Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

I, too, hate the drug and recently switched from Effexor XR capsules to Effexor immediate release tablets. I did this so that I could more easily adjust the dosage, being that Effexor XR comes in 37.5 and 75 mg, and Effexor immediate release is available in multiples of 25 mg. I now take 25 mg morning and night. After a month or so of being stable on 50 mg per day, I hope to begin my third attempt at tapering with a goal of weaning off entirely with the help of my pharmacist. I know it will take a long time, possibly years, to accomplish this. Best wishes to all who are trying to conquer this drug.

I tried also to kick venlafaxzine, and you’re right about the horror story. Not much physically, but a constant state of crying.
Try weaning with the doctor and take the highest dose of ashwaghanda you can find while you detox, it does help.

Hello! I am right there wit you. I increased my dose slightly to 50mg a day. I was having a frequent headaches and I was concerned so I increased my dose from 31.5 to 500. If you like, we should stay in contact. I’d like to see how we both more forward from 50mg.😊

The proposed class action lawsuit is not about money.

What the manufacturers ought to do is make the drug available in doses of 1 mg through 50 mg so that those of us who are dependent on the drug can obtain it in diminishing doses that make it less of a challenge to discontinue. How do we accomplish this?

@njoys Good idea. I have found that the pen is often mightier than the sword, and have written letters to drug manufacturers, frequently with good results.

As a sidebar, litigation of any kind is tasking mentally, emotionally, and physically. While a layperson may not believe that the lawsuit is about money to them personally, the attorney who files the case does so for monetary gain. I would encourage anyone to research their rights in terms of the proposed lawsuit and find out if they would be forced to pay any fees, although small if the case fails. I understand many may want to "send a message" to drug manufacturers regarding the potential downsides of a particular medication, but in my experience, such cases either fail or take years and years before they are eventually litigated before the courts. By the time the case is concluded one may be off of the subject drug and on the path to a brighter future, free of any kind of stressors such as a class action lawsuit.

Replying to Frances007. A law suit would be futile. Effexor is an FDA approved drug and NOT a controlled substance. Doctors and manufactures would NOT be liable. Law suits would would only bring more stress to individuals filing suit. And you would never see a dime unless laws were changed. I'm going through same situation.

I'm looking for the same answers. I've only been tapering down a few days and I have gotten no sleep and I hurt everywhere. I just want to cry

I have posted extensively about titrating off of several medications. Unfortunately despite my best efforts, daily vigorous exercise, and a very clean diet, I can not shake the discontinuation effects of venlafaxine. About a month after stopping venlafaxine I stopped sleeping more than two hours at a time. I fell into a suicidal depression that no amount of less dreadful medication would lift me out of. On Friday my provider put me back on venlafaxine.

I was on 450mg daily for fifteen years and I believe it is accountable for a lot of the issues I had over that time. My provider just started me at 75mg to be increased to 150mg this week. I am hoping the discontinuation effects will subside without having to go back to 450mg. Right now the situation is bad. I am still not sleeping despite my provider having tried all the usual suspects. Worst of all I am profoundly depressed and hanging on by my fingernails.

Had I done more research I would not have stopped this medication as fast as I did. It seems it can take people years to titrate venlafaxine. Given the length of time I was on it and the very high dose I took, four months was too fast. It is maddening that my provider still believes it was out of my system quickly.

It takes weeks to ramp up and changes the way the brain functions, but after fifteen years it was out of my system in a couple of days. That makes no sense. Maybe it was out of my system fast but the changes it made to my brain could be permanent.

I have talked to an attorney friend of mine about suing the doctor who put me on it. It is easier said than done. My current providers believe I was misdiagnosed and should never have been put on the drug to begin with. Proving that is another matter. The mental health industry is well protected. Every possible side effect including suicidal actions is disclaimed. That we take these medications anyway is an indication of how badly people with mental illness are suffering. What is lacking is informed consent. That is the avenue I am trying to take. It doesn't look promising.

Discontinuation effects are seldom studied; after all who is going to pay for a study of what happens when a patient stops taking a drug? Certainly not the drug companies. I did find an article on Psychiatrist.com about suicidality emerging as the result of rapid discontinuation of venlafaxine, but everything else I've found is anecdotal. It took a decade of patients reporting brain zaps for the mental health industry to acknowledge their existence. Hopefully, it won't take that long for the profession to realize how hard it is to get off this medication.

In the meantime, people suffer and sometimes worse.

I hope everyone lives in good health and peace.

Has anyone had issues getting off of Cymbalta