Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Hey tshere95! I am a medical professional, which angers me even more that I even allowed being put in Effexor. I do agree to a point that big pharma has a lot to do with things, but with Effexor, you have to be careful with things like your blood pressure, heart rate and a multitude of other issues, even if you’ve never had an issue before. Effexor raises blood pressure in many when they’re routinely on it. The stress when going cold turkey after your brain has become used to it (in just a couple of weeks) is in for a shock just stopping it. Please speak with your pharmacist and have them send recommendations to your physician. There’s no shame in going slow. I thought I could handle it too. Tho I’m through the worst of it now, I could have gotten something to help...but I didn’t. You don’t feel like yourself at all when coming off this horrible drug. Just my 2 cents. Good luck! 🙂

Hello @tonysdca and welcome to Mayo Connect.

I appreciate you joining this discussion. You have provided a very well-thought out plan and have your doctor's help. This is so important when you are tapering off a med like this.

I look forward to hearing from you again and following your progress.

Teresa

@nancy3756 Thank you for adding your experience to this discussion. Yes, Connect does help us to feel that we are not alone!

How are you feeling now?

Teresa

I have been posting on this thread since I began tapering off from 150mg. It's been 4 months and I'm finally down to 37.5 mg. I've been removing the beads from the capsules slowly. I decided to try removing the beads from the capsules instead of skipping a day between dosages. I tried this method once. It was unsuccessful. So, this time I decided to do it my way. So far so good. My doctor is against me opening the capsules because of the time release element built into the capsules. From what I have observed after opening the capsule, there are large beads and small beads so I suppose the drug in the smaller beads is dissolved faster than the drug in the larger beads. It's pretty difficult to separate the beads into size category so I just decided to do it slowly (5 beads a day). I figured it should level out sooner or later. I did have a few episodes of feeling sick, but it was worth it. The only thing I am noticing after getting down to 37.5 mg is my mood. I am getting some panic attacks. I'm trying to talk myself through them and have resolved not to let panic attacks deter me from my mission. I am curious as to how long panic attack episodes will last. I don't want to start weaning off of the 37.5 until my mood has leveled out. If anyone has any input on how long withdrawal symptoms last, I would love to hear about it.

thanks Nancy. I am taking it very slowly. I have had some nausea and light "brain zaps" as well as some joint aches. The Wellbutrin seems to help some. I might try CBD oil (without THC) if my psychiatrist has no objections. I am reluctant to combine OTC meds. without understanding their risks/benefits.

First....Do Not Go Cold Turkey. It's not pretty. I've reduced my dosage from 150 to 37.5 by removing a number of the beads inside the capsule every day. There are approx. 125 beads in the 75mg capsule and 60 in the 37.5. Divide that over at least 30 days. I absolutely agree with you about these drugs. There has to be a program or method or herbal remedy to help with anxiety and depression. I've been on these drugs for over 15 years and I'm so glad to be getting off. I've also lost 10 pounds as a benefit. So that's something to look forward to. Good luck and keep the faith.

This discussion has really helped me realize that I’m not crazy and it’s not normal to feel this way. I’ve been taking Effexor for a couple years and talked to my dr about lowering the dosage because I have no appetite on it!

I went from 225mg extended release to 150mg. Day one and two we’re ok, but by day three I had horrible vertigo, stomach and back pains and puked for almost 12 hours. I can’t believe how miserable I feel. I messaged my doctor about it and am hoping she can give me something to curb these horrible withdraws.

I’m a tiny adult female, weigh about 100 pounds. I think we cut the dosage too much too quickly and now I’m paying the price. I am so tired and physically unconmfortable idk what to do.

Wow...I didn't know there were beads inside the capsules. I figured it was powder. Well, this is going to help me tremendously! Thank you @arachel for that information. I had a few 100 mg tablets left that I was splitting but the rest is the new capsule prescription I just got. They're 150 mg. Now that I know they're beads, I can start dividing these as well. I am going to try to go off slowly if possible. I just got so sick and tired of the side effects that I just wanted off. Now, after reading about all the withdrawal symptoms, I'm scared of what may happen if I do go cold turkey. It just angers me that a doctor would prescribe me this knowing all of the side effects as well as the hell that people go through to get off of it. I guess that's how they make their money though.

@arachel Hi Rachel, forgive me for repeating myself, but I really would like to know what the negatives are when taking these drugs that makes everyone want to get off of them so much. Isn't that risking a return to whatever caused them to be prescribed in the first place? I am totally ignorant of these drugs but would like to understand better because I do have people close to me who are on some of them.
Thanks.
JK

Thanks!