Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

@lisalucier
Lisa, I have to disagree with your comment about the Pharmacists statements you quoted. It is my opinion that particular Pharmacist is passing the buck by sending these people back to their doctors some of which may be giving wrong advice to their patients. Just because they are doctors it doesn’t preclude them from making mistakes. In fact according to research by John Hopkins Hospital over a quarter million people are killed each year from medical mistakes, and sadly that figure is on the rise. Doctors to often are giving patients inaccurate information like the person who was given three different diagnosis’s about her eye problem I read here today. Doctors prescribe the wrong medication which kills many people every year. I was nearly one of those statistics myself. Some years back a doctor accidentally (I hope lol) wrote a prescription for the Anticonvulsant Phenobarbital, however he wrote a lethal dose down. Had I not been somewhat familiar with medication dosages no telling what could have happened. Hopefully the pharmacist would have caught the error. But they are not infallible either. But my main reason for writing was to talk to
@patricia1955
regarding her discontinuing some medications.
1). It has been my experience that tapering multiple meds at one time is a risky endeavor. I ended up in bed for three months doing that. I was sicker than a dog.
2) Taper off off SLOWLY and I can’t empathize that enough. SLOWLY AND EVENLY. Don’t cut your dose in half or take it every other day or 3 days at one dose and 6 days for another dose. Remember, SLOW AND EVEN. This is especially true the higher your dose and the longer you’ve been on a particular medication.
3) I have read about a number of people here were given Xanax which is another Benzodiazepine, one Benzodiazepine is hard enough to get off of let alone two.
I’m not saying you have to come off every drug as slowly but I’d definitely go slow with Benzos.
But just because a doctor or Pharmacist gives you a t dose and timetable doesn’t mean they are always right.
Hope everyone titration

@lisalucier
Lisa, I have to disagree with your comment about the Pharmacists statements you quoted. It is my opinion that particular Pharmacist is passing the buck by sending these people back to their doctors some of which may be giving wrong advice to their patients. Just because they are doctors it doesn’t preclude them from making mistakes. In fact according to research by John Hopkins Hospital over a quarter million people are killed each year from medical mistakes, and sadly that figure is on the rise. Doctors to often are giving patients inaccurate information like the person who was given three different diagnosis’s about her eye problem I read here today. Doctors prescribe the wrong medication which kills many people every year. I was nearly one of those statistics myself. Some years back a doctor accidentally (I hope lol) wrote a prescription for the Anticonvulsant Phenobarbital, however he wrote a lethal dose down. Had I not been somewhat familiar with medication dosages no telling what could have happened. Hopefully the pharmacist would have caught the error. But they are not infallible either. But my main reason for writing was to talk to
@patricia1955
regarding her discontinuing some medications.
1). It has been my experience that tapering multiple meds at one time is a risky endeavor. I ended up in bed for three months doing that. I was sicker than a dog.
2) Taper off off SLOWLY and I can’t empathize that enough. SLOWLY AND EVENLY. Don’t cut your dose in half or take it every other day or 3 days at one dose and 6 days for another dose. Remember, SLOW AND EVEN. This is especially true the higher your dose and the longer you’ve been on a particular medication.
3) I have read about a number of people here were given Xanax which is another Benzodiazepine, one Benzodiazepine is hard enough to get off of let alone two.
I’m not saying you have to come off every drug as slowly but I’d definitely go slow with Benzos.
But just because a doctor or Pharmacist gives you a t dose and timetable doesn’t mean they are always right.
Hope everyone titration

Hey, I am thirty years old and I was diagnosed bipolar when I was a teenager. {among other things} Anyway about 11 years ago I started Paxil. I dont recommend any of these of course. And I am a terrible procrastinator who took my daily dose at night. I didnt know if I missed a dose until well into the next day when I was like ohmygod what is wrong with me. Oh thats you without your meds. Oh no, thats my body losing levels of a chemical it became dependant on, it in no way reflected me as a person. and if i didnt get my script filled on time? It was pure hell. One time it was over a weekend and I went without it. The first day was physically bad. My body was cramping a little but my emotions were all over the place and I was mentally drained. The next day was a hundred times worse and my mind was just getting more and more foggy. By sunday, because i had to wait for the doctors office to approve another refill or something i should have taken care of a week earlier. anyway sunday was surreal . like dreamlike, it didnt feel real at all. I couldnt hardly move or stop crying and i made someone drive my son who was at the time 5 or 6 and me to my mothers house across town because I just knew i wasnt going to wake up in the morning. I was convinced I was actually going to die. I told the doctors and my pharmacist/ who said it was extremely dangerous to do that and from then on if i ever ran out, he would loan me some to prevent the terrors i mentioned before. I told my then doctor to get me off that pill. Jumped from the frying pan, and into the fire. I was put on EFFEXOR. Mind you these arent even bipolar specific medications. I started out taking 150 mgs. Like you. Dayton just turned ten years old so I was taking it that long. About two weeks ago I was cut down to 75 mgs. This is still quite a cut. I mean they took 75 mgs of what my body has become quite attached to. Ive lost quite a bit of weight and when i do manage to sleep, although im ALWAYS tired, I have the craziest dreams. I mean they are out there. Im so happy to be ridding this poison from my body but all the time i find myself wanting to sneak another dose jsut to feel slightly better. Physically I feel like Ive been run over by a boat and my mind is blurry and reality is faded. Im going to find somewhere to start a blog because theres so much more i need to share. I think I can really help somebody.

If it were me I’d never cut the Effexor in half. I’d take it slower. But that’s me. Good luck everyone.

Hello - I have been taking Effexor for nearly 20 years, got up to 225 mg per day and am now almost off. It has been so difficult, I felt it might help others to share some insights. First of all, I put this whole process off until I retired from teaching, because when I tried to get off before, the emotional effects of tapering were not conductive to my work. Also, I live in Alaska and have dark winters so I waited until May of this year, with the light returning, to begin again, a SLOW taper. It has taken me nearly 8 weeks so far; I am on my last week. Having the TIME and SUPPORT and especially the LIGHT have helped my progress. My husband and close friends are aware of the side effects (nightmares, dizziness, anxiety, upset stomach, etc.) and give me a great deal of support. I take the time to walk or ride my bike; the physical exercise and drinking lots of water seem to help the most. Also, finding creative, fun projects to lose myself in are helpful, just so there are not any high expectations to cause anxiety. Knowing, by reading the posts here, that these symptoms are temporary, has also empowered me to keep going. Once I am totally off, I vow to never take this drug again. If the winter gets rough, I will go to counseling again and if absolutely necessary, find another medication. But never again Effexor. Best of luck to each person who is on this journey. It IS hard, but it is possible. Right?

This is my weaning schedule which I followed and can say I thought I was going to die! Effexor - went from 300 to 150 for four days then 75 for four days then 37 1/2 for 6 days. At the same time I was weaning off Atavan and Amitryptaline. Towards the end he introduced Trintellix and Neurontin. I have been so sick, mentally and physically. I went almost all day without a headache today. I still cry, exhausted, ruminating and feeling like I will never laugh again. But I was in such bad emotional shape with the drugs I was on that I stayed in my house for six years.
I kept promising my mom a trip when I felt better, but I never felt better. My mom died on Valentines Day I never took her anywhere. I am sobbing just writing this. I have PTSD and MDD. I have battled to stay alive for 63 yrs., now after losing so much of life I really hope this works.
I have never been so sick but I will do anything to get better. I can't sleep because of the pain in my head, ruminating, restlessness. I see my psychiatrist tomorrow. I go to bed at night and ask that tomorrow will be better.
Sorry for rambling, drugs, pain and a broken heart.

@lisalucier
Lisa, I have to disagree with your comment about the Pharmacists statements you quoted. It is my opinion that particular Pharmacist is passing the buck by sending these people back to their doctors some of which may be giving wrong advice to their patients. Just because they are doctors it doesn’t preclude them from making mistakes. In fact according to research by John Hopkins Hospital over a quarter million people are killed each year from medical mistakes, and sadly that figure is on the rise. Doctors to often are giving patients inaccurate information like the person who was given three different diagnosis’s about her eye problem I read here today. Doctors prescribe the wrong medication which kills many people every year. I was nearly one of those statistics myself. Some years back a doctor accidentally (I hope lol) wrote a prescription for the Anticonvulsant Phenobarbital, however he wrote a lethal dose down. Had I not been somewhat familiar with medication dosages no telling what could have happened. Hopefully the pharmacist would have caught the error. But they are not infallible either. But my main reason for writing was to talk to
@patricia1955
regarding her discontinuing some medications.
1). It has been my experience that tapering multiple meds at one time is a risky endeavor. I ended up in bed for three months doing that. I was sicker than a dog.
2) Taper off off SLOWLY and I can’t empathize that enough. SLOWLY AND EVENLY. Don’t cut your dose in half or take it every other day or 3 days at one dose and 6 days for another dose. Remember, SLOW AND EVEN. This is especially true the higher your dose and the longer you’ve been on a particular medication.
3) I have read about a number of people here were given Xanax which is another Benzodiazepine, one Benzodiazepine is hard enough to get off of let alone two.
I’m not saying you have to come off every drug as slowly but I’d definitely go slow with Benzos.
But just because a doctor or Pharmacist gives you a t dose and timetable doesn’t mean they are always right.
Hope everyone titration

I’m so out of it right now that I don’t know if I’m even posting in the right spot! I was on Effexor 150mg Extended release 2x daily for 4 years along with 200mg 2x daily of lamotrigine. Long story short, since the beginning of May I’m down to 25mg a day of lamotrigine. That’s the easy one. The last week I dropped down to 37.5mg in the morning and 37.5mg around 3pm of the Effexor (not extended release). I can’t stand myself or basically anybody around me! I’m angry, my anxiety hits me off and on all day long, I feel like bugs are crawling on me, headaches, and impulse buying on the internet! The sad thing is, I had my thyroid a year ago and that is still not under control so I’m sleeping most of the day. I’m only up a few hours out of the day and I’m losing it! I’m supposed to start Cymbalta when I’m completely off of the Effexor. For the depression and fibromyalgia. I went to a new doctor because my doctor now just doesn’t give a crap about his patients anymore. I had to take a urine test for the new doc to test for the Percocet that I’m on. He’s very strict. He said it takes 3 weeks for the results so I don’t see him until the 24th. It’s going to be a long 12 days! I feel like calling him and asking him to take me in as soon as he gets the results back to get me on the Cymbalta and be done with the Effexor completely!

This is my weaning schedule which I followed and can say I thought I was going to die! Effexor - went from 300 to 150 for four days then 75 for four days then 37 1/2 for 6 days. At the same time I was weaning off Atavan and Amitryptaline. Towards the end he introduced Trintellix and Neurontin. I have been so sick, mentally and physically. I went almost all day without a headache today. I still cry, exhausted, ruminating and feeling like I will never laugh again. But I was in such bad emotional shape with the drugs I was on that I stayed in my house for six years.
I kept promising my mom a trip when I felt better, but I never felt better. My mom died on Valentines Day I never took her anywhere. I am sobbing just writing this. I have PTSD and MDD. I have battled to stay alive for 63 yrs., now after losing so much of life I really hope this works.
I have never been so sick but I will do anything to get better. I can't sleep because of the pain in my head, ruminating, restlessness. I see my psychiatrist tomorrow. I go to bed at night and ask that tomorrow will be better.
Sorry for rambling, drugs, pain and a broken heart.