Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

I was taking effexor for 3 years.and I finally weaned myself off of it,but I still have night sweats how do I get that to stop.

Hi Shonniaj, I am also want info on this ! 3 Yrs on drug also. + Dry mouth also, du to nit swts , Thanks SIMON

I was on 225mg Effexor and 900mg Gabapentin daily. I can't even remember how many times I tried to get off but it was a LOT. I figured it was impossible. I just want you to know it is 100% possible and I am finally free of those poisons. I did it by removing a pellet from each capsule every few weeks. Took forever but it worked. Then when almost off it took an additional few weeks of a Prozac script to help get off. Good luck.

No medication is perfect is meant to be taken over a lifetime, unless as in my case & others like it, that medication is the best we have right now to take over for an absent or malfunctioning organ like a thyroid gland or high blood pressure. Like you, 30 years ago, I was prescribed an anti-depressant that I thought was necessary to take for the rest of my life. I failed to heed the warning of a family friend/physician who advised me to watch carefully how my body, mind, & spirit responded OVER TIME to these psychotropic meds. Since I failed to heed his warning, I threw away all these meds. with disastrous results: almost losing my sanity, job, home. Just 4 years ago, a former psychopharmacology professor turned psychologist suggested that I be weaned off venlafaxine gradually with the help of a holistic psychiatrist who understands the role of spirituality in mental health throughout our lifetime. Thanks to this therapist & finding such a psychiatrist over the last 4 years, I accept full responsibility for partnering with all health practitioners in whatever prescriptions they write for me. As a result of these changes in my attitude toward all health practitioners, I have so far been successfully weaned off all mood-altering meds., take only Synthroid & 2 low-dosage hypertension meds. to help my body address the loss of a thyroid gland from cancer 52 years ago & the family tendency toward hypertension. I'm also a faithful member of Al-Anon for the past 36.5 years - an awesome source of inner & outer peace. Thank you for your question. My life journey has taught me over & over again to listen to my body, heart, spirit rather than assume that all docs know what's best for me. In God & 12-Step spirituality I trust, not docs who prescribe drugs willy nilly. But for the grace of God, I could have died just like any other patient who made a doc their God instead of their Creator.

I have been on Effexor XR 50mg for three weeks now. For two of those weeks, I was in bed with anxiety so strong, that I could do nothing but cover up my head and except for what was necessary do nothing else. Debilitating anxiety. This was prescribed after a Genesight. Anyway, I did not and continue to not have the option of tapering off. It has been several days now since my last dose. I am only now not struck with extreme anxiety, but it is a struggle because it is still present. I am trying and at the same time apprehensive because I live with moderate depression and anxiety and know that I am one of those who will have to rely on something to remotely function. I have other chronic illnesses, including diabetes type 2 and high blood pressure but need to get my mental illness addressed as a priority because it controls everything each day.

I have been on Effexor XR 50mg for three weeks now. For two of those weeks, I was in bed with anxiety so strong, that I could do nothing but cover up my head and except for what was necessary do nothing else. Debilitating anxiety. This was prescribed after a Genesight. Anyway, I did not and continue to not have the option of tapering off. It has been several days now since my last dose. I am only now not struck with extreme anxiety, but it is a struggle because it is still present. I am trying and at the same time apprehensive because I live with moderate depression and anxiety and know that I am one of those who will have to rely on something to remotely function. I have other chronic illnesses, including diabetes type 2 and high blood pressure but need to get my mental illness addressed as a priority because it controls everything each day.

Hi Carolyn. I’m so sorry to hear how you’re struggling. Just to clarify, did you just start taking Effexor?

Hi Carolyn. I’m so sorry to hear how you’re struggling. Just to clarify, did you just start taking Effexor?