Effexor Tapering Off and Side Effects

@frouke Medications are a real pain but nothing is worse than depression.
Can you imagine what it was like before SSRI’s came on the scene?
Find an SSRI that works and enjoy your life. Depression is a real disease that affects millions of people.

I need encouragement and hope from those who have experienced side effects from tapering off effexor and how long you were on it, how long it took to taper and how long it took for all side effects to go away!
I am struggling to stay motivated and encouraged to push myself to move through the day! I am anxious when I wake and anxious when I go to bed. I am journaling, praying and trying to use MUSE for relaxing/calming my breathing due to anxiousness. I have an appointment with a psychiatrist, but it is a month away due to availability.
I discontinued the effexor after tapering off 75mg after 17 years due to some increased side effects I was concerned about. I was originally put on it when I experienced some peri-menopause symptoms--extreme night sweats, moodiness, anxiety and panic attacks in my late 40's.
After the last day of tapering(a very short taper unfortunately as the doc I saw convinced me my dose was so low all these years that the side effect would be minimal if non-existant.). I experienced terrible flu symptoms--nauseousness, chills, sweats, dizziness, headache, lack of concentration, etc. Luckily the headaches went away and after 8 weeks I now feel like I can concentrate some better. The chills and sweats are lighter and not as frequent. The nauseousness is not good. My husband baked oatmeal scotchies this morning and the sweet surgary smell made me gag! I am mostly anxious--what will go wrong, how to relax? I feel like I need something to tone this down but not sure what to ask for. Doc suggested yesterday, I combined hydrochloride and busipar to relieve the symptoms. Not sure I trust him since he said I wouldn't have any side effects and didn't want to listen to my concerns about withdrawal side effects in the first place. Even the pharmacist I spoke with indicated my dose was so low it would be really easy to taper off. I am sleepy but don't want to go to sleep during the day so I can make sure I sleep at night.
I was crying quite frequently at almost anything sad, even thinking anything sad. Emotions are dysregulated. I am trying to exercise more, drink more fluid, take my vitaming D which is extremely low due to being on the effexor so long.
Today, I filled out a bunch of paperwork and felt pretty good glued to the chair and concentrating on getting it done, but the minute I knew I needed to make lunch or get up to interact with others, or just think about the symptoms of this withdrawal, I become anxious and lose concentration.

I was on 112.5mg of XR for chronic pain. I started to taper from it over 20 weeks ago by cutting every 2 weeks. It was changed to IR in liquid form and I split it into 3 doses a day. Problem is I never did the math on how much the psychiatrist was cutting every time. I wasn't having issues at first as soon as I came down to around 60mg I'm getting stomach pain constantly, lost weight because can't eat due to pain, insomnia is horrible 3 4 days no sleep. I'm at 31mg and I can't keep going like this. I did the math and if I ask for an adjustment to cut 10% of the last dose every 2 weeks will take me another year or so to get off this horrendous drug. Is there a way I can ask to be given another medication that can cover effexor so I don't have to take it anymore and taper off that other one then. This is too painful.

Will I face withdrawal if I cross to another antidepressant? Please inform me.

I want to taper effexor from 175 to 150. My taper from 187.50 was tough. Would 25 mgs. be too much?

I want to taper effexor from 175 to 150. My taper from 187.50 was tough. Would 25 mgs. be too much?

I have to agree with @mmsm, you are setting yourself up for misery, I’m going through hell because of tapering too fast from Paxil and I don’t want to try another antidepressant to see if it helps, these meds have helped a lot of people but they have also caused so much suffering for others, I regret having taken them in the first place because I feel worse now than I did before. Please take your time and get off them very slowly if that’s what you’re doing, the alternative is miserable.

I want to taper effexor from 175 to 150. My taper from 187.50 was tough. Would 25 mgs. be too much?

Hi , don’t do the taper fast. You need to let your body adjust . Cut the 25 mg. tablets in 1/2. You still may feel an adjustment but not as bad. It’s normal to want to go fast but it is not a race. Everyone is different but slow and steady is much better. Good luck 🤞

I was hoping to taper off venlafaxine by using Efexor, it's name here in UK. But pharmacists have told the psychiatrist that it is not suitable for tapering because the beads inside the capsules are too variable. Each capsule approximates to its stated dose but those tiny spheroids inside differ from one another.
Has anyone come across this as a problem?

And when tapering do you count them out or weigh them?

I was on 112.5mg of XR for chronic pain. I started to taper from it over 20 weeks ago by cutting every 2 weeks. It was changed to IR in liquid form and I split it into 3 doses a day. Problem is I never did the math on how much the psychiatrist was cutting every time. I wasn't having issues at first as soon as I came down to around 60mg I'm getting stomach pain constantly, lost weight because can't eat due to pain, insomnia is horrible 3 4 days no sleep. I'm at 31mg and I can't keep going like this. I did the math and if I ask for an adjustment to cut 10% of the last dose every 2 weeks will take me another year or so to get off this horrendous drug. Is there a way I can ask to be given another medication that can cover effexor so I don't have to take it anymore and taper off that other one then. This is too painful.

Will I face withdrawal if I cross to another antidepressant? Please inform me.