Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Posted by richyrich @richyrich, Nov 2, 2016

I have been taking Effexor/Venlafaxine for years and tried to get off it a few times but each time I try to give up the chemical withdrawal symptoms are a horror story and I give up giving up. Anyone got any tips or tried and tested strategies? Thank you

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@canadaanj

Hi, I was on Effexor for about 10 years and I don't really think it helps me. So I decided on my own to quit taking it. I was on 375 mg. I tapered down each week by 75 mg. So the first week I went down to 300 mg, the next week, I went down to 225, and so on until the last two weeks when I went down from 75 mg to 37.5 mg and took 37.5 mg for two weeks. My last pill was 4 days ago. In the last couple of days I've started having really weird feelings. My head feels really foggy, fuzzy, and I'm dizzy, can't think clearly. But the worst thing is that I'm having feelings of dereality and depersonalization. I don't know if they're withdrawal symptoms or if they're symptoms of my anxiety. I do get them from my anxiety attacks every now and then. But why did they start now? And why would I have them when I tapered off so slowly and over such a long period? (about a month and a half). I've searched the comments and I can't find one person who lists depersonalization as one of their withdrawal symptoms so why am I having them? It's really scary and I fear that I"m always gonna feel like this now. I feel like I'm in another world, another realm, a different state of reality. Can anyone tell me if they've had this symptom?

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First, I’m sorry for what your going through however you shouldn’t be at all surprised. Contrary to what you may believe there was nothing “slow” about your taper.
I’m no doctor and definitely not a mathematician but If I’m correct you reduced your first dose by 20% which is twice as much as I’d do but maybe you would have succeeded if you had continued at 20% of your new lowered dose. If you wanted to continue to decrease by 20% your next cuts should have been 60mg then 45mg then 30mg, 15mg, 7.5mg etc. you should have probably taken the same dose for a month or so. But because you chose a specific milligram instead of a percentage and continued tapering 75mg per dose the actual percentage of your taper increased dramatically from 20% to 50% and eventually to 100% which in my opinion is why your feeling so awful now. I wouldn’t expect it to get much better very soon according to posts I’ve read here over the past year. There are some here who may have some helpful tips on how to make your withdrawal symptoms milder.
It’s very important to understand you took this medication for a very long time. It is unrealistic to believe after taking something for 120 or so months you could stop it in one and half months. Although I didn’t do the calculations to figure out how long your taper should take it probably should have taken you 12-18 months.
When I discontinued taking the Benzodiazepine Anticonvulsant Klonopin I was taking near immeasurable doses but my taper was uneventful without any problems except when I thought I was close enough to zero to just quit. To totally avoid any withdrawal I chipped off extremely tiny pieces. I never imagined such a tiny chip could make such a dramatic difference. I have never had withdrawals going off any medication.
Obviously the word slow is open to interpretation. Perhaps I should say infinitesimally small and not just small. Even if you reduced your dose by only 10% per month even that is no guarantee you won’t have some degree of withdrawal symptoms. It just depends on the person, medication, dose and length of time it’s taken. But your chances of no or mild symptoms are greatly increased the slower you go. I strongly suggest you redefine your definition of slow.
I wish you the very best,
Jake

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@canadaanj

Hi, I was on Effexor for about 10 years and I don't really think it helps me. So I decided on my own to quit taking it. I was on 375 mg. I tapered down each week by 75 mg. So the first week I went down to 300 mg, the next week, I went down to 225, and so on until the last two weeks when I went down from 75 mg to 37.5 mg and took 37.5 mg for two weeks. My last pill was 4 days ago. In the last couple of days I've started having really weird feelings. My head feels really foggy, fuzzy, and I'm dizzy, can't think clearly. But the worst thing is that I'm having feelings of dereality and depersonalization. I don't know if they're withdrawal symptoms or if they're symptoms of my anxiety. I do get them from my anxiety attacks every now and then. But why did they start now? And why would I have them when I tapered off so slowly and over such a long period? (about a month and a half). I've searched the comments and I can't find one person who lists depersonalization as one of their withdrawal symptoms so why am I having them? It's really scary and I fear that I"m always gonna feel like this now. I feel like I'm in another world, another realm, a different state of reality. Can anyone tell me if they've had this symptom?

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@canadaanj
Forty-five days to taper off 375mg is NOT slow! Especially when you've been on Effexor for 10 years. I took 2.5 months to taper off 25mg; it was NOT long enough.

Numerous folks getting off Effexor have said during the process that they felt they had changed and that the world had become vague, dreamlike, less real, lacking in significance, or that they were outside reality while looking in (i.e., depersonalization). If you're feeling weird, terrible, awful, etc., it's a pretty safe bet that you're experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

Here are two sites where you can find WD symptoms listed--
--https://www.recoveryconnection.com/substance-abuse/medication/effexor/#4
--https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/effexor-addiction/withdrawal-detox/

Since your last dose was just four days ago, you can probably get relief by reinstating Effexor to a level where you don't have this symptom. Then, you stay there for some weeks (or even months) before attempting to decrease your dose again. Each time you taper, you don't drop by such large amounts.

Tapering in just weeks can be very uncomfortable and often unsuccessful. Read why and how better to get off Effexor here--
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/health/depression-withdrawal-drugs.html

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@canadaanj

Hi, I was on Effexor for about 10 years and I don't really think it helps me. So I decided on my own to quit taking it. I was on 375 mg. I tapered down each week by 75 mg. So the first week I went down to 300 mg, the next week, I went down to 225, and so on until the last two weeks when I went down from 75 mg to 37.5 mg and took 37.5 mg for two weeks. My last pill was 4 days ago. In the last couple of days I've started having really weird feelings. My head feels really foggy, fuzzy, and I'm dizzy, can't think clearly. But the worst thing is that I'm having feelings of dereality and depersonalization. I don't know if they're withdrawal symptoms or if they're symptoms of my anxiety. I do get them from my anxiety attacks every now and then. But why did they start now? And why would I have them when I tapered off so slowly and over such a long period? (about a month and a half). I've searched the comments and I can't find one person who lists depersonalization as one of their withdrawal symptoms so why am I having them? It's really scary and I fear that I"m always gonna feel like this now. I feel like I'm in another world, another realm, a different state of reality. Can anyone tell me if they've had this symptom?

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@canadaanj
Hello!
First, let me say how sorry I am for how you are feeling.
When your head feels all the things you describe, that feeling of depersonalization could be a part of that.

I hate to break this to you, but you did NOT taper off slowly.
As a matter of fact, you did it very quickly, which is why you are having the withdrawal symptoms.
I started at 300 mg, too.
I started to taper down in November.
About 3 weeks ago, I got down to my first goal.
I tapered down ONLY 25%.
That's right, only 24% since November.

I am NOT a medical person, but I am a person dealing with Effexor.
I am sure all you are feeling is the withdrawal.
For some, it is immediate, others within weeks and yet others within months.
You may need to add back some of the Effexor for a while then wean back down MUCH, MUCH SLOWER!

Good luck!
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)

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@searchgirl

I agree we don’t get much info on meds like this, our local pharmacist has been the utmost best to talk with, specially the do’s and do nots! I found out the hard way not to consume grapefruit on these meds. I was so sick but couldn’t figure out why until my pharmacist told me.

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@searchgirl I know that speaking with a pharmacist about medications has gotten me better results than discussing it with a doctor. a pharmacist is patient and kind.

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@canadaanj
Welcome, I too came here months after my plan to get myself off this drug cold turkey didn't work. Silly me... And if I might kindly say, silly you.
This is one of the many many groups at mayo clinic connect that is very active because so many folks have difficulty getting off it.
I got here about a year ago. There were only 141 pages back then. One year ago........
You are in the right place. As a result of the nightmares associated with the withdrawal, I had a full on drag your foot to the door, left hand clenched tight, drooling, as a result of my withdrawal.
I did that to myself cuz of my stupidity. I have since fully recovered but it has been slow to get my complete life back.
So you see, there are worse consequences of withdrawal than depersonalzation.
Now, lots of wise folks have answered you. I am wondering what you are getting out of this support.
You need to develop a plan. I do not regret getting off Effexor but I am still missing many, many brain cells that I will never find again. It's manageable but it still sucks.
It would be helpful to us if you could kind of repeat what you are keying into from the responses given.
We are with you. Being where you are sucks. So what is your new plan, cuz without taking an action you will not get your life as you know it back. Smiling at you, Bright Wings

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I realise my dose is much less than many people, and I was not on for long (1 year), but I found weaning off Effexor the first time (10 years ago) unproblematic - the doctor worked out an 8 week schedule to wean from 75mg. This time around (Day 3 here) with a different doctor in a different country and a different decade we’re doing it over 6 weeks, mostly because of the available dosages. Both times though, we’ve used alternating schedules. So this time, for 2 weeks I alternate daily between 75 and 37.5 mg capsules. The next 2 weeks it is a daily 37.5mg. The final two weeks are alternating days of nothing and 37.5mg. The first time, because of available smaller dosage tablets we alternated daily for 1 week, then did the lower dose for a week, then alternated the lower dose with a slightly lower one for a week etc. I’m hoping things will go as well this time. Good luck to everyone going through the process.
Edited for spelling

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@canadaanj

Hi, I was on Effexor for about 10 years and I don't really think it helps me. So I decided on my own to quit taking it. I was on 375 mg. I tapered down each week by 75 mg. So the first week I went down to 300 mg, the next week, I went down to 225, and so on until the last two weeks when I went down from 75 mg to 37.5 mg and took 37.5 mg for two weeks. My last pill was 4 days ago. In the last couple of days I've started having really weird feelings. My head feels really foggy, fuzzy, and I'm dizzy, can't think clearly. But the worst thing is that I'm having feelings of dereality and depersonalization. I don't know if they're withdrawal symptoms or if they're symptoms of my anxiety. I do get them from my anxiety attacks every now and then. But why did they start now? And why would I have them when I tapered off so slowly and over such a long period? (about a month and a half). I've searched the comments and I can't find one person who lists depersonalization as one of their withdrawal symptoms so why am I having them? It's really scary and I fear that I"m always gonna feel like this now. I feel like I'm in another world, another realm, a different state of reality. Can anyone tell me if they've had this symptom?

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@canadaanj- Welcome to Connect. I understand your fear and frustration. The mind/body connection is so complex it is very tough to figure things out. I call this the "What works for some people doesn't work for others" syndrome. It's so complex that it doesn't make it easy to figure things out, eve for doctors sometimes. It sounds as if you are having a mixture of reactions to your withdrawal. And I do think that you withdrew way too quickly. Remember that as you withdraw the feelings that you had before will return and are in a combined with withdrawal symptoms.
@jakedduck1 - Can you help @canadaanj come up with a better schedule for her? Thank you.
Feeling of Depersonalization are very very common for anxiety and depression. I sometimes get it even without withdrawing from any medication. I have a much longer history of anxiety and depression than 10 years. I think that you mean unreality and this fits in with the Depersonalization.
May I ask why you have been on an anti-depressant 10 years ago? Was there a major event that happened? I feel these feeling because I have PTSD. Might you have it too?

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@sandij

@searchgirl I'm not out of the woods yet, but I can say that one thing I have noticed since tapering down from 225 mg, at 150 mg and then 75 I have had less fatigue. This makes me wonder if effexor was causing the fatigue. I guess time will tell. When i have my windows i feel great.

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Yeah, I’ve often wondered about some symptoms coming from this drug. One of the reasons I started this is I was having crying jags, confusion, and I started getting anger episodes for reasons I could not explain. It was then was certain the drug wasn’t working again and my doc was going to raise it again. I’m fresh in retirement, so I decided to taper it out of my life. Little did I know the complexity of this process. This place rocks!! I’m feeling more confident coming here for help. I’m flip flopping around methods before I start my long journey and I’m getting close!!

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@searchgirl

Yeah, I’ve often wondered about some symptoms coming from this drug. One of the reasons I started this is I was having crying jags, confusion, and I started getting anger episodes for reasons I could not explain. It was then was certain the drug wasn’t working again and my doc was going to raise it again. I’m fresh in retirement, so I decided to taper it out of my life. Little did I know the complexity of this process. This place rocks!! I’m feeling more confident coming here for help. I’m flip flopping around methods before I start my long journey and I’m getting close!!

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We are here for you!
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)

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@searchgirl

Yeah, I’ve often wondered about some symptoms coming from this drug. One of the reasons I started this is I was having crying jags, confusion, and I started getting anger episodes for reasons I could not explain. It was then was certain the drug wasn’t working again and my doc was going to raise it again. I’m fresh in retirement, so I decided to taper it out of my life. Little did I know the complexity of this process. This place rocks!! I’m feeling more confident coming here for help. I’m flip flopping around methods before I start my long journey and I’m getting close!!

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@searchgirl
Good for you...healthy attitude.
Now quit flip flopping, decide on something and do it. If that doesn't work, do something else. It's only an action that change things.
Encouraging you, Bright Wings
.
Have you tried CBD yet. My guts say this will help. We have a group here for that too.

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