I have been on Effexor XR 150 mg daily for about 10 years (started on it while being treated for a diagnosis of Stage III breast cancer and undergoing bilateral mastectomy/chemotherapy/radiation therapy/etc.). I've not felt good since cancer treatment and thought it was because of the after effects of chemo, as well as side effects from exemestane which I was also on for 10 years until Oct. 2021. After stopping the exemestane, I was surprised that the side effects of muscle aches, joint pain, hot flashes and extreme sweating, headaches, brain fog, light-headedness, etc. continued! All 10 years, I thought it was from the hormone blocker, and I hung onto that hope tightly.

About 10 days ago, my family physician decided we should working on alleviating the symptoms one at a time....the first one being the excessive sweating and heat intolerance. He felt it could be caused by the venlafaxine. So, for the past 10 or 11 days, I've been weaning from 150 mg extended release to taking the 75 mg extended release capsule. The withdrawal symptoms are pretty lousy.

I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how long it took to wean off the Effexor (venlafaxine)? Also, is extreme fatigue one of the withdrawal symptoms you had?

I had to be woken up by my husband this morning at 11 AM and I went to bed last night at 8:00 PM! That is very unlike me and it's the second time it has happened in the past couple weeks. I'm crying at the drop of a hat and everything makes me angry. My brain feels very scattered. Everything is just "off".

Any advice? I'm 62 years old, and the venlafaxine worked really well for me when I needed it years ago, but had I known how hard it would be to get off of it, I don't know that I would have taken it at all, let alone stay on it as long as I have!

Thanks you in advance for any insights you might be able to share!

Jump to this post