@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).

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