Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Hi All!

Hope everyone is doing well!
I couple of days ago I asked a question.
Unless I missed it, I am sorry to repeat it.
Why is everyone so anxious to get off Effexor?
How will you deal with your anxiety and/or depression?

Thanks
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)

I have reduced from 150mg to 75 mg about 6-7 weeks ago and are still having withdrawals. My Nurse Practioner wants me to be withdrawal free before reducing to 37.5 mg.
I read that it takes 2-4 weeks to get through the symptoms. Has anyone else had symptoms this long? Sometimes I feel very confused and can’t concentrate.

Hello all. I just joined the group. I’m trying to wean off of Effexor as well. I have been highly overmedicated on Effexor and lamotrigine for the last 8 years. I just was informed about it a month ago. I’ve been on 150mg xr twice daily! The lamotrigine was being used as a “booster” to the Effexor. I was prescribed 4X the max amount that I should have been on. The lamotrigine wasn’t nearly as hard to cut back on as the Effexor is. My first move was cutting back the 2nd dose to 75mg. I did that for 4 weeks. The vertigo was horrible. Last week I dropped down the morning dose to 75mg. So I’m now on 75mg in the morning and 75mg in the afternoon. This is worse than the first step down. Headaches, confusion, irritability and I’m sooo tired. Too tired to get up and eat. I keep snack bars in my nightstand. From what it looks like from everyone’s comments, I have a long way to go. I need to be off the Effexor before I can start cymbalta. I have a lot of other health problems on top of this mess. Effexor has a stimulant in it. So taking the night dose was keeping me awake until morning. Then I would sleep all day. I feel this drug and my doctors have stolen the last 8+ years of my life. I’m very angry. Does anyone know if there are any lawsuits because of the problems with Effexor?

I only took Effexor for a month....50mg tabs, titrated up to 2 tabs daily (immediate release, not xr). One day I forgot a dose (only at 75mg daily at this point) and felt horrible (nausea, dizziness, brain zaps, etc.) It wasn’t until I got home from work that I remembered my missed dosed. It was almost time for my next dose so I took it immediately. Within 45 minutes I felt 100% better....all of my symptoms had subsided and I felt normal. Thought that was weird,but continued with the titration up to 100mg daily within the next couple days. After only 2 days at that dose I decided I didn’t want to take this medication anymore because of the more noticeable side effects, so started to titrate back down. Visited my doctor a short while later and she agreed, I was down to 1 tab daily (1/2 morning and 1/2 night). She suggested going down to 1/2 daily, then every other day, then stop. She recognized that it can be difficult to come off of and told me to supplement the “off” days as needed until I’m off completely. Got down to 1/2 tab daily for a week, then decided to try every other day. Didn’t go as planned....ended up taking a 1/4 tab just to get some relief. Totally worked.....just a 1/4 of a tab (12.5mg) made me go from feeling like death to completely normal in less than an hour. I tried taking that dose for a week before trying the every other day again. Yesterday was my first successful skip day. The only reason it worked is because I didn’t start feeling the withdrawal symptoms until nighttime....approx. 3 hours before bedtime, so I just laid on the couch until it was time to go to sleep...it seems like as long as I don’t move I don’t notice the symptoms so much. In the morning however, I had to take my 1/4 tab as soon as I got up. Today when I got home, I started getting the withdrawal symptoms again, but instead of taking another 1/4 tab I decided to try my favorite pain reliever (PainAid, available from Amazon.....only thing that seems to work for me if anyone else finds that the normal Aleve/Advil/Tylenol/whatever doesn’t work...) and although it didn’t remove the symptoms completely....I was able to at least function normally (make dinner, do laundry, have a normal conversation with my husband, etc...haha) so Yay!! I’m hoping I can have another skip day tomorrow by just taking the pain reliever when I start feeling the symptoms...we shall see! Anyways, just wanted to share in case this remedy helps anyone else trying to get off this horrible medication....btw I was on 2 other meds like this with only slight side effects (mainly tired all, the time)...nothing like what I’ve experienced with Effexor.

I have been taking Effexor/Venlafaxine for stress induce menopause hot flashes.
I quit cold turkey once because I blame it for gas and weight gain. What a mistake that was. All I did was cry.
Now I am told I have dry mouth and this med can be the reason. I don't know what to do

I only took Effexor for a month....50mg tabs, titrated up to 2 tabs daily (immediate release, not xr). One day I forgot a dose (only at 75mg daily at this point) and felt horrible (nausea, dizziness, brain zaps, etc.) It wasn’t until I got home from work that I remembered my missed dosed. It was almost time for my next dose so I took it immediately. Within 45 minutes I felt 100% better....all of my symptoms had subsided and I felt normal. Thought that was weird,but continued with the titration up to 100mg daily within the next couple days. After only 2 days at that dose I decided I didn’t want to take this medication anymore because of the more noticeable side effects, so started to titrate back down. Visited my doctor a short while later and she agreed, I was down to 1 tab daily (1/2 morning and 1/2 night). She suggested going down to 1/2 daily, then every other day, then stop. She recognized that it can be difficult to come off of and told me to supplement the “off” days as needed until I’m off completely. Got down to 1/2 tab daily for a week, then decided to try every other day. Didn’t go as planned....ended up taking a 1/4 tab just to get some relief. Totally worked.....just a 1/4 of a tab (12.5mg) made me go from feeling like death to completely normal in less than an hour. I tried taking that dose for a week before trying the every other day again. Yesterday was my first successful skip day. The only reason it worked is because I didn’t start feeling the withdrawal symptoms until nighttime....approx. 3 hours before bedtime, so I just laid on the couch until it was time to go to sleep...it seems like as long as I don’t move I don’t notice the symptoms so much. In the morning however, I had to take my 1/4 tab as soon as I got up. Today when I got home, I started getting the withdrawal symptoms again, but instead of taking another 1/4 tab I decided to try my favorite pain reliever (PainAid, available from Amazon.....only thing that seems to work for me if anyone else finds that the normal Aleve/Advil/Tylenol/whatever doesn’t work...) and although it didn’t remove the symptoms completely....I was able to at least function normally (make dinner, do laundry, have a normal conversation with my husband, etc...haha) so Yay!! I’m hoping I can have another skip day tomorrow by just taking the pain reliever when I start feeling the symptoms...we shall see! Anyways, just wanted to share in case this remedy helps anyone else trying to get off this horrible medication....btw I was on 2 other meds like this with only slight side effects (mainly tired all, the time)...nothing like what I’ve experienced with Effexor.

I only took Effexor for a month....50mg tabs, titrated up to 2 tabs daily (immediate release, not xr). One day I forgot a dose (only at 75mg daily at this point) and felt horrible (nausea, dizziness, brain zaps, etc.) It wasn’t until I got home from work that I remembered my missed dosed. It was almost time for my next dose so I took it immediately. Within 45 minutes I felt 100% better....all of my symptoms had subsided and I felt normal. Thought that was weird,but continued with the titration up to 100mg daily within the next couple days. After only 2 days at that dose I decided I didn’t want to take this medication anymore because of the more noticeable side effects, so started to titrate back down. Visited my doctor a short while later and she agreed, I was down to 1 tab daily (1/2 morning and 1/2 night). She suggested going down to 1/2 daily, then every other day, then stop. She recognized that it can be difficult to come off of and told me to supplement the “off” days as needed until I’m off completely. Got down to 1/2 tab daily for a week, then decided to try every other day. Didn’t go as planned....ended up taking a 1/4 tab just to get some relief. Totally worked.....just a 1/4 of a tab (12.5mg) made me go from feeling like death to completely normal in less than an hour. I tried taking that dose for a week before trying the every other day again. Yesterday was my first successful skip day. The only reason it worked is because I didn’t start feeling the withdrawal symptoms until nighttime....approx. 3 hours before bedtime, so I just laid on the couch until it was time to go to sleep...it seems like as long as I don’t move I don’t notice the symptoms so much. In the morning however, I had to take my 1/4 tab as soon as I got up. Today when I got home, I started getting the withdrawal symptoms again, but instead of taking another 1/4 tab I decided to try my favorite pain reliever (PainAid, available from Amazon.....only thing that seems to work for me if anyone else finds that the normal Aleve/Advil/Tylenol/whatever doesn’t work...) and although it didn’t remove the symptoms completely....I was able to at least function normally (make dinner, do laundry, have a normal conversation with my husband, etc...haha) so Yay!! I’m hoping I can have another skip day tomorrow by just taking the pain reliever when I start feeling the symptoms...we shall see! Anyways, just wanted to share in case this remedy helps anyone else trying to get off this horrible medication....btw I was on 2 other meds like this with only slight side effects (mainly tired all, the time)...nothing like what I’ve experienced with Effexor.

I have been taking Effexor/Venlafaxine for stress induce menopause hot flashes.
I quit cold turkey once because I blame it for gas and weight gain. What a mistake that was. All I did was cry.
Now I am told I have dry mouth and this med can be the reason. I don't know what to do