Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Taking Prozac did NOT help me when I was tapering whatsoever

I have a question regarding long term use of Effexor. I started a different Seritonan uptake inhibitor when I entered perimenopause for the mood swings I was experiencing. I could not afford to become the raging person I wanted to be at ,my office. Plus, we had 2 children at home and I did not want to be a mad person with children. Once I was on Effexor the night sweats, anger, emotionalism decreased to the point of ‘normal’. I live in Montana where the winters are long and dark and I was not exercising or gettting outside enough to counteract the seasonal affect of dark days and sedentary days. Now, I’m long past memopause but still taking 75 mg of it; not certain if ER or not. This weekend I forgot my pills at home and by the second day off them, was dizzy, somewhat nauseous and emotional, but the nightmares were bizarre!!! I don’t have any side effects from taking the pills daily other than I can’t seem to lose weight. I don’t think I would be anxious, or have panic attacks if I went off, but I don’t want to be anymore forgetful than a ‘normal’ 66 would be, or short tempered. We’re headed into winter now, so I’m reluctant to start weaning myself off ; I don’t want to be ‘blue’ and directionless. I am working out 3 days a week and trying to get outside more. Any thoughts? Also, what is the down side of taking the bills indefinitely?

According to the books I've read, the clinical trials that didn't produce the results were withheld for the most part and in some of them the results were rephrased to make them appear more favorable than they were. The ones that also used placebos are especially interesting. I respect your experience following the health care industry for many years, but I also know that their motives are mixed at best, that their testing protocols were changed during the GHW Bush administration, that there's much reliable information which they don't provide and that antidepressants have been and are an endless source of huge profit for the companies that make them. They're not about to bite the hand that's feeding them.

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

@kaykay22
Your doctor and family members are mistaken. You can find more information in the book The Antidepressant Solution by Dr Joseph Glenmullen. This is a very well-written and carefully researched book about the overprescribing and side effects of anti-depressants. It is also an extremely helpful guide to getting through the tapering process. I highly recommend it. So does my husband who has been supportive of me throughout my 5 month tapering process but became much more so as a result of what he learned by reading this book.
Hang in there!

According to the books I've read, the clinical trials that didn't produce the results were withheld for the most part and in some of them the results were rephrased to make them appear more favorable than they were. The ones that also used placebos are especially interesting. I respect your experience following the health care industry for many years, but I also know that their motives are mixed at best, that their testing protocols were changed during the GHW Bush administration, that there's much reliable information which they don't provide and that antidepressants have been and are an endless source of huge profit for the companies that make them. They're not about to bite the hand that's feeding them.

Hello! I am not sure how to post so I’m just replying. First I’d like to say YAY!!!!! I am so excited to find people that know what being on Effexor is like!!! I have been on and off Effexor for 20 years now, each other time I got off I was only on a max dose of 150mg. This time I’m on 225mg for the past 2 1/2 years. I appreciate all of your input/ sharing of experiences!!!
My question is this, in your experience have you found this med to cause sudden onset of sweating? And have you found it to numb you? I know it keeps you from going down but I feel like it keeps me from going up too. Thus the wanting to get off, I am working with a psychiatrist but prefer first hand experience even though I do realize everyone is different. Thank you for your time!
Jo

15 years at 150mg (extended release)....but completely off for nearly 10 days on a 4-5 week taper. Sweating when I tapered - YUP (I think I bought most of the icepacks on Amazon)..... I usually get some facial numbing going up or down on the drug - but I suspect you may be speaking about emotional blunting. In that case, Effexor can mellow the top end (I've had experiences of feeling really good and productive when I've cut my dose for a few days to try and reboot the drug at my old dose)....but that's not it's primary function....and the emotional blunting is something I believe gets reported for all the SSRIs.