Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

SO glad you have an accommodating principal. And also, your 186 days of leave were earned! That’s what they’re there for.

If it helps I, too, work in a middle school. There’s nothing worse than knowing how fun I used to be and now not being able to be that person. I’m working on it and I’m back on antidepressants. I’m now just struggling with stupid constant dizziness...

But anyway, hoping that knowing there are many of us in your shoes will somehow comfort you 🙂

It will get better. It will.

Are you taking Effexor now secretwhitepop? I’ve been following you for quite some time with many of the same symptoms except I’m still on Effexor xl 75 and every time I try to wean down, I have difficulty.

Even with that I have a lot of depression and I’m just not myself. My whole personality and zest for life is so different.

Dr just added 5mg Abilify and I feel worse . Went up to 10mg a couple days ago and I feel worse yet. I don’t understand the logic to if it’s not working and you don’t feel well, then add to it until you level out. Makes no sense to me!

I was a teacher and medical insurance service for much of my career life but I’m now 76 years old and retired for about 10 years. I think that’s a big part of it – keeping busy and feeling worthwhile.

I’ve tried part-time jobs, volunteerism, etc. but have physical problems now that keep me from moving forward there.

I’m divorced for a long time, had two children with one now living in Florida with his wife and daughter, my granddaughter, who is 20 years old. Each of whom are so happy and I try to visit when I can.

My daughter and her husband and three children lived in the town I do but my 47 yr old daughter passed away of ovarian cancer about 3 1/2 years ago and I’m struggling so much missing her. It must be PTSD. Two of the grandchildren are away at school and my granddaughter is home with her dad. I do as much with my granddaughter I possibly can. Kids are so busy these days

I see a psychiatrist and a psychologist and can’t seem to break through this mental anguish

Even really true friends are backing off now because it’s no fun being with me the way I am even when I fight it.

They and my son have given me so much support for the last three or four years. They feel helpless in trying to get me out of this having never experienced it. I have no other immediate family.

Thanks for caring to read this
Nancy

SO glad you have an accommodating principal. And also, your 186 days of leave were earned! That’s what they’re there for.

If it helps I, too, work in a middle school. There’s nothing worse than knowing how fun I used to be and now not being able to be that person. I’m working on it and I’m back on antidepressants. I’m now just struggling with stupid constant dizziness...

But anyway, hoping that knowing there are many of us in your shoes will somehow comfort you 🙂

It will get better. It will.

Oh Nancy, I feel for you. I can’t imagine some of the things you’re feeling, mostly, the loss.

To answer your question, I am no longer taking Effexor. For the sake of time I’ll just tell you, I was feeling well emotionally, but I wanted a better sex life and thought going off Effexor would help. So, I weened off slowly, got tremendous anxiety and depression, constantly cried and lost 19 pounds. I also sold a house, bought a house and moved my family to a new state. (During this time my dad died and we moved mom three times in one year to find a good fit for her dementia...)

So! My new doc says I’m bipolar, put me on seroquel to stabilize me and zoloft to lift my mood.

Gotta be honest. It’s working, but not as well as Effexor did. Of course, perhaps it’s my circumstance?

So, during my “mania” my husband and I also changed jobs... and, to sort of go along with what you said about keeping busy, weekends are the toughest!

I have said that all “this” is merely a distraction to keep my mind out of my own head.

Part of me wonders if this is the normal human experience... almost like I made it through so much of my life unscathed and only now I’m dealing with real life... (I say that because I work in the public school system and what some of these kids go through is heartbreaking)

Church, volunteering, scheduling time to read or go to the library, make a friend with a total stranger, reinvent yourself, meditate... all these things help.

Keep writing. I’ll respond.

Yes! Who I was and what I could do, what I did, belong to another lifetime now. Its crushing to think people who know me only this way think this is who I am.

Thanks for your reply.
Good you can work, actually ! Takes your mind off everything else!!

Such a hard decision to leave my former job, but working in a middle school is wonderful. Everyone HAS to be nice and positive. There are “happy” signs and sayings and encouragement pretty much everywhere. The only thing that gets me down is that I’m old enough to be parents to all the teachers I work with! Ha ha! But I wouldn’t want to go back. All my experiences, good and bad, I just know could be helpful to someone somewhere down the line. (Ha! Of course, this could just be my increased dose of zoloft talking...)

Hello. It seems this discussion will help me with getting off effexor. It was prescribed 18 yrs ago and increased over time up to 300mg. The last 2 years have been horrible and the doctor responded to my questions about trying something different with her concerns about my high blood pressure. That would be dealt with first before looking at other meds. She was following a protocol, I assume, and that was the order she felt she had to follow. Her response to my concern that the effexor was raising blood pressure was "it shouldn't". Finally she agreed to begin a taper set up to decrease 37.5 mg/week. Per week. After 2 weeks I saw her, described my symptoms and wished I could have puked, levitated, or stabbed her with something not even sharp as she said the withdrawal "shouldn't" be causing any discomfort. Carry on.
I got through the first 4 weeks, and was taking 4 instead of 8 capsules. I crashed, badly. My son described what was happening to his dr and Jan 2 I saw this new dr. for the first time. We don't know why the dr. I was seeing wasn't aware of what could happen with that fast a drop, or why the pharmacists didn't pick up on it. I had to to back up to 5 capsules and in a week will drop down to 4. The plan is to drop 37.5 every 4 weeks. Struggling with the idea of that much time being miserable but reading posts here makes me see it could take much longer than to the end of June to be off this.

I am worried about many things. Is the next drop going to cause another crash?

What supplements should I be taking, as in vitamins or fish oil or something that could make this more tolerable?? Who gives me that info? Who do I trust other than the ones selling the products?

Getting off effexor is going to make things better in itself, but the depression and anxiety will still be there. All of the other issues will still be there. How will I manage that?

I don't want to add anything else to the drug soup (also on clonidine, irbesartan and hydrochlorothiazide, plus good old crestor) but am reading about adding another antidepressant as the effexor dose lowers. Can I do this without taking something else, another drug, meant to help?

I was half way there and wanted to keep going, to tough it out, but that option was not there. I have not been able to work (teach jr high) and am still coming to terms with the reality that this is happening. I went home too upset to handle the day, that one day, and it became the end of a 25 yr career. Will I be able to function again, to be who i was?
This is already a long read and I could go on for pages. I struggle with explaining this to others - most people have no clue, or assume there is something else wrong with me. I want to say its not my fault and that its unbearable. Gaining empathy for addicts who will do anything to keep this pain away, and for people who use suicide to shut it down for good, has been intense and I don't know what to do with that feeling either.

Let me know if anything happens with the class action suit, please. I think there are 2 parts at fault, or 3. The makers of the drug, the drs who are in over their heads and prescribe it, the medical system that puts us/me at the mercy of such drs, and the pharmacists who go ahead handing out drugs in amounts that hurt people. I guess they are victims of the system also in that they can't question prescriptions, or can they? I live in Canada, in a rather isolated northern community with very few drs, and often don't see the same dr more than once or twice in a row.

If you've read this far, thank you. Having a place to defend yourself and ask questions is good.

Hello. It seems this discussion will help me with getting off effexor. It was prescribed 18 yrs ago and increased over time up to 300mg. The last 2 years have been horrible and the doctor responded to my questions about trying something different with her concerns about my high blood pressure. That would be dealt with first before looking at other meds. She was following a protocol, I assume, and that was the order she felt she had to follow. Her response to my concern that the effexor was raising blood pressure was "it shouldn't". Finally she agreed to begin a taper set up to decrease 37.5 mg/week. Per week. After 2 weeks I saw her, described my symptoms and wished I could have puked, levitated, or stabbed her with something not even sharp as she said the withdrawal "shouldn't" be causing any discomfort. Carry on.
I got through the first 4 weeks, and was taking 4 instead of 8 capsules. I crashed, badly. My son described what was happening to his dr and Jan 2 I saw this new dr. for the first time. We don't know why the dr. I was seeing wasn't aware of what could happen with that fast a drop, or why the pharmacists didn't pick up on it. I had to to back up to 5 capsules and in a week will drop down to 4. The plan is to drop 37.5 every 4 weeks. Struggling with the idea of that much time being miserable but reading posts here makes me see it could take much longer than to the end of June to be off this.

I am worried about many things. Is the next drop going to cause another crash?

What supplements should I be taking, as in vitamins or fish oil or something that could make this more tolerable?? Who gives me that info? Who do I trust other than the ones selling the products?

Getting off effexor is going to make things better in itself, but the depression and anxiety will still be there. All of the other issues will still be there. How will I manage that?

I don't want to add anything else to the drug soup (also on clonidine, irbesartan and hydrochlorothiazide, plus good old crestor) but am reading about adding another antidepressant as the effexor dose lowers. Can I do this without taking something else, another drug, meant to help?

I was half way there and wanted to keep going, to tough it out, but that option was not there. I have not been able to work (teach jr high) and am still coming to terms with the reality that this is happening. I went home too upset to handle the day, that one day, and it became the end of a 25 yr career. Will I be able to function again, to be who i was?
This is already a long read and I could go on for pages. I struggle with explaining this to others - most people have no clue, or assume there is something else wrong with me. I want to say its not my fault and that its unbearable. Gaining empathy for addicts who will do anything to keep this pain away, and for people who use suicide to shut it down for good, has been intense and I don't know what to do with that feeling either.

Let me know if anything happens with the class action suit, please. I think there are 2 parts at fault, or 3. The makers of the drug, the drs who are in over their heads and prescribe it, the medical system that puts us/me at the mercy of such drs, and the pharmacists who go ahead handing out drugs in amounts that hurt people. I guess they are victims of the system also in that they can't question prescriptions, or can they? I live in Canada, in a rather isolated northern community with very few drs, and often don't see the same dr more than once or twice in a row.

If you've read this far, thank you. Having a place to defend yourself and ask questions is good.

Hi, @ksad - that sounds like your taper has been very tough but not at all unbelievable, with the stories many other members have shared of their venlafaxine (Effexor) tapers and how challenging they can be with multiple side effects.

As you seem to be grieving not being able to teach junior high as usual at this point while you are feeling ill from the taper, I thought I'd introduce you to a member who likely can relate to the loss (albeit temporary, for you) of a teaching career, @retiredteacher.

Have you discussed your fears about the next 37.5 drop with your doctor?