I've been on all kinds of antidepressants in the last few decades and getting off Effexor is by far the most difficult. I'm back on it now because it seems to be the only thing that works (for awhile) and I'm trying not to dread the inevitable poop-out and discontinuation.

When I got to the lowest dose (37.5), I also couldn't just stop taking it without getting awful withdrawals. I bought some empty medication capsules and made my own lower-dose Effexor. At first I would open up an Effexor capsule and pour the contents into 2 empty capsules. Then, a few weeks later, I'd open up an Effexor capsule and split it 3 ways. Etc. I eyeballed it but I think I've read (maybe here?) about people using tweezers to count out the little pellets inside the capsules to be more precise.

The step from the lowest dose to zero is HUGE and unless people have experienced it, they really don't understand how awful it can be. At some point I will have to go off Effexor again and I'll use the empty capsule method for sure. Hope this helps!