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As promised, my successful tapering off Effexor schedule
Below you will find the tapering plan that I used to successfully wean myself off Effexor (Venlafaxine). Feel free to share this with your doctor If you would like. I researched and came up with this plan, which was approved by my doctor, although she thought I could probably have weaned myself off sooner. But the reality is that we all have differing tolerance levels for tapering and weaning off this powerful drug from our bodies. Some people can taper faster, but usually not those who have been on this drug for years (like myself, since October 2002). I tapered off EffexorXR 150mg capsules about 5 years ago down to 75mg, and was on that maintenance dosage for a couple of years until I started weaning off the 75mg a year ago in April 2019. As of October, 2029, I’ve been withdrawal symptom free, but I still have occasional periods of anxiety when triggered. But I realize these waves of anxiety will soon pass, and I cope by deep breathing, taking a walk, having a cup of chamomile tea, etc. Cutting my exposure to watching upsetting news has really helped a lot as well. These days I seek things that bring joy and peace in such a turbulent world. Wishing you all a successful weaning off this powerful drug.
Weaning off Venlafaxine XR 75mg (Effexor-(extended release)capsules:
Weaning plan off plan that worked for BSS:
1. Inform your doctor you are tapering down from 75 mg Venlafaxine and ask them to prescribe 37.50 tabs to help with tapering doses (1/2 dosage down from 75 mg Venlafaxine capsules). The tabs are easier to cut into halves and quarter dosages than counting out beads from the capsules.
2. Begin your taper only after you are on a non-withdrawal symptomatic dosage level. If you were having w/d symptoms at 75 mg, you’ll need to go back to the level at which you were symptomless and stay there for 2-3 weeks before deceasing to a slow taper. NOTE: after successfully tapering from 150mg Venlafaxine down to 75mg for a month, I was unable to tolerate a drop cold turkey from a daily dosage of 75mg down to 37.50mg (50%) without having bothersome withdrawal symptoms of dizziness, brain fog, brain zaps, and nausea. So after researching various tapering plans, I came up with a slower tapering schedule my body could tolerate to finish the tapering from 75mg to 37.50mg, and then on to complete the tapering. Your body may even need slower tapering, so adjust according.
3. Week 1-2: Take 75mg caps MWFSu; take 37.50mg tab on alternate days Tu,Th, Sa. At the end of week 2, if you only have relatively mild to no withdrawal symptoms, proceed to week 3. IMPORTANT: If you have intolerable symptoms, adjust to a slower tapering schedule by adding an additional 1/2 tab on the alternate days (or take a total of one and a half 37.50 tabs on alternate days). You’ll then have to tweak the rest of your tapering schedule. If all goes well, proceed with week 3.
4. Week 3-4: Cut a few 37.50 tabs in half with a pill cutter or exacto knife blade to create quarter pieces. Take 37.50mg tab on MWFSu and take 3/4 tab on alternate days Tu, Th, Sa.
5. Week 5-6: Take 3/4 of a tab MWFSu, and take 1/2 tab on alternate days Tu, Th, Sa. If only mild symptoms, proceed to week 5.
6. Week 7-8: Take 1/2 tab on MWFSu; and take 1/4 tab on alternate days Tu, Th, Sa. If no symptoms, continue to week 7.
7. Week 9-10: Take 1/4 tab on MWFSu; and take 1/8 tab (cut 1/4 tabs in half) on alternate days Tu, Th, Sa. *Notice the quartering of doses into crumbs now...very important to keep small dosage tapering to remain withdrawal symptom free.
8. Week 11-12: Take 1/8 tab crumb on MWFSu; take none on alternate days Tu, Th, Sa. *If skipping alternate days produces symptoms, stay on 1/8 tab crumbs for a couple of weeks before alternating skip days for a couple of weeks.
You’ll find that this schedule may have to be tweaked for you by extending the time you stay on a taper...possibly up to 3-4 weeks before beginning a new tapering down. It all depends on how you tolerate the first two weeks.
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@tisme Dr. Josef recommends using a compounding pharmacy and getting your medication as a liquid suspension to be able to taper at the lowest dosage possible to reduce or eliminate the withdrawal issues.
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1 Reaction@nomoreconf Do your research on this site; you will find a number of reliable sources for withdrawing gradually. Going from three tablets to two is a 33% decrease and not recommended.
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2 ReactionsMy doctor said one should not cut Extended Relief tabs and suggested I taper by taking 37.5 every other day for 2 weeks, then skip 2 days the next 2 weeks, and so on.
Your implication was that you asked your doctor for the ER tablets which you then cut. Am I right? It’s hard to argue with success! I’m going to try the doctor’s way and see how it goes. I’ve only been on venlafaxine for 4 months.
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3 Reactions@sheffieldsmith currently coming off 275mg. Dropped to 150mg in 4 to 5 wks. Current withdrawal blood pressure increase, uncontrollable outburts of emotion from zero to 100 within a few seconds really bad sleep waking 5 times a night, finger numbness sometimes and had that zap thing once.
I'm scared. Discussed with doc was increased back up to 185mg on day 3 no benefit yet.
Advice welcome, seeing my specialist tomorrow and asked for closer monitoring. Thank you for the platform 🙏
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2 Reactions@visiona8 My Pyschiatrist put me on 400mg of Seroquel taken at night. It helped me immensely to get off of 3 other psychotropic medications that I was taking. 😀
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3 ReactionsI have been successfully tapering off of a 150mg a day prescription of Effexor (Venlafaxine) with a geniunely well scribed plan. The gist: You need to get the liquid form, and proper syringes to effectively apply the plan. I have tapered down to step 30 as of today, and I did reduction every week as opposed to waiting for 2-4 weeks. Do not even think about halving the tablets, or combining stuff. It mostly boils down to reducing to 90% of the last dose you got at each couple of weeks until its super small. You will also see that the effect of the drug on smaller doses is still very potent, and thats why the jump from the small to smaller and to smallest doses matter MUCH MORE than doing 2 pills and then doing 1. I am shocked that 300mg vs 75mg differs only 5% in occupancy, but a 10mg to 5mg differs by 16%.
Seeing a lot of people struggle with getting off of this, I have created an account here just to post this to help people who are dealing with this. I hope you make it as well as I did so far. Also recognize that the suggested timespan for getting from 300mg to 0mg is between 2-4 years.
The below guide is the excerpt from the research my doctor has brought about and suggested we start on. Use the "ml" values for checking your dose.
VENLAFAXINE TAPER – TABLE C (SLOWER TAPER)
Each step decreases SERT (serotonin transporter) occupancy by 2.5 percentage points.
Make one reduction every 2 to 4 weeks.
RO = receptor occupancy
Step | RO (%) | Dose (mg) | Volume
1 | 88.4 | 300 | Use tablets/capsules
2 | 86.7 | 150 | Use tablets/capsules
3 | 85.7 | 112.5 | Use tablets/capsules
4 | 83.6 | 75 | Use tablets/capsules
--- Switch to venlafaxine 7.5 mg/mL solution* ---
5 | 81.5 | 55 | 3.67 mL (twice daily)
6 | 79.8 | 45 | 3.00 mL (twice daily)
7 | 77.6 | 37.5 | 2.50 mL (twice daily)**
8 | 75.7 | 30.4 | 2.03 mL (twice daily)
9 | 73.7 | 26 | 1.73 mL (twice daily)
10 | 71.7 | 22.6 | 1.51 mL (twice daily)
11 | 69.7 | 19.8 | 1.32 mL (twice daily)
12 | 67.7 | 17.5 | 1.17 mL (twice daily)
13 | 65.7 | 15.6 | 1.04 mL (twice daily)
14 | 63.7 | 14 | 0.93 mL (twice daily)
15 | 61.7 | 12.6 | 0.84 mL (twice daily)
16 | 59.7 | 11.4 | 0.76 mL (twice daily)
17 | 57.7 | 10.4 | 0.69 mL (twice daily)
18 | 55.7 | 9.4 | 0.63 mL (twice daily)
19 | 53.8 | 8.6 | 0.57 mL (twice daily)
20 | 51.8 | 7.8 | 0.52 mL (twice daily)
21 | 49.8 | 7.2 | 0.48 mL (twice daily)
22 | 47.8 | 6.6 | 0.44 mL (twice daily)
23 | 45.8 | 6 | 0.40 mL (twice daily)
24 | 43.8 | 5.5 | 0.37 mL (twice daily)
25 | 41.7 | 5 | 0.33 mL (twice daily)
26 | 39.8 | 4.6 | 0.31 mL (twice daily)
27 | 37.8 | 4.2 | 0.28 mL (twice daily)
28 | 35.7 | 3.8 | 0.25 mL (twice daily)
29 | 33.9 | 3.5 | 0.23 mL (twice daily)
30 | 32.0 | 3.2 | 0.21 mL (twice daily)
--- Switch to venlafaxine 0.75 mg/mL dilution* ---
31 | 30.0 | 2.9 | 1.93 mL (twice daily)
32 | 27.9 | 2.6 | 1.73 mL (twice daily)
33 | 25.6 | 2.3 | 1.53 mL (twice daily)
34 | 23.5 | 2.05 | 1.37 mL (twice daily)
35 | 21.3 | 1.8 | 1.2 mL (twice daily)
36 | 19.5 | 1.6 | 1.07 mL (twice daily)
37 | 17.5 | 1.4 | 0.93 mL (twice daily)
38 | 16.0 | 1.25 | 0.83 mL (twice daily)
39 | 14.4 | 1.1 | 0.73 mL (twice daily)
40 | 12.7 | 0.95 | 0.63 mL (twice daily)
41 | 10.9 | 0.8 | 0.53 mL (twice daily)
42 | 9.1 | 0.65 | 0.43 mL (twice daily)
43 | 7.1 | 0.5 | 0.33 mL (twice daily)
44 | 5.1 | 0.35 | 0.23 mL (twice daily)
--- Switch to venlafaxine 0.075 mg/mL dilution* ---
45 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 1.33 mL (twice daily)
46 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.67 mL (twice daily)
47 | 0 | 0 | 0
@b4ti1c I recommend an online search for Tapermate.
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2 ReactionsI have been on 225mg of Effexor for several years. My dr added Buspar which just caused dizzy spells. She said because I have been on that high of dose of Effexor, it is now working against me. She wants me to try to taper off of it. She has put me on 10 mg of Prozac along with the Effexor for 30 days. We will then start the taper. I think my life is about to become living hell.
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1 Reaction@skunkmom
Not if you taper slowly enough.
It's your choice: a very slow taper or withdrawal.
Doctors usually taper too fast.
Take care
Jake