1. < Depression & Anxiety

Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Posted by richyrich @richyrich, Nov 2, 2016

I have been taking Effexor/Venlafaxine for years and tried to get off it a few times but each time I try to give up the chemical withdrawal symptoms are a horror story and I give up giving up. Anyone got any tips or tried and tested strategies? Thank you

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secretwhitepop | @secretwhitepop | Apr 14, 2019
In reply to @johnbinnm "I have been completely Effexor free for about 2 weeks now. I went down from 4-..." + (show)
@johnbinnm

I have been completely Effexor free for about 2 weeks now. I went down from 4- 37.5 capsules a day to zero by gradually reducing by one about every ten days. When I was at full dose, if I missed a day, I would not only have the usual side effects but that night, I would have nightmares that would rival the Freddy Krueger movies! Now that I am two weeks into an Effexor free life,, I still have pretty bad dreams every night. I am hoping that they will subside eventually. I have also experienced all the other symptoms described by others with the exception of brain zaps. Never had those. I have mood swings like crazy and am an emotional train wreck a lot of times, but only for short periods. If this is what PMS is like, I owe a lot of women in my life a major apology! At the time I was prescribed, I think Effexor was the right choice. It definitely did help where other meds did not. But there is definitely a price to pay for this help. I wish you all strength through your withdrawals. I'll let you know my "lessons learned" once I'm on the other side of the tracks.

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Apology accepted. Ha ha! Hang in there!

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notaround | @notaround | Apr 14, 2019
In reply to @teachols "Sounds like this isn't a common problem?!" + (show)
@teachols

Sounds like this isn't a common problem?!

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I'm not sure. A lot of the people in this group who are/were on venlafaxine seem to be post menopause or men. So it's a matter of the sample size. Your well-being is important!

Probably good to get a checkup and make your doctor listen. Since you actually got diagnosed with endometriosis, you probably have been successful before.

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notaround | @notaround | Apr 14, 2019
In reply to @secretwhitepop "Thank you! Yes, I have a doctors appointment Monday and, my symptoms also included phantom smells..." + (show)
@secretwhitepop

Thank you! Yes, I have a doctors appointment Monday and, my symptoms also included phantom smells too! The smells have subsided (thankfully! It was awful!) but the vertigo comes out of the blue. Perhaps it is just allergies clogging up the old ear canals 🙂

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Hey I'm not the only one who had a smell hallucination. Solidarity. I have life threatening allergies so that gave me a panic attack to suddenly smell perfume very strongly where I thought I was mostly safe. Smelled like an entire bottle got broken nearby. I thought I was losing it once I realized that it was a hallucination.

Looked it up and apparently sometimes a tiny seizure, associated with anti-depressants as a very rare side effect, can cause that. I lost the link but try googling "olfactory hallucination antidepressant seizure" in some combination. It was either a neurologist or an ENT doc writing about it.

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1 reply
notaround | @notaround | Apr 14, 2019
In reply to @grandmar "@texasduchess Yes, @farmboy we haven't heard from you. Ronnie (GRANDMAr)" + (show)
@grandmar

@texasduchess

Yes, @farmboy we haven't heard from you.
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)

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@farmboy you have plenty of people rooting for you so hang in there.

He might just not get notifications. I don't get emails and just keep this group open in a tab on my phone and check once every few days or when I think of it. Hopefully he's just distracted and feeling better.

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farmboy | @farmboy | Apr 14, 2019
In reply to @babydoll "@farmboy , haven’t seen any posts from you lately. How are you feeling? Hope your doing..." + (show)
@babydoll

@farmboy , haven’t seen any posts from you lately. How are you feeling? Hope your doing well.

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I was doing alright. Went back to 150mgs of effexor and she also put me on serquel. Here the last 2 weeks I've gotten really irritable and moody. I don't feel part of things and I don't even feel like being around my girlfriend. I think it's the serquel doing this. It's been a long road.

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farmboy | @farmboy | Apr 14, 2019
In reply to @babydoll "@farmboy , haven’t seen any posts from you lately. How are you feeling? Hope your doing..." + (show)
@babydoll

@farmboy , haven’t seen any posts from you lately. How are you feeling? Hope your doing well.

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@babydoll my phone has been acting up. I was doing fine until about a week or two ago. Now I don't feel me again. Lost and very irritable. The doc put me on serquel also and I think the serquel is making me cranky.

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farmboy | @farmboy | Apr 14, 2019
In reply to @texasduchess "@farmboy Yes, please. Would like to know how you are doing." + (show)
@texasduchess

@farmboy
Yes, please. Would like to know how you are doing.

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@texasduchess I was doing fine until week or so ago. Now I'm kinda lost feeling and irritable. The Doc also put me on serquel and I think it's the serquel that is making me irritable and giving me bad headaches.

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3 replies
texasduchess | @texasduchess | Apr 14, 2019
In reply to @farmboy "@texasduchess I was doing fine until week or so ago. Now I'm kinda lost feeling and..." + (show)
@farmboy

@texasduchess I was doing fine until week or so ago. Now I'm kinda lost feeling and irritable. The Doc also put me on serquel and I think it's the serquel that is making me irritable and giving me bad headaches.

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@farmboy
So glad to hear from you! Sorry this past week+ hasn't been good. Today is my one-year anniversary of taking the last tapered dose of Effexor and I can tell you that it gets better, then worse and then better again through this whole process--it stays better longer each time.

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farmboy | @farmboy | Apr 15, 2019
In reply to @texasduchess "@farmboy So glad to hear from you! Sorry this past week+ hasn't been good. Today is..." + (show)
@texasduchess

@farmboy
So glad to hear from you! Sorry this past week+ hasn't been good. Today is my one-year anniversary of taking the last tapered dose of Effexor and I can tell you that it gets better, then worse and then better again through this whole process--it stays better longer each time.

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@texasduchess thank you for asking about me. It's been a heck of an ordeal. Just wish things would level out. This up and down stuff stinks.

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Leonard | @jakedduck1 | Apr 15, 2019
In reply to @farmboy "@babydoll my phone has been acting up. I was doing fine until about a week or..." + (show)
@farmboy

@babydoll my phone has been acting up. I was doing fine until about a week or two ago. Now I don't feel me again. Lost and very irritable. The doc put me on serquel also and I think the serquel is making me cranky.

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Hello @farmboy
Seroquel should stabilize your mood but it can change it. You should let the doc know how your being affected.
Hope everything straightens out for you. You’ve been too miserable for too long.
Hang in there buddy,
Jake

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