Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Thanks for the tip. When I get tapered down to the lowest level, I’ll ask my doc about it. Yeah, it’s a long thread bc there are millions of people on these drugs that have concerns. Maybe they should be investigated like the opioid crisis. Just saying.

@youngsally

In response to your statement re “Kaiser has a tremendous reputation.”
My niece’s best friend is an OB-GYN at Kaiser, she was asked “Is Kaiser a good Hospital?, It is as long as you don’t get sick” replied the doctor.
Jake

I was on venlafaxine (75 mg) for approximately 2 years. I came off of it as I was experiencing a lot of unexplained sweating and I felt I was at a point where I felt I had my anxiety under control. I cut down to 37.5 mg for two weeks and then took it every second day for 1 week before stopping. It has been awful, for the first few days I had cold sweats, I had a fever, headaches, brain shivers and dizziness as well as being extremely grumpy. I began taking vitamin B 12, fish oil and a multivitamin, I did not notice much change. On day 16 I was still feeling dizzy so I went back to my doctor who told me there was no way it was the venlafaxine (just some 'mystery illness' that started at the same time as I stopped taking the venlafaxine and feels the exact same as when I would miss a pill). He checked my blood pressure and heart rate and it was then we noticed my pulse was only 41 ( I am not massively fit so this is not right) and after a few tests we noticed I have an irregular heartbeat. I went to hospital and spent two days there, where cardiologists did seem to think there may be a link between stopping the venlafaxine and my heart issues. I am 24 years old, this is not okay and I am so angry at my doctor for giving me this drug. It is now day 19 and I am still extremely dizzy and my heart rate is sitting at 42. Effexor is an awful drug that has done some awful things to my body, I would not recommend.

Wow! You have described my symptoms to the tee when I missed my pill for three days. I hope and pray you feel better soon. And I pray I don’t have as hard of a transition but I am preparing for the worst. I know now it won’t be easy. But I would have never agreed to take this drug had I known about the side effects of tapering off. This is ridiculous! So mad!!

I am so sorry you've had such a horrible experience!! I've read (and my doctor confirmed) that because venlafaxine has such a very short half-life, trying to taper by using it only every other day is really hard on the body because it never has a chance to really get rid of the drug -- sort of a yo-yo effect -- you take it out, then you put it back in, so the body doesn't know what the heck is going on. I'm fortunate, I guess, because I had the XR capsules so I set up a taper schedule where I've gone down an additional 50 beads per week. It's maddening to open the capsules and count out the right number of beads, but so far it's made my taper much easier physically. None of those godawful zaps or dizziness or nausea, which I've had several times before when I didn't get my scrip refilled in time! A 50-bead reduction is not quite 15.5 mg, so it's been easier on my body. I have 2 and a half weeks left to go -- 95 beads/day this week, 45 beads/day next week, then 30 for a day, then 25 for a day, then 20, then 10, then 5. (My doc said I can probably stop completely when I get to 45/day because that's less than 14 mg. I may try it; I'll see how brave I feel! The total tapering time for me will be about 3 months -- I was on 150/day (486 beads), I started small with 10 beads/wk for 2 wks, then boosted it to 20 for 1 wk and decided to up it to 50 because I was doing ok. I'll be very interested to see what I experience when I take none at all. I'm so glad you're getting medical care and I really hope things will get much better for you very soon!!!

It’s an uninmaginable horrific drug.. been weining off now 10 weeks and now 6 days with none. I’ve been rushed to the emergency room , doctors you can’t imagine. Today went to a internist Ian actually being put in the hospital Friday!! I throwing up is just horrible and the brain zaps are out of a horror movie!

Ronnie - I think that docs didn't warn those of us who have been on Effexor for a long time - simply because there wasn't enough clinical data out there to show that there are problems. Prescribers (many of whom are PCPs as opposed to psychiatrists/psychopharms) found that the SNRI's worked well in patients who didn't respond to the SSRIs....but there wasn't enough experience in patients coming off the drugs.

I remember back in '03 or so, issues with the atypical antipsychotics (high cholesterol, weight gain, hypertension, diabetes) had on many patients started to come together. The atypical antipsychotics - the ones that we now see lots of advertisements for under the banner of "when your antidepressant isn't working - add XYZ" - are a huge improvement over older antipsychotics - but now doctors know that these drugs are not without their downsides.

Different people can have very different experiences in the same or similar situation/s. Depends on how the question is posed and how the data is parsed....you will almost always find people on both sides of an issue.

You do not want to quit venlafaxine or any medication without direction from your doctor, ever! However, if you decide to do so you will need to titrate your dosage down which means to take the next dosage level down for a week and then down next level for a week until you have taken the lowest dosage for a week and then no more. This is the only way you can eliminate or lessen the side effects when you stop. And it is a much safer way as well. I only know this because I have stopped taking certain medications over the years and this is how I was told to do it safely be my doctors+. Hope this helps.

The thing is, if you ingest anything that has an effect on your brain your body will become addicted to it so it is not a surprise that you would need to titrate the medication down I stead of quitting cold Turkey. Even regular use of caffeine can cause you to have withdrawal symptoms like migraine headaches when you miss a day or two of your coffee.
When your body is accustomed to certain chemicals or takes time to get used to it not having it. Makes perfect sense. That fact does not make it a bad medication, it just takes talking to your doctor before you do stop. Follow doctor's orders.