Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

I was on 300 mg for years but when i started to have problems w my kidneys it was reduced to 225 mg. I have a new MD as of 2 yrs ago. We discussed reducing it more. I spoke w a pharmacist who suggested reducing by 37.5 mg every 2 weeks. I'm taking 187.5 mg now. Went back up for a couple of weeks bc of depression but it was re to infection. Will b going down to 150 mg next week. Some nausea, tremor but better sleep. Do not go cold turkey. It can kill u.

OK. I called the doctor today. She told me 37.5mg to 0 is too much all at once. She said to get myself restabilized at 37.5, then take 25mg (she sent me an RX) and in two weeks, I should split the 25mg into two, and take only a half (12.5). Then in two more weeks go to 0. That's what I am going to do. If there is an easier way to end this misery that's what I will do. This has been one hellacious journey.

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

If you want to know the side effects of drugs or weaning off, ask a pharmacist! they have far more education about drugs than doc, np or PA. I am PA and have taken effexor xr for 18 years. it is not the drug that bothers me, it is forgetting to take it!

OK. I called the doctor today. She told me 37.5mg to 0 is too much all at once. She said to get myself restabilized at 37.5, then take 25mg (she sent me an RX) and in two weeks, I should split the 25mg into two, and take only a half (12.5). Then in two more weeks go to 0. That's what I am going to do. If there is an easier way to end this misery that's what I will do. This has been one hellacious journey.

Can someone please advise me. I notice a lot on here talk about seeing a family doctor as well as a psychiatrist. I only see my family doctor. Not sure how much they learn. He’s young. Should I be seeing a psychiatrist?

Also, before any of you decided to wean off Effexor, were you feeling motivated and not feeling depressed?

Holy crap--I'm just now realizing what I may be in for. Been taking 300 mg daily for over a year, and decided I couldn't take the overly intense, life-disrupting dreams or the buckets of sweat during hot weather anymore. Plus depression. I've seen different tapering regimens. Anyone who has one with a 300 mg starting dose and with good effect I'd love to know about it.
Or should I just try going cold Turkey? Brain already feels messed up. . . Thanks and all the best to y'all.