Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Posted by richyrich @richyrich, Nov 2, 2016

I have been taking Effexor/Venlafaxine for years and tried to get off it a few times but each time I try to give up the chemical withdrawal symptoms are a horror story and I give up giving up. Anyone got any tips or tried and tested strategies? Thank you

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Just started going off this and it is not fun at all. I hate the brain zaps the most. Help!

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@evey

Just started going off this and it is not fun at all. I hate the brain zaps the most. Help!

Jump to this post

I go to my Dr in two weeks to hopefully get off this med. Are you doing it cold turkey or through Dr? I'm so nervous. How long have you been on the med

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How do you guys deal with coming off Effexor while working? I just strayed a new job (in the medical field) and I’m scared. This is my first day of not taking the 37.5 mg. I’ve been taking 150 for years, weaned down to 75 for a few months, and the past few months I’ve been on 37.5. My Dr took me off of it yesterday. Years ago, it was given to me for depression which I really don’t know if I had. I’ve stayed on it bc the withdrawal was so bad. I’ve definitely got anxiety kinda mild to moderate, and this my mind races at night about pointless stuff. So I take Buspar and just now celexa as of yesterday. My dr also gave me five days of 1mg Xanax to break in half to help me sleep with the 30 mg of temazapam. I’m just terrified about how this is going to go with me working in a critical care environment.

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@coloradogirl

So, I just finished this process with Zoloft (sertraline) and here are some things that worked for me. Your mileage may vary, but hopefully these are low risk for you to try.

1) You may need to ask your doctor for a slower tapering program than other patients. Some people are just more sensitive to dosage changes. Be aware that symptoms will get better, then may reappear each time you taper. AAFMA (practice group of family physicians) says that the symptoms typically last 1-2 weeks and as long as 4 weeks, so I just kept reminding myself that it was temporary.
2) Be watchful for things that make your symptoms worse. For example, caffeine seems to trigger the brain zaps for me (still, even after being off for several weeks), so I cut back my caffeine intake. I didn't give it up completely (because I still need to function), but cut back on how much real coffee I was drinking, mixed decaf with regular, and switched to tea sometimes. In the end, I probably cut my daily caffeine intake in half, and it did help quite a lot.
3) Ibuprofen or other pain reliever can help with the flu-like body aches.
4) Benadryl helped with the brain zaps.
5) Exercise helped with both. Even if I wasn't up to a run, a few blocks of walking would settle down the symptoms for a while at least. (Then, when they come back, just take another walk. We took a lot of walks for a while there).
6) Get enough sleep. As I came down off the meds, my normal sleeping patterns returned, which was great, but it did mean that I needed to plan time to let my body rest.
7) Pay attention to your diet. Your brain uses carbs to make seratonin, so now is not the time to go on the Atkins diet. Eat well and make sure you're getting enough healthy carbs. You may crave sweets; I certainly did. I tried to counteract this by having bananas, graham crackers, and other healthy things I could snack on instead of sticking my head in a birthday cake like I seemed to want.

No lie - it's a painful process, but this did really help make it easier. Also, at a certain point, when I was down the below the normal starter dose, I just ripped off the bandaid and went to zero. At that point, it felt like each taper was just prolonging the suffering. Don't just go cold turkey from your current dose, though, as that can be dangerous. Also, don't add any supplements or substitutes for the SSRI without talking to your doctor first (also dangerous).

And of course, watch for the return of depression / anxiety type symptoms. For a while it was hard to tell whether I was tired because of the change in meds or because my depression was returning. I figured as long as I felt okay enough to function and wasn't thinking about being harmful to myself or anyone else, I could play it out and see. It turned out to be the meds and on the other side, I can see that I was more worried about it than I needed to be.

I wish you the best of luck and a healthy life.

Mardee

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Hello @evey and @dcclowdus! Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for posting! I'm glad both of you have found a spot on connect. I hope you feel welcome and can ask questions and get support from the community.

Evelyn, what instructions did your physician provide you with for tapering off?

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@evey

Just started going off this and it is not fun at all. I hate the brain zaps the most. Help!

Jump to this post

How slowly are you decreasing your dose?

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@evey

Just started going off this and it is not fun at all. I hate the brain zaps the most. Help!

Jump to this post

@evey @haleysmom

Never go off this medication cold turkey, ever. You may suffer severe withdrawals. There have been lawsuits against the makers of Effexor because people have died for various reasons including stopping cold turkey. This is one of the most difficult medications to discontinue. I have heard and read about to many people who went to their Doctors and Pharmacies and stopped Effexor to soon while having symptoms as evidenced by numerous people on the site alone.
Also someone mentioned they were taking Effexor 37.5 every other day. I ask you why would any medical professional have a patient skip a day of medication with a half life of anywhere from 3 to 7 hours? That’s why some people start to have symptoms before they take their second dose if not on the extended release version. If you have any symptoms while stopping this medication your stopping to quickly.
Ask your doctor about what you’ve read here about people having withdrawals when stopping according to doctors instructions.
Your going to have to be your own advocate. Best of luck to you.

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@coloradogirl

So, I just finished this process with Zoloft (sertraline) and here are some things that worked for me. Your mileage may vary, but hopefully these are low risk for you to try.

1) You may need to ask your doctor for a slower tapering program than other patients. Some people are just more sensitive to dosage changes. Be aware that symptoms will get better, then may reappear each time you taper. AAFMA (practice group of family physicians) says that the symptoms typically last 1-2 weeks and as long as 4 weeks, so I just kept reminding myself that it was temporary.
2) Be watchful for things that make your symptoms worse. For example, caffeine seems to trigger the brain zaps for me (still, even after being off for several weeks), so I cut back my caffeine intake. I didn't give it up completely (because I still need to function), but cut back on how much real coffee I was drinking, mixed decaf with regular, and switched to tea sometimes. In the end, I probably cut my daily caffeine intake in half, and it did help quite a lot.
3) Ibuprofen or other pain reliever can help with the flu-like body aches.
4) Benadryl helped with the brain zaps.
5) Exercise helped with both. Even if I wasn't up to a run, a few blocks of walking would settle down the symptoms for a while at least. (Then, when they come back, just take another walk. We took a lot of walks for a while there).
6) Get enough sleep. As I came down off the meds, my normal sleeping patterns returned, which was great, but it did mean that I needed to plan time to let my body rest.
7) Pay attention to your diet. Your brain uses carbs to make seratonin, so now is not the time to go on the Atkins diet. Eat well and make sure you're getting enough healthy carbs. You may crave sweets; I certainly did. I tried to counteract this by having bananas, graham crackers, and other healthy things I could snack on instead of sticking my head in a birthday cake like I seemed to want.

No lie - it's a painful process, but this did really help make it easier. Also, at a certain point, when I was down the below the normal starter dose, I just ripped off the bandaid and went to zero. At that point, it felt like each taper was just prolonging the suffering. Don't just go cold turkey from your current dose, though, as that can be dangerous. Also, don't add any supplements or substitutes for the SSRI without talking to your doctor first (also dangerous).

And of course, watch for the return of depression / anxiety type symptoms. For a while it was hard to tell whether I was tired because of the change in meds or because my depression was returning. I figured as long as I felt okay enough to function and wasn't thinking about being harmful to myself or anyone else, I could play it out and see. It turned out to be the meds and on the other side, I can see that I was more worried about it than I needed to be.

I wish you the best of luck and a healthy life.

Mardee

Jump to this post

Hello. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. My normal dosage is 75mg per night. She said to skip a pill every other night. I think it's too much of a taper as on after the no pill night I have horrible brain zaps and other crummy things going on. Tonight is supposed to be a no pill night but I think I'm going to take a half of a pill. I have been on this med for about 3 years now, before that it was Zoloft for about 22 years. All for anxiety. I'm a bit confused.

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@nanke99

Hi! I was on Effexor XR for a few years and got off it several years ago. It was a very difficult process, so I fully sympathize. You MUST wean off
VERY SLOWLY. I don't remember what my dosage was at the time (225mg?), but it took me about 9 months. Please do not let that long time scare you, it's worth going slow, that will be your biggest help w/ withdrawal. At the time I had a very difficult time finding any doctor with experience getting people off it.
Luckily I was advised to to find one and luckily I did. It is considered harder to get off than heroine. Not trying to scare you, just want to make sure you go as slow as possible. Mostly, I was moody/angry, had headaches, and some brain "shivers". The brain shivers I already had while on the meds.
I think we went down in 25mg increments over several weeks for each reduction. Keep us posted and good luck! Just give yourself some time and it will be over before you know it!

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Oh no....I am feeling so sad for you right now. How horrible. I pray you find the right solution soon.

REPLY
@coloradogirl

So, I just finished this process with Zoloft (sertraline) and here are some things that worked for me. Your mileage may vary, but hopefully these are low risk for you to try.

1) You may need to ask your doctor for a slower tapering program than other patients. Some people are just more sensitive to dosage changes. Be aware that symptoms will get better, then may reappear each time you taper. AAFMA (practice group of family physicians) says that the symptoms typically last 1-2 weeks and as long as 4 weeks, so I just kept reminding myself that it was temporary.
2) Be watchful for things that make your symptoms worse. For example, caffeine seems to trigger the brain zaps for me (still, even after being off for several weeks), so I cut back my caffeine intake. I didn't give it up completely (because I still need to function), but cut back on how much real coffee I was drinking, mixed decaf with regular, and switched to tea sometimes. In the end, I probably cut my daily caffeine intake in half, and it did help quite a lot.
3) Ibuprofen or other pain reliever can help with the flu-like body aches.
4) Benadryl helped with the brain zaps.
5) Exercise helped with both. Even if I wasn't up to a run, a few blocks of walking would settle down the symptoms for a while at least. (Then, when they come back, just take another walk. We took a lot of walks for a while there).
6) Get enough sleep. As I came down off the meds, my normal sleeping patterns returned, which was great, but it did mean that I needed to plan time to let my body rest.
7) Pay attention to your diet. Your brain uses carbs to make seratonin, so now is not the time to go on the Atkins diet. Eat well and make sure you're getting enough healthy carbs. You may crave sweets; I certainly did. I tried to counteract this by having bananas, graham crackers, and other healthy things I could snack on instead of sticking my head in a birthday cake like I seemed to want.

No lie - it's a painful process, but this did really help make it easier. Also, at a certain point, when I was down the below the normal starter dose, I just ripped off the bandaid and went to zero. At that point, it felt like each taper was just prolonging the suffering. Don't just go cold turkey from your current dose, though, as that can be dangerous. Also, don't add any supplements or substitutes for the SSRI without talking to your doctor first (also dangerous).

And of course, watch for the return of depression / anxiety type symptoms. For a while it was hard to tell whether I was tired because of the change in meds or because my depression was returning. I figured as long as I felt okay enough to function and wasn't thinking about being harmful to myself or anyone else, I could play it out and see. It turned out to be the meds and on the other side, I can see that I was more worried about it than I needed to be.

I wish you the best of luck and a healthy life.

Mardee

Jump to this post

Thanks @evey. Im going to call my doctor tomorrow to see if I can get in earlier than two weeks. My pill is a capsule. No breaking mine. I'm anxious to see what she says.

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Good evening. Just in need of info from anyone out there who has dealt with Venlafaxine withdrawal. I have been off Ven since Jun 11th/ 18. Though I was only on 37.5 mg"s for the final 6 weeks prior to stopping, I don't understand why I still have the zaps and the occasional sore stomach. My Dr had advised me 2-4 weeks of hell at first and then that was followed by 4-6 weeks. I'm now passed that and it doesn't seem to be getting better. Except in the evening. I do feel better in the evening which is weird. I exercise a lot, eat properly but still feeling off. I also take different vitamins that people along the way have advised me were good for me while coming off Ven. So I would appreciate any advice that people would have regarding how long I could expect this to go on. I dont want to have to go back on any of these drugs!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope everyone is having a great evening.

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