I’ve read the stories of Effexor withdrawal in this thread with interest. I’m on day 5 now after discontinuing Effexor after 8 years of 75 mg. I went to 37.5 for about a month and now to zero. All I’ve noticed so far is a bit of tingling from time to time and a few strange dreams. However, I’d say it’s been less troublesome than a common cold. It looks to me like Effexor affects people very differently - as I suppose is true of most medication. Anyways, I thought I’d add my experience to the discussion in case it is helpful for some to know that horrible withdrawal symptoms is not the case every time.

To me brain zaps/shivers feel like your brain is in a blender. I even get them while sleeping and they wake me up. I went from 150 mg to 75 and am now on 37.5, split in half, taking one am and one pm. Afraid to take the next step, but I hate this drug.

My doctor suggested in 2013 that I use Venlafaxine for my hotflashes. During the last two weeks of Novvember of 2019 I began to feel itching sensation all over my body. I spoke to my doctor with my concerns and was told to take benedryl. Well that didn't work. I knew then I was having an allergic reaction to to this med. I began to research how I could help myself and found this site to be very helpful. So I'm weaning myself off this medicine from hell. What doctor tells a patient to stop talking medication without fully stating the full side effects of doing so.