Tapering Effexor but giving up

Thank You for the verses and sharing. It helped me a lot today.

Thank You. I hope you are doing well. I tapered from 225 mg to 37.5 and can't reduce further. I tried but it was pure torture. Still have lingering anxiety but reducing from
37.5 is tough.

My post to which you responded was from more than a year ago. I have learned much since then about the proper way to taper. It was my doctor who suggested that I had become an anxious person--but she was incorrect; that was withdrawal! from a drug that creates dependency. I had to go back on Effexor, and ended up on 50 mg immediate release (down from the 75 mg extended release capsule). I have learned a lot from posts on this forum and from websites such as Outro dot com about the proper way to taper, and have just begun tapering from the 50 mg immediate release tablet per day. I am going to do it by no more than 10% at a time, and remain at the reduced dose until I feel comfortable enough to proceed with a reduction of 10% of the balance (NOT ten percent of full dose), until it gets down to minuscule amounts. The lower the dosage, the more careful one must be to proceed with caution because a reduction at that level can be significant, though the numbers are low, if you know what I mean. The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines have helped a lot. Google "Mark Horowitz," one of the authors, and you will find his Youtube videos which are quite helpful. Good luck to you. You have already come quite far. Stay steady at 37.5 until you feel comfortable enough to proceed. It will take me years to be free of this drug, but that is my goal. You can do it--give yourself time to do it right.

I had to increase a few weeks ago from 37.5 to 75 because anxiety was so awful. Felt better for a couple days but then anxiety, leg weakness and trembling returned. Went up again after another week in hell to 112.5 mg and still not feeling any better after a week. I DONT want to go up to the 150 mg because that was my original starting dose and worked so hard and long to get it down from there; like 5 months.
My doc prescribed propranolol for anxiety and trembling. It’s actually a drug for high BP which I got as a side effect from Effexor, along with rapid pulse. Has anyone used this drug for help with anxiety? Has anyone experienced rapid pulse and high BP from Effexor?
Also, has anyone gone to an inpatient rehab facility to get off this drug ?

Have you tried tapering down from 37.5 by using compounded formula?

You must realize that the process is going to be "hard and long." If you went from 150 to 37.5mg in five months, then you did it too quickly and learned what does not work. I was able to quit entirely--twice--by decreasing too much too soon, but extreme withdrawal symptoms hit two months later! That defeats my purpose, as I had no choice but to return to the drug. Now I'm tapering by no more than 10% over time. The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines explains why this is necessary. I created a spreadsheet for myself, and it will take me three years to taper properly. That's my best chance for success and I am taking it, because I want to be free of this horrible drug.

Thank you for this info. I am seriously considering going into a detox facility. I’m 74 years old and cannot afford to take 2 or more years getting this f…ing drug out of my system .

I hear you; I'll soon be 71. Effexor has been altering my brain for umpteen years, as treatment for hot flashes. News flash: it did not end my hot flashes, and one should NEVER be put on this drug for hot flashes! though my last gynecologist still prescribes it. Clearly, doctors need to be educated about this drug--patients, too.
Having researched how to end my dependency on this drug for the past year, I do not know of any quick fix. If you find one, please share it. Best of luck; I hope you find success.

I was on Effexor/Venlafaxine for fifteen years, 450mg daily along with a bunch of other meds

This medication is poison.

If one is already in it do not stop cold turkey, a sixth month titration almost killed me; literally.

What worked is terribly simple:

Nutrition
Movement
Sleep ( absent that meditation)
Loving connections ( praying helps if you are a believer in anything)

With these four intervention I have recovered from fourteen medications to zero in 17 months.

It can be done but must be done carefully.

The single best nutritional intervention is and has been five liters of electrolytes daily…I don’t leave home without them.

I use pedialyte, doctors prescribe it… my Medicare advantage pays for it.

It begins and end in the brain.
.
The brain is 80% water a 1% reduction in hydration reduces cognitive functions by 5%.

Have you ever been 5% dehydrated?

I most certainly have.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate…get better,..full stop.

I wish you peace and good health all if your days.

Thank you!