Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Effexor and cymbalta have been recommended to me for depression and anxiety, 8 months after a horrendous withdrawal from 25 years on Paxil (which worked great all those years until depression crept in)
My depression and anxiety are through the roof and all I can do is obsess over these two drugs.
What if it doesn’t work? Side effects? Trying to go off???
Which one has worked better for you?

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Could that same Mayo Clinic pharmacist you sought advice for share with us at least one legitimate way of tapering off 37.5mg Venlafaxine XR ??
Or at the very least explain why taking those beads (in whole) seperately is not advised? (we do need to understand why)

I can't help myself but feel lost when I'm told what not to do, omitting what can be done instead. (suggesting to ask prescribing doctor and/or pharmacist has been found more than once to be of no help by most participant here).

Thanks in advance for pushing/digging further the question.

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Effexor and cymbalta have been recommended to me for depression and anxiety, 8 months after a horrendous withdrawal from 25 years on Paxil (which worked great all those years until depression crept in)
My depression and anxiety are through the roof and all I can do is obsess over these two drugs.
What if it doesn’t work? Side effects? Trying to go off???
Which one has worked better for you?

Jump to this post

Tapering off 37.5 mg in just 20 days is a very fast taper. If you start experiencing withdrawal symptoms you can't tolerate, people here have found relief by going back to a dosage where they weren't having symptoms, staying there until they stabilize (may take weeks) and dropping by a smaller amount at the next taper. Generally, commenters on this forum have found a gradual taper (dropping only 5–10%) over a longer period of time is a more successful strategy and is much less stressful.

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@rosa66
I wanted to suggest you perhaps speak to your doctor regarding taking a medication with a longer half-life and see if s/he would recommend a longer half-life. Supposedly they make withdrawal symptoms easier.
Here are some half-life times for you.

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors

DRUG……….HALF-LIFE
Paxil………24 hours hours
Lexapro..27 to 32 hours
Celexa…..36 hours
Prozac……..4-6 days

Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors

Effexor……..3-5 hours
Cymbalta….12 hours
Pristiq………..12 hours

Dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor

Wellbutrin……21 hours

The problem, I believe is that people have a different idea of what slow is and don't take into account their dose, age, sex, time on the drug etc.
I also think exercise and a healthy diet are important.

Best of luck,
Jake

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Wow….so shorter half lives are harder to taper off….Effexor would be worse than Paxil!
Since Paxil worked so well for so long for me, could a different SSRI work?
The SNRI’s add another component, rather than just the serotonin….what if don’t need the norepinephrine and how do I know

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You acknowledge that you need to replace the Paxil you were taking for depression and anxiety—but right now it seems you're "putting the cart before the horse" and mostly worrying about how to get off whichever you try IF it DOESN'T help you.

Please remember that—
1) NOT everyone has difficulty getting off a drug; this site is for folks who ARE having, or DID have problems, so of course, it seems that quitting Effexor/venlafaxine is a nightmare. For some it is, but mostly because they're going too fast; quite a few here found "slow and steady" a successful strategy.
2) You learned something about tapering through your own experience getting off Paxil—that going too fast put you into a tailspin. Again, this reinforces the "slow and steady" approach to tapering if discontinuing a drug is needed.
3) You may learn very quickly that your post-Paxil choice IS, or ISN'T working. Usually, it is long-time use (or high dosages) that make discontinuing a drug difficult.
4) What drug will work for you is solely dependent on YOUR body—no one else's physiology, mental/medical issues, or past treatments are going to be like yours, so their experiences good, or bad aren't a prediction of yours.

You will set yourself up for success by reading up on how these possible next drugs work and for what conditions/issues they work best and having an in-depth talk with your prescriber. Good luck and much success going forward.

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