careful because of the low sodium. I'm minimize the coffee and I can't seem to slow down cigarettes to save my life. Being in a depression and no real interest I feel like all I want to do is smoke. I will continue to try to cut these out. I stopped drinking and drugs 5 years ago in Oct. I don't plan on taking anymore supplements and trying to get what I need from food, at least for now. I have to walk around a lot at work and I will start walking in the day as much as I can as well.

Have you heard of anyone that a diet change cause them to crash?

Thank you again.

4 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

Thank you so much for your response. I guess it's possible that the hydroxyzine contributed to things. I don't know the exact month but I think I finished them in Dec. or Jan. I tried to taper them over the course of a couple months after taking them for a couple months.

Pleasure, thanks for the update, perhaps add the appox dates to your signature.

4 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

As far as the meds pooping out, part of me knows that the only option is to get off them. I'm just so afraid at this point, which makes part of me think I should try to go up. But I plan to give this decision a lot more thought and time to try to stabilize. I haven't noticed any reactions or things getting worse. I take the pill at 830pm and am usually up til around 2am, as I work the evening shift. Actually I usually feel slightly better at night.

I would 100% not updose I think that would make all this much worse for you.

4 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

I've stopped all the supplements since Monday. It seems some of the symptoms I have been having started when I started the vitamin d from the Dr, then got even worse when I started supplementing after the prescription was finished. I feel like the vitamin d cause some of its own symptoms.

If they made you bad in the first place, stopping them has been wise imo

4 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

I don't have the exact date I changed my diet. But it seemed shortly after I started to feel progressively worse. I believe I changed my diet in March or April and noticed I started not feeling right shortly after. I think I remember noticing I wasn't feeling right and thinking it's because I change things and would take some time to adjust. But things just kept getting progressively worse. I figured that holding and stopping the supplements were the best course of action at this point.

4 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

Have you heard of anyone that a diet change cause them to crash?

Im not sure if I have if I am honest, although I would not rule it out.

4 hours ago, ejrlhb said:

I've tried to broaden my diet some more but not sure if it's balanced. I was on a high protein low carb diet and it seemed as tho it was working well. And I'm drinking water but I have to be careful because of the low sodium. I'm minimize the coffee and I can't seem to slow down cigarettes to save my life. Being in a depression and no real interest I feel like all I want to do is smoke. I will continue to try to cut these out. I stopped drinking and drugs 5 years ago in Oct. I don't plan on taking anymore supplements and trying to get what I need from food, at least for now. I have to walk around a lot at work and I will start walking in the day as much as I can as well.

Sounds like you are doing your very best to get the platform for healing right. Keep that up, simple, natural, consistent.

Personally I don't think this is poop out and I think the Vit D and other supplements has done this rather than the diet. I would hold here and let things settle down for you. Id certainly keep away from any supplements in the future and get that healthy diet and exercise routine nailed now. I have every confidence things will settle for you given enough time.

Careful to not go resisting and looking for fixes like other supplements or updoses, there isnt often a way to help yourself in WD other than to do nothing and give it time. Acceptance is key my friend. Acceptance is key - Why does acceptance feel impossible?