I am in a similar place as you. I tapered from 225 to 75 over 4 weeks. I need to discontinue effexor because it caused my liver enzymes to get extremely high, and the doctor is concerned about my liver.
The first drop from 225 to 150 put me in the ER. Too much! My Dr. knew nothing about possible severe withdrawal symptoms. I sat there for two weeks. I decided the next reduction should be smaller, from 150 to 112.5. This was much better, with a few manageable side effects. That was one week. This week, I reduced from 112.5 to 75, and the anxiety has been awful. I'm exhausted, but can't sleep because my body and mind won't settle. I have burning nerve pain, tremors, and some nausea. Like you, my emotions are dysregulated, especially in the late afternoon.
I'm hoping my latest blood test shows some improvement in my liver enzymes, so I can at least feel like all the suffering has been for something.
I, too, would like to hear some success stories. I have a great support system, and talk to a therapist once a week. I'm lucky that I'm newly retired, so I can stay home to deal with this.
I hope things improve for all of us soon. It's all very scary because of all the unknowns.

I've been in a similar position as you, however I wasn't on Effexor nearly as long. It's a nasty beast to come off of at any rate, however. The only thing that helped me was when a doctor prescribed me a 30 day regimen of Prozac. After taking it for 3 days my symptoms subsided, and when the 30 days of Prozac was done I discontinued it with little to no side effects. I'm so sorry you're going through this, and I hope that you're able to find a solution.

I’m so sorry for your struggles with discontinuing an SSRI. Hang in there as it will get better.
I am 70 years old and have been prescribed Paxil (40mg) for 15 years. My depression is serious and Honestly it was a life saver! Last summer my physician let me know that studies indicate this drug could cause - or worsen - dementia and it was time for me to stop. I began researching withdrawal side effects and was not happy as there were horror stories.
My MD wanted me to decrease by 10mg for 2 weeks then another 10…
I insisted that I would take it much more slowly starting with a 5mg reduction for several weeks.
I read one story where it took someone a year to completely discontinue an anti depressant so I felt encouraged by that.
My point is just that - don’t rush! I am down from 40mg to 15mg and feeling good. It might take 4 or 5 more months to complete and that’s okay.
Good luck and just know you are not alone.

I was dropped from 75mg to 37.5 with a mood stabilizer. It wasn't intended as a tapering move, just a medical adjustment. I had made one near suicide attempt, and my psychiatrist was trying to adjust my drugs because she felt I was "flat" (her word). A few weeks later I went cold turkey in another suicidal fit (I do not recommend this, but in my case it proved to be a very good move). As I've mentioned in other threads, I subsequently learned that the drug itself was what was making me suicidal. A rare but documented phenomenon. After seeing how dramatically and rapidly I had changed, my psychiatrist agreed that I had been hit with this reaction. I went from daily thoughts of suicide for about three years to flat none for almost a full year now.

The primary side effects I experienced when I quit were vertigo, nausea, and the dreaded brain zaps. I found what helped the most was getting out every day and walking. I was doing about three miles. This really cleared my head and raised my energy level. The worst of the symptoms took about a month to lighten up. Then the emotional gushes set in about a month later. Those lasted well into the summer (I quit in February of last year). I had gone through a brief period when every member of my birth family except myself had died, however, and there was a lot of unresolved grief that I feel the drug had kept me from processing and that finally came out. So this was largely a good thing. Sometimes I could also be brought to tears by hearing about something good that had happened to someone. But for me this was evidence that I could feel things again.

Getting off of that drug was physically difficult, but by leaps and bounds the single best medical decision I ever made, even if I initially did it for all the wrong reasons.

You are so brave! I've been on Effexor XR for twenty (or more?) years and at this point going off of it has not even become a discussion with my psychiatrist or therapist. If I forget to take it immediately after waking, I definitely notice within a few hours. Brain zaps, very strange yawning, feeling a bit faint.

It’s sad but encouraging reading other people’s experiences with Effexor, I’ve been on 150mg twice daily for near ten years for depression and had no idea how huge that dose was. I’ve been dealing with Bruxism or grinding my teeth/clinching my jaw in my sleep and migraines for years as well and recently discovered theyre connected to high doses of Effexor. I’ve been hesitant to consider lowering the dosage because of the side effects of accidentally missing a day or two the bad headaches and shocks in my brain I get, but perhaps just a very prolonged decrease will do the trick

I wanted to give an update and just say to everyone to hang in there!! Get the support you need and keeping pushing yourself--fight! Tapering off the effexor was one of the best and one of the worst things I've ever done! The journey can be difficult but also, very freeing! I am just now feeling more and more like myself after six months and still imagine I will continue to improve. It has been an emotional ride. But, I have used the book/workbook by Craig Groeschel, "Winning the War in Your Mind". It has been a tremendous help and I have had success using some of the tools he mentions such as "framing, reframing and preframing". He explains information about how our amygdala and prefrontal cortex work in controlling our mind and our emotional responses. I don't know about you but the more facts I have the better I understand how to heal my brain. Because, that is what you are doing is healing your brain and giving it time to reregulate itself. But, you must help reregulate it in a positive direction!! So repetition of giving yourself positive feedback, giving yourself lots of grace, taking care of your body through exercise(no matter how slow or out of shape you are, just move), and eating correctly and drinking lots of water--think about detoxing your body and breathing in good and exhaling bad! After a long wait, I was able to get into an Ob-gyn/Psychologist. She has been fabulous to recommend different supplements my body was lacking through doing the correct bloodwork. I had already been low on Vitamin D, but now also take a Super Vitamin B Complex, Magnesium Glycinate, Fish Oil(not krill oil), Calcium. I would recommend adding one at a time to be sure your body doesn't have any reactions to each supplement and to definitely speak to your doctor about how much to take--we're all different. Be sure the laboratories your supplements are made in are in the US and regulated by a third party. Try to obtain as "clean" of a vitamin as possible without all the extra stuff some companies add to them. We are now also looking at my hormone levels and trying to decide if I should try hormone replacement. The supplements my physician recommended all help the brain and help regulate mood and anxiousness!! BUT, besides the book, the supplements, a good doctor, ... obtain support from a counselor and don't be afraid to walk away from them if they don't understand what you're going through. I have tried four different counselors--only two of them understood the effexor withdrawal and believed me(unfortunately the first one died unexpectedly during this process). The other two counselors just wanted me to talk talk talk so they could psycho analyze my childhood. I needed a counselor who would not only listen, but also someone who could offer facts, concrete tools/skills to learn to regulate my brain again. As one counselor explained--the effexor controlled all the highs and lows in my life for years and now the brain without it, was saying "help!, no one is telling me how to react". Understanding that I needed to start telling my brain how to react and practicing, repetitiously practicing how to react has been the most helpful. My new normal going off the effexor, was to cry about everything--happy, sad, angry. This has been the hardest to fight through. Forgive yourself, give yourself grace and if you need a nap or time out to go for a brief walk, take it! Then start again. Give yourself small positive talks for achieving small things--take courage and take victory, don't be afraid. Mornings and evenings had been my hard times initially. And then there would be days, that all I'd focus on would be wondering when the anxiousness would subside, which as you know causes more anxiousness. But, I'm evidence of pushing through and you can do this too!! Make yourself get up and exercise--whatever you enjoy as a physical movement or come up with something new and joyful, like bike riding or dancing around your living room(physical exercise helpf increase serotonin which you need). The process can be a roller coaster, but hang in there. I have had a difficult time listening to and watching action movies and extensive drama shows. It was just too much for my brain. My brain had a hard time handling all the quick changes in emotion. I know this sounds strange and I thought it was just me reacting strangely, but I did find others who have had this same response off the effexor. One person said all she could watch for the longest time, was cartoons. So maybe be prepared to take a break from too much drama on the tv or facebook or the news--I'm just now starting to be able to handle listening to US and world news reports because I felt they were all doomsday reports. I have felt fearful about my children living so far away from me even though they lived far away when they were in college and now in there careers for some years. That fear is greatly subsided but I still need to be careful not to dwell on it. So get a good counselor and ask them to help you practice emptying your mind of negative thoughts and then telling your mind to stop, and move on to healthier topics. You can do this! Personally my faith in God has been helpful, but you will all have to decide what helps you best! I hope your families and friends are patient with you! Be patient with yourself and remember to celebrate the small hurdles! I'm now able to get up in the morning and feel positive about my day. I try to look at my schedule the night before and come up with at least one thing where I can focus my energy and have a positive outcome the next day! I hope this is helpful!!

UPDATE! It is almost a full year since tapering off and discontinuing Effexor! Praise God! It caused so many side effects which I have realized over the last year of research--dry eye, low Vitamin D, aches in hips, depression symptoms(a diagnosis I did not have initially but, over the last 4 years of taking this, it began to cause depression), weight gain, etc. I can say this has been one of the hardest years. I want to give all of you hope who are trying to phase off of it! I am medication free! (except for prescription Vitamin D and eyesdrops for the dry eye)
It has taken a lot of hard work, patience, prayers, supportive family and friends and God's grace to get me through to this day! I found an ob-gyn who not only is specialized on peri-menopause/menopause, but also a knowledgeable and licensed psychologist!! Because I was so afraid of trying yet again another medication, I asked if and how we could try to use as many natural products as possible. She has recommended magnesium glycinate, Vitamin B, Fish Oil(north atlantic fish) and recently a probiotic! We have also discussed Maca and will begin this after I feel comfortable on the probiotic(after blood work, discovered my hormone levels were low, I could go on hormone therapy but wanted to try natural again). For me, this has been the key to decreasing the anxiety and the mild depression. 18 years ago, I was placed on effexor for panic attacks that seemed to come out of nowhere along with other peri-menopause symptoms. But, once off the effexor, I experienced a full blown case of anxiety and depression. Thankfully, with the supplements prescribed in April, it has become almost none existant. I had to remember my brain was trying to recuperate and heal from the effexor having controlled the highs and lows all those years. So I was quite gentle to myself which is hard for many of us to do with work, family responsibilities and personal goals. I go to the gym 3x/week, walk outside when I can, try to eat proper, have weekly contact with a friend for Bible Study via Facetime, take my daily supplements, keep a schedule, attend groups I enjoy and challenge my mind(such as genealogy research). One book which really helped me was Craig Groeschel's "Winning the War in Your Mind". It explains ways the brain functions and gives encouragement and work to do to train your brain. It really works! Lisa Osteen's, "It's On the Way--Don't Give up on your Dreams and Prayers" and "The Mindful Marriage" by Ron and Nan Deal(because the dysregulation was affecting my marriage and this book has a very useful tool for all of us to use if we find ourselves frequently being triggered--You actually have homework to do But, IT WORKS). I also researched Effexor research articles from Medical Journals, Mayo Clinic, John Hopkins and NIH and whatever else I could find to try to understand the trauma my brain has experienced going off the Effexor. I am beginning to use the word trauma more to explain what happened to my brain tapering off the Effexor. There is so much more for all of us to understand regarding this medication. Find a good therapist who believes you and doesn't just treat the anxiety and depression or whatever you are on the Effexor for, but, will also treat you as if you have a brain trauma if you are tapering off the Effexor. (Just my opinion) I am concerned medical providers continue to use Effexor to treat peri-menopause symptoms when there are gentler medications not as difficult to phase off of. When I look back at how far I've come since last Nov 1, I am amazed and thank God for all of my progress and healing! Good wishes to all of you!

Just checking, I have been on (Effexor) or Venlafaxine ER for 15 years I just want to know if it is the Same thing as you are taking Is Effexor something You want to get off of because of studies Not a Good Choice to be on ?

Thanks so much for your Reply. Wendy

I've been off of it for 19 months now. I posted in spring that I took myself off the medication after reading a peer-reviewed study that described what I'd been experiencing pretty much in detail: massive depression that led to an emergency trip to the psych ward, unconstrained rage, eating, sleep, and hygiene disorders, paranoia, substance abuse and more. I basically suffered a severe mental health crisis. The study said what happened to me is a rare but known occurrence with bipolar 2 patients on antidepressants (bipolar 2 is my diagnosis, and I feel it's correct). Effexor was singled out as the one most frequently tied to it.

I had already been knocked down from 75 to 32.5 and added mood stabilizers after the hospital visit, but as a medical step, not as a taper. So I did quit from a low dose. I initially went cold turkey in a rage fit wanting to wreck my life, yet started feeling like my head was clearing out within days. Curious, I went digging and found the study, and decided I would ride it out and never take the medication again.

I experienced nausea and vertigo for about two weeks if I recall correctly, and the brain zaps persisted for at least six. Like someone was putting a small cattle prod to my skull. I was never told when I was prescribed the drug by either my GP nor the pharmacist that if I decided to discontinue use, I could possibly experience severe withdrawal symptoms, which in fact I did. But mentally I could tell my mood was improving by the day. That made the misery worth it. For treatment I mostly got out walking every day, three to six miles, and kept my focus on the end goal: being free of it.

I'm pretty bullheaded, a mixed blessing, but in this instance it helped. Within weeks I was no longer fantasizing about self-harm; sleep, eating, and hygiene disorders resolved themselves; I lost interest in alcohol and weed and stopped without really trying; it all went away on its own. (The three things I'm most thankful for, in order, are 1) I'm still here, 2) my wife not leaving me when the rages were going on, and 3) that I dodged needing alcohol recovery; I was guzzling vodka and enormous amounts of weed nightly. Not anymore. It wasn't forced, I simply quit wanting it.)

The emotional gushes set in after about two months, and they still occur all this time later. But I feel my emotions now. Something I'd lost. So I'm actually thankful for them. I lost my sister, father, and mother in pretty rapid succession and bulldozed through the period without shedding a tear. The tears finally fell when I could finally feel again. I still well up over both sad things and joyful things. But after years on that drug, I'm feeling life again, and for this I'm grateful.

Stick with the withdrawal. If the drug is hurting you, dealing with the side effects is better than suffering further harm. And it's OK to feel those emotions. They'll help you regain your connection to life.