Dear canari:

You are welcome, as I understand it, you are a teenager, a high school student living at home. Am I correct? You received counseling at school for 4 years. At one point you had suicidal thoughts and asked a school counselor for help. The school, alarmed, arranged for you to be admitted to a hospital.

Therapy outside of school was short, expensive and not helpful. You were prescribed several medications by a psychiatrist Aug 2019- May 2021, but those were not helpful and you are still suffering from withdrawal symptoms from the last medication,  Effexor.

Effexor (brand name)/ Venlafaxine (generic name), is an antidepressant of the Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor (SNRI) class, used to treat Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), panic disorder, and social phobia. Venlafaxine has a higher rate of moderate to severe discontinuation symptoms relative to other antidepressants, but way, way less than the anti-anxiety group of medications called benzodiazepines. In my personal experience, discontinuation of an anti-depressant (from the SSRI class, in my case) was nothing compared to my withdrawal from a benzodiazepine (Klonipin).

You wrote that Effexor is “known for having very long and horrible withdrawal symptoms“. It is the benzodiazepines that are known to have very long and horrible withdrawal symptoms. Effexor is known to have more discontinuation symptoms than other anti-depressants, but way less than benzodiazepines.

“I’d really like to try therapy but it’s so expensive. I’ve filled out forms for therapy that are low-cost or even free, but they never got back to me“- call/ message the people you sent the forms to, asking if your forms were received, if they need more information from you, and when can you expect help.

“I’m trying to fix my schedule and build a healthy routine.. I enjoy yoga, eating healthy, reading, etc. So I’ve been trying to take things slowly so I can build this routine that’ll benefit me“- this is in line with what I advised you in your first thread (“1. Get professional help..  psychotherapy with a quality therapist.. 2. A daily routine, including daily aerobic exercise.. as well as such practices such as yoga and listening to guided meditations. 3. Look  into Mindfulness, there are plenty of mindfulness exercises…4… you can learn emotional regulation skills and improve your interpersonal communication skills…).

I started this post with my understanding that you are a teenager living at home. How are the relationships between you and your parents/ siblings?

anita