Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

@ava1
I hope your doctor didn’t advise you to go off Effexor the way you did.
You most likely could’ve avoided the brain zaps and any other withdrawal symptoms had you gone off of it slowly and not skipped days.
Hope your symptoms are subsiding now.
Take care,
Jake

I have skipped three days maybe four days of taking my effexor starting to have the flight fight feeling not sleeping well such vivid dreams that keep me awake with my heart pounding am I able to just restart or reinitiate this medication

You’re tapering waaaaay to fast! If your doctor is directing this taper find another doctor. Reinstating at a small dose may help until you find the proper way to taper. The proper taper can be different for everyone. You have to listen to your body and go from there. Take your time it’s not a race. Effexor is probably THE hardest antidepressant to taper.

@kchastain, have you resumed taking your medication? I hope that you are feeling better. Please let me know how you are doing.

May I ask why you skipped 3 or 4 days? Were you wanting to stop taking the medication or had you simply forgotten to take it?

Yes. If a dr prescribes 10 mg of prozac it will help you taper off the Effexor and take away the horrible withdrawals then stopping the prozac is easy no symptoms like Effexor and such a long half life it is not that hard cv at all. Move to 5 for a week then you stop

Do it. I promise it will help
You and it’s just a short time and it will save you I promise and stopping is nothing. Easy.

sunshinestacy
Did you ever stop and think why some people might need a Prozac bridge? Did you ever consider people may be stopping to quickly and that’s why there are having these horrible withdrawl symptoms or that some people may be able to stop medications more quickly than others? The chances are much less likely to need Prozac if you stop your Effexor slowly enough.
Also it may have been easy for you to stop but it may not always be easy for everyone to stop even with the use of Prozac.
I'm glad your taper went so smoothly,
Jake

I don’t think this forum is for people to be condescending and rude. And not only do I have over 30 years dealing with anti depressants but I also am
A medical professional are you? You seem to think you know more than I do just for no reason. Have you ever tapered off Effexor? Not matter how you do it it is the worst hell to go through. And it was a dr that used the 2 week Prozac bridge and it saved me and many many others from going through that hell. Everyone absolutely will have an easier time going off prozac as it has a 5 day half life where Effexor is only hours which is why one missed dose and your brain is zapping and you have severe dizziness. Also prozac takes its time to fully leave your system, 25 days so it’s much gentler then the 4 days Effexor leaves your system completely. And 10 down to 5 mg to alleviate all the Effexor hell is a million times worth it. So I don’t have to think I know. As do many doctors, usually the better ones

I’ve heard many people say this method was very helpful. It’s worth a try.

@jakedduck1, for some people using Prozac as a bridge to complete a taper off of Effexor is highly effective and recommended. "Sometimes, even if you are slow and deliberate when weaning off an antidepressant, you still may experience symptoms of discontinuation syndrome. In these cases, your doctor may prescribe fluoxetine, which has been found to help ease discontinuation symptoms."
Reference: https://www.verywellmind.com/brain-shivers-as-effexor-withdrawal-symptom-1065516

@sunshinestacy and Jake, I hope we can continue to share experiences and support people on the forum with mutual respect. We all want the same thing - to help people get the help and support they need to meet their health goals.

@andy1962, fellow member @texasduchess has written about using Prozac as a bridge a few times buried deep in this long discussion (as Jake mentioned). Here are links directly to her related posts:
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/126639/
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/124461/

You may also wish to join the discussion specific to Prozac bridging
- Anyone tapered off Effexor and used Prozac as a bridge? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/effexor-2/