@sherry47
Stopping your medication completely is not a wise move. One lady stopped all at once and had a stroke so be careful. I’m willing to bet your taper was too fast even before your discontinuing it. One problem with doing it like your are is that you may start withdrawl symptoms down the road. Is there a reason why you can’t taper more slowly? Whats the rush. The slower your taper the better your chances are of not suffering the miserable withdrawls youve been going through.
One way I equate Effexor and the brain is that our brain needs a regular supply of glucose (it’s primary food source, around 20%) to function properly.
If you take Effexor your brain also depends on a regular dose of the medication. If you taper slowly enough your brain is more unlikely to notice the difference in taper amount. You mentioned taking it every other day and being off it for days. I wouldn’t recommend that. One problem is Effexors short half life, about 3-5 hours. I’m a strong believer in the 5-10% method. If your insurance will pay for a compounding pharmacy and your physician is willing to put you on a VERY SLOW taper maybe 10% you likely won’t even notice the taper changes every 2-3 weeks.
Good luck,
Jake