Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

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

I went off Venlafaxine 4 weeks ago after being on it for several years. I tapered down from 225 to 75 myself, it was really ok. But i couldn't get down to 37.5 without getting brain zaps, nausea, headaches, insomnia, trembling, anxiety and all the rest. I went to see a psychiatrist who booked me into hospital for a couple of days to help me get off and to monitor me. For the first 2 days he put me on 37.5, then and from day 3 nothing. From day 1 though he put me on Urbanol that helped with anxiety, Aropax SR 25 mg, pain meds and nausea meds as necessary, Biotrazadone 100mg at night, Disipal that helped with the brainzaps and shaking and Inderal. Using those meds really helped a lot, i only experienced slight brain zaps, a little bit of nausea, diarrhea and vertigo, nothing as severe as when i tried to go of Venlafaxine by myself. Im off it now and adter a month i only get slight brain zaps occasionally, feeling a little weak and tired but nothing too bad. I could stop using Disipal, Inderal, pain and nausea meds.

I have cut back Effexor from 2x37.5 tabs daily now to only 1 37.5 tab, I was fine for first couple of weeks but now am having horrible headaches and stomache aches, wondering if it will get better

I am currently on day 3 of not taking Effexor anymore. I did a taper over 2 months. I wanted to stop because I did not think it was helping me at all and it was more harmful than anything. I had gone up to 75mg from 50mg in September. I adjusted to the 75mg fine until December when I had a full week of brain zaps and dizziness. The brain zaps would come and go but it was still awful and made it really hard to do my job. I was taking the 75mg pill at the same time every day because of I was even 5 minutes off my schedule I would start feeling the symptoms of withdrawal. My doctor suggested I go down to 50mg and that made things much better. Then I went down to 37.5mg, and again things were better. I went down to 1/2 a pill. Maybe I should have gone down to a quarter of a pill before I fully stopped, but honestly I just wanted to be off of Effexor. Regardless of the dose I was on I was starting to notice that even before I was supposed to take my pill I would feel symptoms of withdrawal. Especially with the 75mg! Day three of withdrawal feels worse than day 2. I haven't had full on brain zaps, but the sensations are pretty close to a brain zap. I have sensitivity to light. I wish I had never started this drug. I took it for about a year(?) when I was in my early 20's (I'm 42 now) and do not recall going through this when I got off of it. I don't think it ever really helped me and now I'm dealing with this b.s.
I have spent the last couple of nights reading through y'all's experiences and it really makes me mad! It's infuriating to know that this drug is so wildly prescribed and yet it's so dang difficult to get off of. The only reason my current Doctor suggested it a year ago was because I had taken it in my 20's. I wish I had said I wanted to explore other options! NEVER AGAIN will I take an SNRI or an SSRI for that matter. The one thing I can say is that my mood has been pretty stable despite it being a couple days before my period and going through withdrawal. I think that's primarily related to the fact that I stated taking a low dose of liquid ketamine 2 weeks ago. If nothing else I am not super depressed even though I typically suffer from PPMD. Now if only my brain could stop feeling weird every time I move! Here's to hoping the withdrawal symptoms subside sooner than later.

in reply to @lolomahala Thank you for sharing this experience. I am tapering off of the Effexor XL, now down to 37.5mg. Since I was having such a difficult time "measuring" or weighing the beads in the capsules, my pharmacist recommended taking the regular 37.5 Effexor as a substitute, as she thought it might be easier to taper in this fashion. I have not started doing so yet because of the side effects I had when I began tapering off of the Effexor XL 37.5 capsules. I agree that this drug is not a good choice, and from my understanding, doctors are not required to take as many pharmacy course in medical school as they should, especially if they are prescribing antidepressants or other mood altering drugs. In any event, were you tapering off the regular Effexor or the XL? When tapering from the 37.5mg I did experience what I believed to be withdrawal symptoms, especially the nightmares. Since my doctor and I both agreed that I no longer need an antidepressant, I do want to get off of this "awful" drug as I am aware of its potentially harmful effects etc. It is my understanding that the Effexor XL takes about 5 half lifes to leave one's body, making it more difficult to get off of completely, per my pharmacist, who knows a lot more about the drug than my doctor, that is for sure. Thanks again.

in reply to @lolomahala Thank you for sharing this experience. I am tapering off of the Effexor XL, now down to 37.5mg. Since I was having such a difficult time "measuring" or weighing the beads in the capsules, my pharmacist recommended taking the regular 37.5 Effexor as a substitute, as she thought it might be easier to taper in this fashion. I have not started doing so yet because of the side effects I had when I began tapering off of the Effexor XL 37.5 capsules. I agree that this drug is not a good choice, and from my understanding, doctors are not required to take as many pharmacy course in medical school as they should, especially if they are prescribing antidepressants or other mood altering drugs. In any event, were you tapering off the regular Effexor or the XL? When tapering from the 37.5mg I did experience what I believed to be withdrawal symptoms, especially the nightmares. Since my doctor and I both agreed that I no longer need an antidepressant, I do want to get off of this "awful" drug as I am aware of its potentially harmful effects etc. It is my understanding that the Effexor XL takes about 5 half lifes to leave one's body, making it more difficult to get off of completely, per my pharmacist, who knows a lot more about the drug than my doctor, that is for sure. Thanks again.

Hello. I contacted Morgan &Morgan, the law firm re: filing a class action suit against the manufacturer of Effexor. If you agree that you did not receive any warning about the devastating side effects, short and long term, PLEASE contact them. Also, pass it on, and as others to do the same. Thank you!

in reply to @toekneet Does this law firm feel that they have viable causes of action against the manufacturer? The only warnings I received were those provided to me by the pharmacist; those patient information sheets with the side effects and things of that nature. As a former insurance investigator, who handled medical malpractice claims, I am curious about what negligence if any, the manufacturer would be liable for. Additionally, I would not want my doctor dragged into some lawsuit for obvious reasons, even though I agree that this drug is more than likely not the best one out there to treat depression and /or anxiety. Please let me know so I can follow up accordingly.