@secretwhitepop
You were very wise to taper off very slowly. Not surprised you're feeling down; things have piled up for you. My condolences on the loss of your father.
Effexor messes with your brain chemistry and it can take a long time to get it back to functioning normally. I was on Effexor for 18 years. After some trial-and-error, I am taking the following supplements (l-tryptophan, GABA and the l-methylfolate are the most helpful) to get back to "normal".
I am taking 3 times per day (about 7 hours apart):
• 2 1,000 mg fish oil capsules (EPA 650 mg) (I started with 3 capsules)
• 1 1,000 mg vitamin C helps the l-tryptophan
• 1 500 mg L*dtke brand l-tryptophan (cannot be taken while on Effexor)
• 2 500 mg Solg*r brand GABA
• 1 500 mg l-arginine
• 1 470 mg ashwagandha root extract capsule (have now eliminated the evening dose of this)
Once per day: 1 15 mg l-methylfolate (a prescription-needed version of B vitamin)
Occasionally, but use of these is way down now that I've been using supplements for nine months:
• Dram*mine for vertigo
• Ben*dryl as needed as a sleep aid
• 2.5 mg diazepam (prescription aka Valium) as needed when akathisia/anxiety gets too bad
I intend to taper off these supplements (I started out taking them 5 times per day) as the other most important aspect to recovery is the time being off Effexor.
What also helps–
Avoid frenetic, or over-stimulating tv shows/movies; don't listen to atonal, off-key, or minor key music (woo, did this set me off); and find distraction in reading, working, hobbies, etc. Try to be with other people–go out to dinner, play cards/board games, find a walking buddy to go around the block, etc. Also, very important–exposure to sunlight helped (not sunbathing, just making sure my eyes got natural light).
That’s a lot of supplements but it won’t keep me from checking them out! Thanks! My main reason for weening off was to be independent of anything but good healthy food and exercise for a bit. Trying to find my baseline again! I do, however, make sure to get my B vitamins and have been taking some magnesium. For a while I tried some CBD oil, but not sure if it did anything.
I truly just want summer!