Venlafaxine tapering

About 8 weeks ago, I tapered my dose of venlafaxine from 62.5 to 50 mg. During the first 6 weeks, I had typical withdrawal symptoms: flu-like feeling, drowsiness, and anxiety (no brain zaps). About 2 weeks ago, these symptoms became much more intense. Why? (Been on venlafaxine for anxiety for 12 years.)

@fleetwood - really sorry to hear this. Other members have reported rough tapers with venlafaxine.

I have found it useful to have the advice of my primary care doctor and/ or the filling pharmacist when I've tapered up or down on antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications. Things can just get crazy otherwise. They can get crazy even with a doctor in the wings advising, but it's given me someone to call in a hurry if something goes off track with the taper.

It's not hard for a taper to go off track, as we are all different in how we metabolize medications.

Have you gotten any input from your doctor or pharmacist on your taper or the symptoms you are experiencing? If so, how did they advise?

@lisalucier Unfortunately, my psychiatrist doesn’t know much about tapering or withdrawal symptoms. When I asked about “kindling,” he hadn’t heard of it. I’m inclined to go back to my previous dose and stay there longer, before attempting to move to 50 mg again.

Iv been on venlafaxine for a few years now no higher the 75.5 mg . Iv gone down to 37.5 but im now opening the capsule to break the pill inside in half .
Its a solid white pill .
Im not sure how much of a dosage im Getting but will this affect me some way or another when breaking the pill in half .
Iv been getting bad headaches for the past few days . . Should I just stop taking it . . How do you know if your ready to get off .
Im supporting myself with a few supplements .

Each white tablet (if there are three) is 12.5 mg. This would be a 33% reduction, much higher than is recommended. Never go cold turkey, in my opinion. Look up Mark Horowitz or Anders Sorensen. They are the experts in this field.

12 April 2026 comment from conniey
re: tapering off venlafaxine
The questions you have posed here about venlafaxine are all questions that you should be asking the psychiatrist who prescribed this medication for you. He/she should be supervising your tapering off of the medication, and should be the person to answer the questions you have posed to this chat group. In my opinion, that is what should be going on with all the questions posed here by different patients about different medications. The members of this support group are either patients, or family members and friends of patients. Very few of us have been to medical school, and I would venture to guess that very few of us are licensed pharmacists. I know patients or family members like to be helpful, and to offer support and advice, but one person's experience with a medication is just that: one person's experience with a medication.

People who do not have a license to practice medicine should not be trying to give medical advice to any other patients. In the US, one can be prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license. I know that sounds harsh, but I want to caution the members of this support group against seeking advice from others who are not qualified to give medical advice. If you have questions about your medication, including possible side affects, or issues with tapering off a medication, those questions should be addressed to the person who prescribed the medication. It is also important for the psychiatrist or other licensed physician who has prescribed you venlafaxine to be informed about what "supplements" you are taking, in addition to the medication that has been prescribed for you.

I've broken pills in 1/2 or opened the capsule to take 1/2 the beads. Never had a problem.