Hi, I'm S

Hi everyone, I'm S. I've been on anti depressant since 2014, so over ten years now, and I'm currently in the middle of a slow, self-paced taper. Since 2018 I have been on venlafaxine- which was orginally on a very high dose of 300mg and over the years I have tried to reduce it down where I got it to about 260mg around 2022 but still battling a horrible whirlwind whenever I do reduce now. It seems to make everything standstill and that is because of the prolonged side effects of remaining on a high mg which made even small reduction turn into relapse. Coming off this medication is something I've wanted for a long time, but it's brought its own storm, brain zaps, gut issues, disrupted sleep, low focus, on top of everything else life already asks of me. I've learned the hard way that tapering isn't a straight line, every attempt has knocked me back a little, so I'm trying to go into this next stretch more gently and with more support around me. To the point I went even slower than doctors advised as I knew I was only going to cause further damage and shock to my nervous system and body I'm here because I want to stop doing this alone. I'm hoping to connect with people who truly get what this process feels like from the inside, learn from those further along the road, and find a space where I don't have to explain or justify my symptoms before someone understands them. I'm especially interested in connecting with anyone pairing their taper with nervous system and gut healing work, since that's where I'm putting a lot of my energy right now. Not against medications but I truly believe it should have been short term intervention rather than a dependent drug that my body hooked and can’t function without, which ironically even with it I can’t function. So, I want to move forward with tablet free but I know it’s long journey ahead