Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

<p><strong>Want to get off Effexor</strong></p><p>Hello everyone,</p><p>I hope someone can provide insight into Effexor and CBD or Hemp oils. I have been on Effexor for about a year (3 time since starting anti-depressants 5 years ago). I want to get off this medication and have tried in the past. The withdraws have been so bad that I went up going back on it. We hope to get pregnant within the year and I do not want to be on this while with child. My doctor has suggested switching to Celexa (also have been on) but I am wondering if I will still experience withdraws when immediately stopping Effexor and starting Celexa. Ideally, I would like to be on no medication and go a more natural route. I have been looking into CBD/Hemp oils. Does anyone have experience with this? Thank you.</p><p>Lindey</p>

@lindeyt01
“The withdraws have been so bad that I went up going back on it.”
Could you share your previous taper schedule?
Jake

Erectile dysfunction. Several female posters on here experienced the feminine version of this, too.

I was forced to withdraw from venlafaxine cold turkey a few years ago because I lost my insurance, and could not afford to buy the medication. It’s very difficult, and it takes a few weeks. (Our lovely US health system:()
Look into benzodiazepine withdrawal techniques. There are many YouTube videos that you can utilize. There is a method developed by a doctor in the UK for withdrawing in microdoses. You might be able to work with a compounding pharmacy to very very slowly withdraw from this medication.

Good luck, if you have any questions let me know

Hi! I was on Effexor XR for a few years and got off it several years ago. It was a very difficult process, so I fully sympathize. You MUST wean off
VERY SLOWLY. I don't remember what my dosage was at the time (225mg?), but it took me about 9 months. Please do not let that long time scare you, it's worth going slow, that will be your biggest help w/ withdrawal. At the time I had a very difficult time finding any doctor with experience getting people off it.
Luckily I was advised to to find one and luckily I did. It is considered harder to get off than heroine. Not trying to scare you, just want to make sure you go as slow as possible. Mostly, I was moody/angry, had headaches, and some brain "shivers". The brain shivers I already had while on the meds.
I think we went down in 25mg increments over several weeks for each reduction. Keep us posted and good luck! Just give yourself some time and it will be over before you know it!

I just came across this group and am grateful for it. I am on week 4 of tapering with Effexor and the struggle is real. This has been so hard and I’ve been tempted to either stop all together or just go back on it. I want to cry a lot but no tears come, it is just the physical feeling of crying and it comes out of nowhere. I get up at 4am and pace for an hour. I am not a runner at all and the other day I sprinted a block and a half because of the frantic feeling I was experiencing. I either want to stuff myself full of Hershey kisses or never eat again. Therapy helps but this is really hard and tough I think for people who have not experienced it to truly grasp. Thank you for being here.

So, I just finished this process with Zoloft (sertraline) and here are some things that worked for me. Your mileage may vary, but hopefully these are low risk for you to try.

1) You may need to ask your doctor for a slower tapering program than other patients. Some people are just more sensitive to dosage changes. Be aware that symptoms will get better, then may reappear each time you taper. AAFMA (practice group of family physicians) says that the symptoms typically last 1-2 weeks and as long as 4 weeks, so I just kept reminding myself that it was temporary.
2) Be watchful for things that make your symptoms worse. For example, caffeine seems to trigger the brain zaps for me (still, even after being off for several weeks), so I cut back my caffeine intake. I didn't give it up completely (because I still need to function), but cut back on how much real coffee I was drinking, mixed decaf with regular, and switched to tea sometimes. In the end, I probably cut my daily caffeine intake in half, and it did help quite a lot.
3) Ibuprofen or other pain reliever can help with the flu-like body aches.
4) Benadryl helped with the brain zaps.
5) Exercise helped with both. Even if I wasn't up to a run, a few blocks of walking would settle down the symptoms for a while at least. (Then, when they come back, just take another walk. We took a lot of walks for a while there).
6) Get enough sleep. As I came down off the meds, my normal sleeping patterns returned, which was great, but it did mean that I needed to plan time to let my body rest.
7) Pay attention to your diet. Your brain uses carbs to make seratonin, so now is not the time to go on the Atkins diet. Eat well and make sure you're getting enough healthy carbs. You may crave sweets; I certainly did. I tried to counteract this by having bananas, graham crackers, and other healthy things I could snack on instead of sticking my head in a birthday cake like I seemed to want.

No lie - it's a painful process, but this did really help make it easier. Also, at a certain point, when I was down the below the normal starter dose, I just ripped off the bandaid and went to zero. At that point, it felt like each taper was just prolonging the suffering. Don't just go cold turkey from your current dose, though, as that can be dangerous. Also, don't add any supplements or substitutes for the SSRI without talking to your doctor first (also dangerous).

And of course, watch for the return of depression / anxiety type symptoms. For a while it was hard to tell whether I was tired because of the change in meds or because my depression was returning. I figured as long as I felt okay enough to function and wasn't thinking about being harmful to myself or anyone else, I could play it out and see. It turned out to be the meds and on the other side, I can see that I was more worried about it than I needed to be.

I wish you the best of luck and a healthy life.

Mardee

I have been taking venlafaxine HCL ER Cap 37.5 mg since 2017. recently I felt they were making me nausea. I have decided to get off of them. I take capsules therefore, I would break them open and count the little pebbles and took like this,. The first week I took 1/2 of capsule pebbles daily, next week 1/3 capsule pebbles daily, then this last week 1/4 of capsule pebbles. Today is friday 3-5 and I am now off the pills totally. I don't feel depressed at all. Symptoms are bad nausea, sweats, feeling cold, vivid dreams. The nausea is the worse, I ve tried everything to help rid me of the nausea, nothing works. I am in hopes that I am doing the weaning the proper way. My dr. suggested for two weeks take1 pill every other day. I didn't feel that would be good so I did not follow her instructions. Is there someone at Mayo Clinic Connect who can suggest something for the nausea. Thank you