Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

@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?

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

I haven't been on the effexor very long, may 4 weeks steady
I was trying to evaluate my symptoms if it had increased my anxeity. I have resumed taking the effexor for the past 3 days. Sometines I don't like how it makes me feel. I also under went full gadtric bypass 21 years ago., and i am unable to absorb and metabolize meds normally . feel like im floundering, as i,am having trouble getting into behavioral med clinics etc to monitor and or evaluate for a different antidepressant. Thank you for reaching out

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

Hi it's jenapower (aka. Jen), I'd love to have some great input about Effexor, but I only had a brief experience with it. I was giving it to help prevent migraine headaches, not depression. So my experience was different. I'm one of the few people that it puts weight on, 30lbs in about 3-4 months. I'm a very small person normally, so this was very apparent. I don't remember tapering off of it, but I must have considering what everybody is saying. I really don't have any memory of having any problems getting off of it probably because no one told me I would. As soon as I stopped taking it, within another three months, 30lbs were gone. So I can't take any kind of antidepressant in that category. I think Prozac, Effexor, and now Cymbalta are all very similar. I was given Cymbalta recently for fibromyalgia and other pain. I immediately started putting on weight, told the doctor and I quit taking it. Again I'd taken it for a few months, just like the Effexor, but never had any withdrawals. They probably said to taper it down, but I was too ignorant to know anything could happen. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful with a withdrawl plan. Good luck, it seems like a difficult thing to do. Someone said it's as addictive as heroin, that surprises me. I thought all the strong opiates were like getting off heroin. I just stopped all opiates about two months ago. I had a few symptoms but not many. I hope it works out for everybody. I wish I could be more helpful. Jen

is EFFEXOR AN Opiate? Of course, that’s not my understanding. But......

I totally agree with you about it being a life-long disease. I didn't have it until I went through my divorce and the loss of my son. I think that once the chemicals in your brain are shaken up, there's a slim chance that they will ever return to "normal", whatever that is these days. The reason I wanted to wean off of the Effexor after 14 years of taking it is because I am experiencing critical physical symptoms that, according to the Effexor warning label, are caused by long term use of this drug. I was suicidal after my divorce....had been married to my hs sweetheart for almost 30 years and my son was in Iraq on his second of his third tour with the USMC. I had a nervous break down. In the meantime, I lost the best job I ever had in my life; one that would ensure financial stability through the divorce. I had to leave the dream home we had built ten years before, my son came home from Iraq very depressed and I worried to death about him. Then when he had to deploy for a third time, I tanked again and had to be hospitalized. When my son passed away in 2012, I went on disability because I couldn't deal with the grief of losing my 29 year old son. I really think my mind and body have never healed from one tragedy before the next struck. The Effexor caused me horrendous brain fog to the point I could barely take care of myself and my dog. I literally didn't know where I was half the time. I couldn't go to the grocery store, do laundry, cook for myself, dishes....nothing. My house went to complete hell. I slept probably 16 or 18 hours a day. I gained 50 pounds in about 4 months which sent my bp skyrocketing....my doctor increased the Effexor because of my critical state which only made my bp worse. I just turned 60 and am beginning to truly worry about my physical health as it relates to the drugs I am ingesting....Please, please, please, anyone who is taking antidepressants READ THE WARNING LABEL EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU GET A REFILL. Side effects change and the date of the last update is on the BACK page in teeny tiny little numbers in the left hand corner of the warnings instead of in big, black bold letters on the FRONT. I am convinced that the cocktail of antidepressants the VA gave my son caused his suicide. Today, we are losing 20-30 Veterans a DAY by their own hand. 90% of it is because of the medication that the VA prescribes. It is absolutely criminal. Big pharma contracts with the government, gets these men and women addicted and then they die by their own hand. I think it's cheaper for the government to buy the drugs than treat them medically for their problems. That's another chapter in the book, though, and I won't bore you with statistics most of you don't even care about.