I don't know if this will be helpful, but here are some numbers from my taper, which I did by counting beads (I found a site online that gave me the number of beads in the capsules; it gave 486 beads for 150 mg, so I used that). I used beads instead of mg as the basis for my taper because it was simpler -- that's the form my medication came in.
I don't have the number of beads for all of my taper, but here's what I do have: 60 mg - 195 beads; 44.75 mg - 145 beads; 29.32 mg - 95 beads; 13.89 mg - 45 beads; 9.26 mg - 30 beads; 7.7 mg - 25 beads; 6.17 mg - 20 beads; 4.62 mg - 15 beads; 3.1 mg - 10 beads; 1.54 mg - 5 beads. I know the mg numbers are odd, but once I got to 195 beads, I was cutting down by 50 beads per week, and then I cut down by fewer beads as I got to the end of the line, in order to make that final bit of tapering off very gradual.
I started my taper by taking out 10 beads from the 486 and doing that for two weeks, then 10 more for two weeks, etc., but I figured out very quickly that it would take me close to two years at that rate, so I said ``the hell with it'' and dropped down by 50 beads per week. Counting out those damn beads was incredibly tedious!!! For a while I was removing the necessary number from my scrip capsules, but it got to be easier, as the number went down, to use gelatin capsules and put the right number of beads into them.
I never had brain zaps, but I had sleep difficulties (for which I took 3 mg time-release melatonin when I couldn't sleep and allowed myself to sleep for long stretches when I could; I'm retired, so I have that luxury), temperament difficulties (flashes of strong anger especially) and other discomfort, but nothing that overwhelmed me. I tried to walk regularly, I watched my sugar and caffeine intake, I ate enough protein and good carbs to keep my blood sugar stable and I took lots of high-potency supplements of various vitamins plus fish oil, turmeric, CoQ10, zinc, potassium and calcium.
The process was not easy, but I wanted so much to be free of venlafaxine that I was determined to do it.
As I've written recently, I wanted off the drug because it wasn't working for me and I didn't want to go to a higher dose, plus I hated the brain zaps if I missed even one day. If it had still been working, I'd have stayed with it; it wouldn't even have occurred to me to quit. After being off for 4 months, the depression and especially the anxiety returned. I tried meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, water soluble CBD and exercise, but I wasn't able to get rid of them and was exhausted from trying, so I'm now on Wellbutrin (I'm still taking the CBD) and it's making a huge difference. I hope that continues. If it doesn't, I'll try another drug -- but no SSRIs because my body doesn't like them at all. I've learned by trial and error -- and accepted -- that my brain needs the help, and that's OK. Best of luck to all of you!!