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DiscussionTips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)
Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: 4 days ago | Replies (6363)Comment receiving replies
Replies to "I have a 37.5mg ER tablet and my doctor said I shouldn’t split it. I did..."
A tablet or capsule? Unless you can obtain titrating strips (available from Holland, I believe), or obtain lower doses from a compounding pharmacy, then a 25mg tablet or a 37.5mg XR (extended release) capsule are the only options. A tablet requires splitting to lower the dose, and a capsule requires opening, counting the contents, and reducing them according to your tapering schedule (recommended to be no more than 10% over time). We should all be filing online complaints with the FDA that they do not require pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these drugs to make them available in decreasing dosages so as to facilitate withdrawal from the drugs! My pharmacist showed me how to open a capsule, empty the contents, count the beads into a tiny tray, and pour the appropriate number of beads back into the capsule for taking. One can obtain empty capsules for holding discarded beads. It seems ridiculous to me that we are required to do this. If anyone knows of another way, I would love to hear it. If I obtain titrating strips from Holland, I will let you all know--I'm not ready yet to decrease my dosage from 25mg two times per day.