Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

I would also recommend a great website, Jovian Archives, not at all about effexor but a wealth of material about realizing who you are meant to be in this life. Human Design has changed my life by allowing me to see and align myself with my design.

This was in my inbox today. I subscribe to Daily Stoic.
Look, nobody wants to go through hard times. We’d prefer that things go according to plan, that what could go wrong doesn’t, so that we might enjoy our lives without being challenged or tested beyond our limits.
Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen. Which leaves us then with the question of what good there is in such difficulty and how we might—either in the moment or after the fact—come to understand what it is that we’re going through...today, tomorrow, and always.
This passage from Sonia Purnell’s wonderful biography of Clementine Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill, is worth thinking about this morning:
“Clementine was not cut out from birth for the part history handed her. Adversity, combined with sheer willpower, burnished a timorous, self-doubting bundle of nerves and emotion into a wartime consort of unparalleled composure, wisdom, and courage. The flames of many hardships in early life forged the inner core of steel she needed for her biggest test of all. By the Second World War the young child terrified of her father...had transmogrified into a woman cowed by no one.”
The Stoics believed that adversity was inevitable. They knew that Fortune was capricious and that it often subjected us to things we were not remotely prepared to handle. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. Because it teaches us. It strengthens us. It gives us a chance to prove ourselves. “Disaster,” Seneca wrote, “is Virtue’s opportunity.” As he writes in On Providence:
“Familiarity with exposure to danger will give contempt for danger. So the bodies of sailors are hardy from buffeting the sea, the hands of farmers are callous, the soldier’s muscles have the strength to hurl weapons, and the legs of a runner are nimble. In each, his staunchest member is the one that he has exercised. By enduring ills the mind attains contempt for the endurance of them; you will know what this can accomplish in our own case, if you will observe how much the peoples that are destitute and, by reason of their want, more sturdy, secure by toil.”
Basically, he was describing the same phenomenon that transformed Clementine Churchill from a timid young girl into the brave woman who inspired millions of Britons and Europeans through one of the darkest ordeals in the history of the modern world. The difficulty she went through early in life forged for her a backbone upon which she and countless others came to depend.
And so the same can be true for you and whatever it is that you’re going through right now. Yes, it would probably be preferable if everything went your way and if you could count on smooth sailing for the rest of your life. But you can’t. You’re stuck with this present moment instead.
So use it. Be hardened and improved by it. Be transformed by it. The world needs more Clementines. And you can be one of them.

@grandmar thank you, this means so much!!

@sandij
The more I read your posts, the more I see how alike we are. Nurses, helpers, both struggling and being victorious in meeting our many needs. I sure wished we lived closer cuz I would love to be your friend in real life. We are both examples of having enough heart AND strength to change the things that were not ideal in our lives to start, and moving to get to be where WE WANT TO BE.
My hat is off to you. I know you WILL BE Victorious in gaining the life you desire. I see the heart of a lion in you.
Best wishes and support, Bright Wings.

@sandij
Good Morning,
Thank you for such an inspiring post!
I wish that all of us have the strength to use seize the opportunities that expose us to things that we are not expecting and may be over our heads.
Research often speaks of the resilience of children to come out of horrible situations stronger than most!
I know, I don't always rise to the occasion.
When that happens, I feel embarrassed and like a chicken!

I think it is important to remind our group, who are going through dosage reduction, that we have issues with withdrawal not because we are weak, but because of a drug that has changed the entire chemical make-up of our mind and body.
Same thing goes for all of us who have gone on medication in the first place.
It is not that we are weak, we have an illness, just like someone with heart disease, cancer or diabetes
For a lot of us, going on medication actually took a lot of strength and self-reflection to know that it IS the illness we need help with.

I hope that one day I will be one of those people the article talks about!

Here's to a day of being storng.....
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)

@farmboy
Please come check in with us.
Bright Wings

Newbie on board and on Connect. Was searching for remedies for the brain zap that comes with Effexor reduction/withdrawal.

I was prescribed Effexor 75 mg daily nearly 20 years ago, following a series of panic attacks and a trial with other drugs. I haven't had panic attacks in nearly that many years and have long felt maybe I don't need the medication. I self-reduced to taking 75 mg every other day about a year ago in an effort to wean myself off. I don't recall any problems at all.

Finally spoke with my physician about it recently and was advised to take 37.5 mg every other dose - which is every 4th day - and continue to take 75 mg every other dose - again, every 4th day. He commented that after about a month of this, I ought to be able to quit completely. I don't think so! From the beginning of the reduced dosage, I have had symptoms - the most unbearable one being the brain zap or shiver. Comes close to making me feel non-functional, but perhaps I exaggerate. I have browsed the many, many messages on this board for suggestions and found some that I'll try. I am intrigued with the suggestion of CBD and would like to hear other information and experiences with its use. If it will alleviate the brain zaps, I'll get some. I have heard that it may cause drowsiness. Has anyone found this to be true? I also noted that certain carbs (forget how it was termed) are helpful. Elucidation on that would also be appreciated. I love my carbs but maybe I'm not eating enough or enough of the right kind. I have decreased appetite and get full quickly, thanks to hiatal hernia surgery 4 months ago and perhaps my gastric ulcers as well.

As other info, I have had an "interesting" swelling of the lips and intermittent mouth "sores" and rawness (not canker sores apparently) since the end of November. In an attempt to address whatever is causing this, almost every prescription I was taking has been changed (without relief yet). It has been speculated that perhaps a sensitivity to Effexor has arisen. Does this sound cuckoo after so many years taking it? Does it sound plausible? It is an additional reason I decided to wean myself off of Effexor. At least one physician thought Effexor could be the culprit.

I look forward to the day when these withdrawal symptoms disappear. I have a life to live and have plans for an overseas trip in 3 months. I certainly want to be feeling better - any day now!

Thanks in advance for any input.

Completely possible to develop any kind of weird side effect such as you describe even after being on the medication for a long time.
In regards to CBD I use it for fibromyalgia pain, I have to stay vigilant with it every day for it to make a difference. Cant say for sure if it affects my energy levels at all, but my level of pain certainly affects my energy.
Brain zaps. Honestly, I have either a. Never experienced one or b. Never recognized or identified it as such. I do however experience what I call little episodes of dizziness, a head buzz not unlike how I feel when I am extremely overly tired, or vertigo from standing up too fast. Maybe that's a brain zap, but if it is, i have been lucky because they arent debilitating for me. I know many people experience horrible brain zaps and I'm sure you will get a lot of tips from them here.
My daily regimen includes omega 3 and vitamin D. Some CBD products maybe 500 or 1000 mg, protein, carbs that arent enriched with b vitamins or folic acid as I have MTHFR mutation (most people do!) and take methylated B/folate. Practice acceptance and commitment therapy. Water. Epsom salt baths for relaxation and magnesium. Sleep.
You can do this. Many have gone through it and lived to tell the tale. You won't die over it although sometimes you think you will. You've got a great trip coming up to look forward to and you will be feeling great by then. Glad you found us!

@grandmar what a great reminder. On the days I feel like I am going crazy or I'm not normal, I have to stop that thought, ignore my mind, and say "this is not me, this is the drug, this is withdrawal, this is temporary, this is part of my wave" (I've learned that according to HDS, my inner authority is emotional and its imperative for me to wait for clarity..I know that's off topic). We are all very strong and courageous, let's give ourself credit for that today! Thank you so much for all your contributions here.

@betsyjane the mouth symptoms you describe could possibly be burning mouth syndrome. I'm not a doctor but it sounds familiar. I experience it at times but have never had it diagnosed. I stay away from doctors unless I'm having an emergency, lol.