Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

I lasted 6 months, med free. During that time I jogged once or twice a day. Usually cried while jogging. Lost 19 pounds from anxiety. (And exercise). Developed phantom smells, vertigo. Just a wreck. I think I’m a person who needs meds and that’s that. I’m back on zoloft and seroquel and feel better 🙂

i was trying to see if i'd replied to this.........oy... no one likes to hear that they may need medication for life.. i got a sword strike of anxiety in the chest just reading that.. you may be right, i have no idea... but for now, my goal is to taper off this crap, as the side effect to benefit ratio was 5:1. one thing i can say for sure.. is that if ever i need to weight the pro's and con's of going back onto an AD.. it won't be effexor. I will be updating my progress on another post.. as soon as i find it..

i can't find my previous post so i'll just reply to this one.. on the advice of 3 professionals, i started tapering effexor XR with day on day off strategy from 37.5 down... and i went against most people's advice here and did not go "slow/steady".. why? because i was misreable on it to begin with.. why would i prolong that? so the taper started early february, basically it was.. day on, day off, day on day off, then day on, day off, day off, day on, day off, day off.. (1 day on, 2 days off), then i started halfing the doses of pills every 2 days.. then just stopped..that was a roaller coaster of emotions anxiety.. but the worse i THINK is behind he.. i'm on day 7-8 of being AD free.. but it has been a nightmare so far.. insomnia due to panic attacks, anxious all day, obsessive thinking, zombie, depersonalisation, probably due to lack of sleep/anxiety.. BUT i'm chugging along with the odd crying fits etc.. looking for that light at the end of the tunnel... just wanted to update you guys. one thing i wanted to mention, is that, the thing that really makes it hard.. is that the frame work, or template dosen't change from day to day.. you still have to " get up, workout, go to work, take care of the kids, come home etc.." and we all know the emotions that come along with that ;P.. anyways, enough playing the victim here... up and onward.

For all of the hype about normalizing mental health, and the social media promotions, it will be generations before no stigma is attached, and it will always exist. This was done to us through mismanaged prescriptions (is anyone on here withdrawing from effexor they got illegally?) and doctors who play the odds of 1 in 3 people having no or minimal problems with the side effects. It works for many people and some can stop taking it easily. Back to my point - explaining about this is time consuming and complex. I feel like I want people to understand I am not nuts, but no one has time to either listen to me explain, or research on their own. No one especially wants to listen to a person who in their mind is nuts, crazy or, in the least, unstable.

Something that helped me while I was med-free was meditation. I downloaded an App, but there are some free quick guided meditations on you tube. I found one called “daily calm” that really helped.

Now... finding the time to actually DO it was another story 🙂

Good luck!

Ps: my niece became pregnant and went off al her meds successfully! So there’s hope! Don’t give up! But also, go easy on yourself.

I’m guilty of looking up “stats” regarding percentage of folks who are taking AD or AA meds! Like this forum, it’s always comforting to know you’re not alone.

AD ? AA? something anxiety? something depression? One psychiatrist said depression and bipolar disorder, also anxiety are usually diagnosed in people younger, in their 20's. I wonder if he will ever realize far more people are undiagnosed and if there is no access to a psychiatrist or equivalent to make the diagnosis, it does not happen. That should be obvious, I thought. One isn't manic because there is not a sustained period of being high, of reckless behaviour. Oh there was, but after 40 years of managing that, and turning into an old lady of almost 60, things have changed. The rants and venting is far from over!

I hear you. Venlafaxine withdrawal wreaks havoc on brain chemistry including the emotions. The emotional responses I've had to others stories though are I think genuine and quite 'rational'. From a profound sense of relief knowing it's not 'just me', to deep empathy for the pain and suffering of others, I've cried many times reading this thread. That someone's little burst of sunshine can illicit pangs of longing makes sense too... it's a very 'raw' state we are in. I hope you're touched by your own sunbeam soon. And please know that it lasted only a moment - but even a 'glimpse' of a brighter future is enough to keep me pushing on on towards a better day... wish you all the best!

I did share a bit about what I am taking in my post but it won't be relevant to anyone else's needs because each of us has a completely unique physio-chemical makeup. I have heard that a few of the supplements are fairly common, so these are probably beneficial to many people. The pretty 'standard' ones are the Essential Fatty Acids - like Fish, Flax, Evening Primrose, Vitamin B-12 - make sure it's methylcobalamin (unless you feel your body can handle the extra molecule of cyanide in cyanocobalamin - personally I avoid cyanocobalamin), and then D-3 & A (especially important on cloudy days). A good multi is probably helpful for most people - I personally use Source Naturals "Life Force Multiple" with no iron and no cyanocobalamin. The brands I have come to trust are Source Naturals, Pure Encapsulations & (most) Jarrow Formulas. I take Jarrow's "Bone-up" which is a decent source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and more.

I will try that!!