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@bdizjr

I am trying to stop taking effexor xr. I have been taking 150 mg for 20 years. I have slowly reduced 37 1/2 mg each month with no problems. Now that I am on the last 37 1/2 , I have tried to stop taking this last dose and I got the brain shivers and was violently sick. Per my docter I am now taking it every other day. Even then I am getting brain shivers and agitation after 36 or so hours. I really want off this medication. Any suggestions to help?

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Replies to "I am trying to stop taking effexor xr. I have been taking 150 mg for 20..."

I would not take the 37.5mg every other day–Effexor has a very short half-life in the body; ping-ponging on/off from one day to the next is putting you into withdrawal over and over. Going slooowww is your friend! Reduce by only 5-10%, or even less with each taper and stay at each tapered level for some weeks/months before tapering again. There's no point rushing the process if you ultimately can't get off Effexor because the withdrawals are too awful.

Your doctor can prescribe a different formulation–changing from extended-release capsules to regular-release tablets (I was on 25mg regular-release tablets that could be cut), or specifying a certain brand of capsules (@farm_mom found Teva had the most consistent size and number of beads within a capsule–helpful to those counting and throwing out beads to taper--see @sandij, or @doorman on how to do this). Or your doctor can write a prescription for a compounding pharmacy to make tapered doses for you (the extra cost may well be worth it because you can glide down in incremental amounts, rather than make rather large jagged drops).

Ask your doctor about a "Prozac bridge"–"The only way doctors know to soften the blow when withdrawing from short half-life drugs [Effexor is such] is to add 20mg fluoxetine (Prozac). The half-life of Effexor is 5 hours and 99% of it is out of your body in one day. Prozac's half-life is 4 to 6 days and it takes 25 days for 99% of it to be out of your body. Essentially, the Prozac cushions the effect of no Effexor and lets you "ride out" the withdrawal process.–https://natashatracy.com/treatment-issues/withdrawal/antidepressants-effexorpristiq-venlafaxinedesvenlafaxine/. See also https://www.depressionforums.org/forums/topic/107532-coming-off-of-effexor-with-prozac-bridge/.