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- The anti-inflammatory effects of venlafaxine in the rat model of carrageenan-induced paw edema https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26351555/

Please note that this study was conducted on rats and not humans.

Well, that’s reassuring as one positive from Effexor since inflammation is a major trigger for disease and cancer. I’ve been fighting my primary care doctor to let me wean down efffexor XR 75mg to 37.5mg and she’s like dealing with a timid child who doesn’t know if she should turn right or left so she chooses the stand still. It’s baffling to me how some of these MDs become doctors. I told her I was on 150mg for a few years and with my previous MD I simply said I want to get off this medication so cut my dose in half and they did and I was fine. Now, dealing with a new MD who acts like I’m asking for open heart surgery from a dentist when I ask for the lower dose. Unbelievable. I’ve heard it’s extremely difficult getting off Effexor completely so any recommendations for the weaning process is much appreciated. I don’t want the emotional numbness I’ve had since getting on the Effexor. It’s made me less social, more avoidant, less motivated to do anything, almost like I developed some kind of phobia about getting ready to go somewhere causing excessive worry about being late, which leads to delaying or refusing to start the process - therefor I end up exacerbating the tardiness fears by making myself late because I wouldn’t just get in the shower or whatever- so I either end up really late or missing out completely, but most often I cancel plans & appts I make because I don’t want to deal with the stress of getting ready & out the door. I never had any issues pushing myself to do things I didn’t want to do, but had to do for whatever reason, prior to getting on this dam* medication. I also had no idea it was extremely difficult to get off of and potential to cause permanent and/or long term problems once it’s out of the system. It’s infuriating to think about these unknowns never being remotely mentioned to me prior to the prescribing. As in there is no way I would’ve consented to taking it with the known risk/reward positivities. Especially, considering my depression was induced postpartum and exacerbated from high level long term stress from my job that finally made me turn to a doctor for medication to relieve depression/anxiety. Never had depression before giving birth and stress from my job was severe prior to, but never unable to cope with it until I had my son. I feel like a more appropriate plan would’ve been to advise me to take a leave of absence from work until I was able to address the postpartum depression via treatment. Not doing so was a a recipe for disaster walking me into the lions den of antidepressants. It’s effected my life in ways I will feel for decades to come and I wish I could go back and make the decision never to get on the medication in the first place. I knew better being in the medical field, but I thought there was no other way to keep all the things in my life manageable. Has anyone been able to get off Effexor and get back to who they were before beginning the medication?

Thank you so much for sharing that experience!! I just discovered this platform today. I will share my experience in hopes it may help someone else.
I’ve been on Effexor 7 years (to help with Tamoxifen & Femara induced hot flashes & depression symptoms). I weaned off as directed by a clinician I recently began seeing (my psychiatrist retired 9 months ago) & the weaning process was too fast (should’ve listened to my gut & not that clinician) I got the typical brain zap, dizziness, sleeplessness, anxiety & irritability side effects that one gets from weaning too quickly off this type of med. What I didn’t anticipate was the excruciating headaches & body pain which also came over me. I have NO DOUBT that Effexor was masking a lot of the pain in my case. In fact-My oncologist kept asking me about my pain since I had begun “Femara” almost a year ago-which is known to cause bad pain as a side effect & I was wondering why I WASN’T getting the bad pain it commonly causes. Now I am convinced Effexor was keeping all of this pain under control.
I don’t know what I will do yet since it has only been a few weeks since stopping the Effexor. I am afraid to go back on Effexor in case I ever have to “come off it” again. I have a very physical job & cannot live like this so I must find an alternative to manage this pain. I’ve already maxed out the Advil doses per day & have added Tylenol so it is worrisome. I may simply have to go off the Femara & take my chances with the cancer returning. The irony is…there doesn’t seem to be many options to help these days.