Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

I have completely tapered off Effexor ER, the last 37.5 in 1/4 increments over the course of a couple weeks. It was not difficult for me (thank God). I'm still recovering, however, including dealing with 40+ pounds I had gained! The big challenge will be the actual depression that precipitated me taking Effexor to begin with. I usually feel pretty good, although I'm a bit off today after biking 20+ miles yesterday. I might have over did it, maybe, perhaps. I do like to bite off more than I can chew, for sure. A bit of an excitement addiction. I guess. I need to be very careful to keep things simple, choose my friends wisely, set up boundaries, meditate so I'm not ruminating or obsessing.

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So, I just finished this process with Zoloft (sertraline) and here are some things that worked for me. Your mileage may vary, but hopefully these are low risk for you to try.

1) You may need to ask your doctor for a slower tapering program than other patients. Some people are just more sensitive to dosage changes. Be aware that symptoms will get better, then may reappear each time you taper. AAFMA (practice group of family physicians) says that the symptoms typically last 1-2 weeks and as long as 4 weeks, so I just kept reminding myself that it was temporary.
2) Be watchful for things that make your symptoms worse. For example, caffeine seems to trigger the brain zaps for me (still, even after being off for several weeks), so I cut back my caffeine intake. I didn't give it up completely (because I still need to function), but cut back on how much real coffee I was drinking, mixed decaf with regular, and switched to tea sometimes. In the end, I probably cut my daily caffeine intake in half, and it did help quite a lot.
3) Ibuprofen or other pain reliever can help with the flu-like body aches.
4) Benadryl helped with the brain zaps.
5) Exercise helped with both. Even if I wasn't up to a run, a few blocks of walking would settle down the symptoms for a while at least. (Then, when they come back, just take another walk. We took a lot of walks for a while there).
6) Get enough sleep. As I came down off the meds, my normal sleeping patterns returned, which was great, but it did mean that I needed to plan time to let my body rest.
7) Pay attention to your diet. Your brain uses carbs to make seratonin, so now is not the time to go on the Atkins diet. Eat well and make sure you're getting enough healthy carbs. You may crave sweets; I certainly did. I tried to counteract this by having bananas, graham crackers, and other healthy things I could snack on instead of sticking my head in a birthday cake like I seemed to want.

No lie - it's a painful process, but this did really help make it easier. Also, at a certain point, when I was down the below the normal starter dose, I just ripped off the bandaid and went to zero. At that point, it felt like each taper was just prolonging the suffering. Don't just go cold turkey from your current dose, though, as that can be dangerous. Also, don't add any supplements or substitutes for the SSRI without talking to your doctor first (also dangerous).

And of course, watch for the return of depression / anxiety type symptoms. For a while it was hard to tell whether I was tired because of the change in meds or because my depression was returning. I figured as long as I felt okay enough to function and wasn't thinking about being harmful to myself or anyone else, I could play it out and see. It turned out to be the meds and on the other side, I can see that I was more worried about it than I needed to be.

I wish you the best of luck and a healthy life.

Mardee

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How long We’re you on Zoloft? I just tried to get off Effexor and my anxiety and depression were horrible. Thanks

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I completely understand! I've been off of Effexor for 8 weeks. About two weeks ago, I started suffering from insomnia, waking in the middle of the night, brain zaps are back after being gone for weeks and I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin. I'm exercising, getting plenty of liquids, eating a trained athlete's diet, meditating, working through my personal issues but these symptoms keep torturing me. I'm really at my wit's end!

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Yes! There seems to be a sort of second reckoning when the positives that come with getting a prescribed drug out of your life are replaced with symptoms that say you cant manage without them. I feel like I survived something awful and broke free but the dark starts taking over again and I blame myself for not doing it right, not doing life right. I am not sleeping enough (10 hrs?), not eating as I should (not totally 100% clean), not avoiding triggers ( family, responsibilities, work issues all still exist), and not exercising enough. I feel awful and I was supposed to be better.

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Interestingly, my mind is doing well in clarity of thought and even in decision making. My brain and body are the ones taking the real beating right now.
I've been uncharacteristically hyper-disciplined in my diet too! (pre-biotic/pro-biotic/fermented/non-red meat and cruelty-free protein sources) balanced diet. SAM-e twice a day, melatonin when needed (lately), daily meditation, stretching, yoga, frequent walking and almost every conscious thought resolves on a positive note even if it didn't begin as one (no matter how long it takes). Plus, I'm facing and accepting my life like I've never done before and am growing exponentially because of it!
Ultimately though, I fear that even with this herculean effort to rid myself of this dependency, the crushing withdrawal symptoms of 'wanting to crawl out of my skin' feeling to 'brain slams' may be too much for me to function normally. I really thought after 8 weeks being dose-free, I would be over these horrible withdrawal symptoms. I'm trying to rid myself in every way imaginable but to no avail.I will keep trying as long as I can though! Be well now ksad!

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