Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

I've been posting pretty regularly here since I started my withdrawal from 150 mg back in January. This is my second attempt at getting completely off of Effexor. The first try came in 2013 at my then doctor's encouragement. He thought I had been on the drug too long and he was right. Ten years was too long. Unfortunately, this doctor was not very well versed in this drug and how to guide a patient through the wean down process. After a very bumpy road, and six months into trying to withdraw, I ended up in the emergency room in the throws of the worst panic attack of my life. Diagnosis was "withdrawal" and I was encouraged to get back on the drug and I did. In retrospect, that recommendation was wrong, wrong, wrong. I was down to 10mg and if I had a doctor who knew what the hell was happening I could have gotten past that downslide and off the drug instead of back where I started. Five years after that incident and still taking Effexor, I was back in another doctors office. He also encouraged me to wean off the drug. He, like the other guy, didn't have any better insight into how to do it except to try to put a day between dosages. No, no, no.....wrong again. You can't skip a day without adding some Effexor to your diet. This time I felt I would be my own best advocate and I started with this forum. Somewhere here (don't quite remember who it was) I read that people were opening the capsule and removing the little beads in slow degrees until you've reached the ultimate goal of zero. Now, that seemed logical to me. That's how I started to do it. I got myself down to 75mg and then down to 37.5 with very little consequence. By the way, my doctor was completely against my doing it this way, but his way was too painful, so I took things into my own hands. I continued to open the capsule decrease the beads until I had 10 little beads left in the capsule. This was two weeks ago. It's here where I started to have a few problems. I started to have horrific nightmares, some dizziness and nausea and weird feelings in my head . The nightmares are the worst part. Two days ago I quit completely, zip, zero, nothing. Today was a bit better than yesterday and I hope that the nightmares start to subside but as long as I have my husband beside me to hold me during the night I'm going to see it through. I'm sitting here now with a glass of wine at my side....definitely helps....and the feeling that no matter what happens I will get on the other side of this. It bothers me that the medical profession, full well knowing how powerful this drug is, does not know how to help their patients to a successful result. Why do we have to suffer to achieve this end.
P.S. I want to note that I read that Fish Oil supplements are helpful with this process. I do take fish oil and maybe that's why I've gotten this far, but it's just a guess and after all, it doesn't hurt to try.

So I ended up making the decision to come of the Venafalaxine! Best decision ever! I have been constantly taking my CBD oil and I have never felt better! I have not taking any meds for 2 whole days and this is the first time in over a year! I am feeling fantastic right now because of it! I highly recommend trying! To everyone struggling stay strong and don’t let anxiety get the best of you. Be open about it even if people don’t understand. It has been the best form of therapy for me plus the CBD oil ❤️

So I ended up making the decision to come of the Venafalaxine! Best decision ever! I have been constantly taking my CBD oil and I have never felt better! I have not taking any meds for 2 whole days and this is the first time in over a year! I am feeling fantastic right now because of it! I highly recommend trying! To everyone struggling stay strong and don’t let anxiety get the best of you. Be open about it even if people don’t understand. It has been the best form of therapy for me plus the CBD oil ❤️

So I ended up making the decision to come of the Venafalaxine! Best decision ever! I have been constantly taking my CBD oil and I have never felt better! I have not taking any meds for 2 whole days and this is the first time in over a year! I am feeling fantastic right now because of it! I highly recommend trying! To everyone struggling stay strong and don’t let anxiety get the best of you. Be open about it even if people don’t understand. It has been the best form of therapy for me plus the CBD oil ❤️

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.

So I ended up making the decision to come of the Venafalaxine! Best decision ever! I have been constantly taking my CBD oil and I have never felt better! I have not taking any meds for 2 whole days and this is the first time in over a year! I am feeling fantastic right now because of it! I highly recommend trying! To everyone struggling stay strong and don’t let anxiety get the best of you. Be open about it even if people don’t understand. It has been the best form of therapy for me plus the CBD oil ❤️

I’m starting my regime to get off venaflaxine XR. I’ve been on 225 mg for about 16 years, so I know what I’m up against. I do feel that it has contributed to my weight gain, ~40 pounds over the 16 years, but other factors (sedentary job, turning 50, alcohol) are also factors. I started taking 150 mg early this week and plan to acclimate to this before additional decreases. I do have plenty of Xanax and lunesta to get through situational anxiety or sleeplessness. I’d greatly appreciate feedback/guidance from those who have succeeded on a similar path. I can’t accept that it is impossible. Thank you.