Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

So, I just finished this process with Zoloft (sertraline) and here are some things that worked for me. Your mileage may vary, but hopefully these are low risk for you to try.

1) You may need to ask your doctor for a slower tapering program than other patients. Some people are just more sensitive to dosage changes. Be aware that symptoms will get better, then may reappear each time you taper. AAFMA (practice group of family physicians) says that the symptoms typically last 1-2 weeks and as long as 4 weeks, so I just kept reminding myself that it was temporary.
2) Be watchful for things that make your symptoms worse. For example, caffeine seems to trigger the brain zaps for me (still, even after being off for several weeks), so I cut back my caffeine intake. I didn't give it up completely (because I still need to function), but cut back on how much real coffee I was drinking, mixed decaf with regular, and switched to tea sometimes. In the end, I probably cut my daily caffeine intake in half, and it did help quite a lot.
3) Ibuprofen or other pain reliever can help with the flu-like body aches.
4) Benadryl helped with the brain zaps.
5) Exercise helped with both. Even if I wasn't up to a run, a few blocks of walking would settle down the symptoms for a while at least. (Then, when they come back, just take another walk. We took a lot of walks for a while there).
6) Get enough sleep. As I came down off the meds, my normal sleeping patterns returned, which was great, but it did mean that I needed to plan time to let my body rest.
7) Pay attention to your diet. Your brain uses carbs to make seratonin, so now is not the time to go on the Atkins diet. Eat well and make sure you're getting enough healthy carbs. You may crave sweets; I certainly did. I tried to counteract this by having bananas, graham crackers, and other healthy things I could snack on instead of sticking my head in a birthday cake like I seemed to want.

No lie - it's a painful process, but this did really help make it easier. Also, at a certain point, when I was down the below the normal starter dose, I just ripped off the bandaid and went to zero. At that point, it felt like each taper was just prolonging the suffering. Don't just go cold turkey from your current dose, though, as that can be dangerous. Also, don't add any supplements or substitutes for the SSRI without talking to your doctor first (also dangerous).

And of course, watch for the return of depression / anxiety type symptoms. For a while it was hard to tell whether I was tired because of the change in meds or because my depression was returning. I figured as long as I felt okay enough to function and wasn't thinking about being harmful to myself or anyone else, I could play it out and see. It turned out to be the meds and on the other side, I can see that I was more worried about it than I needed to be.

I wish you the best of luck and a healthy life.

Mardee

Hi. I have seen that you may have the same symptons as my friend have. He abruptly stopped taking venlafaxin and very soon developed a chronic anxiety. He is in a constant state of afflction that doesn't seem to be cured by any treatment. He even tried Cetamine Infusion. Is your case similar? Have you got over it? If so, how?

Hi there! I am new to Connect, but hopefully can offer some insight. I DID go off 150 Effexor XR (name brand) COLD TURKEY on January 2016. I survived it, but will never in my life EVER go off ANY antidepressant cold turkey. I had taken Effexor for at least 8 years, Zoloft prior to that and and Imipramine (sp?) as the first antidepressant (in all 25+ years on antidepressants.) It all started with running out of meds over a long weekend and deciding it was time to try to get off antidepressants to see how I would do. Since I had recently retired from teaching, thought this would be an ideal time to give it a go. In addition, Effexor just wasn't helping all that much anymore (I thought.) The first 3 days I felt like I was going to die! When I realized that I wasn't dying, decided to keep going to get it all over with. In addition to the symptoms you have heard about, I had deep bone/joint pain that felt like I was being pinched with clamps. Also had skin sensations and peeling, and noticed a strange smell on my skin. Each day got a little better and by the 3rd week started to function a bit more normally. I was very emotional, however, which caused my family great concern. Well, to make a long story short, the depression crept back in full and I am still trying to get my life back. I did everything I could to stay stable, including herbal supplements and took a vacation where I hiked 6 miles daily for 9 days on hilly, rocky terrain. I finally had to accept that I'm a person who will need antidepressants for the rest of my life. With the help of a PCP and counselor, I am on my 3rd antidepressant & may need to resort to going back on Effexor, because nothing seems to be working. All in all, in my opinion, the chronic depression is worse than the withdrawal symptoms that do eventually end. If you are a person with situational depression, you may be successful weaning off Effexor gradually. If I were to do it again, that's what I would do (while replacing Effexor with something else.) Here are the things that helped me with the physical withdrawal symptoms:
1. Get plenty of sleep/rest.
2. Eat a very well-balanced diet (this is not the time to worry about your weight.) Lots of soup & easy to digest foods the 1st few days.
3. Drink plenty of water, including coconut water.
4. Have a glass of wine in the evening (if advisable.)
5. Get outside and walk or other excersize (the warm sunshine will feel good!)
6. Hot yoga 3-4 times per week. Stay in class even if you feel nauseous & can only do a few postures.
7. Soak in a hot tub (with bath salts if available.)
8. Use a good moisturizer on face & body several times per day.
9. Get several professional massages.
10. Take Tylenol for muscle pain, if OK on your stomach.
11. A heating pad is also helpful at bedtime or during naps.
12. If you are single & live alone, make sure a few trusted friends/family members know what you are doing.
13. In general, be kind & gentle to yourself.
14. NEVER give up! Keep going, even when you don't feel like it (which will be often.) YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!

I was switched from Effexor to Trintellix. I wish I never took Effexor, the side effects of coming off of them are horrible. I feel "brain zaps", feel like I could "snap" and it feels like things are lagging if that makes sense. I have been crying, feeling mentally off. I wish doctors would tell their patients about the withdrawals from this drug. It's awful and I am wondering how long I have to deal with this. It's making me more depressed. My hopes is that Trintellix will help my depression, I already know that it does not have the horrible withdrawal effects if I ever have to go off of it. (I was on Effexor 75mg daily) Thanks for letting me share my experience. I was told that fish oil, frozen and taken at night will help minimize the side effects, so I will try that.

Hi, I have been slowly withdrawing from effexor for months. I went from 200 down to 37.5 over three months. I was at 37.5 for a month and now I went completely off four days ago. I'm shaky, sweaty or cold and can't sleep. How long will this last??

Due to a variety of events, family and personal, I went cold turkey from 300mg Effexor two weeks ago. I have taken many if your suggestions and cannot thank you enough. This was unplanned, but I have hated this drug for the entire four years I was on it. But I do not recommend doing withdrawal thus way unless you have to due to some circumstances. So far, I am surviving and look forward everyday to an end of symptoms. So what is working for me so far:

1. Try hard to sleep (40+ Hours up twice were hellish) Benadryl, Melatonin, and more have helped a lot. Once I sleep the weird dreams, fevers, and body aches have tended to wake me a lot- but I can usually go down again.

2. Carb loading has been unavoidable due to severe cravings. So, I stocked up with whole wheat bagels, crackers, etc and have removed most treats. I have felt incredibly weak a lot of the time, and thus have doubled my protein intake. Food prep has been hit of miss so I also bought some easy, quick, and decently healthy foods. I also ordered food delivery 3 times in these past 2 week- unheard of for me. Whole wheat pretzels so good!

3. I have two great dogs, but caring for them has been really hard right now. I made adjustments- a second water dish for them- this time in the bathroom since making it 2o feet away to their water fountain has been too hard once or twice, but I will make to the bathroom obviously. Called a friend, and hired a dog walker to help care for them. I have had awful headaches, fevers, and balance issues at times. Their love and snuggles has made all this more doable.

4. Got a shower bench- sometimes standing and balance issues were getting between me and being clean. Lol- this was not a time too consider kicking Amazon too. 😉 Body aches improve for me in warm water.

5. I have found mixing up relaxing and distracting activities has worked best. Some reading, meditation, snuggling, online games, watching dramas with subtitles has a nice amount of challenge, etc. I hope to be able to walk the dogs again soon, bike, swim etc- but they have simply been too much. I will try adding my recumbent exercise bike again tomorrow.

6. I have Prozac coming this week, and I have anti-anxiety medicine available. The latter, I have had to reach for about every second or third day for at least a dose.

7. Masturbation has helped a lot the couple of times I have tried, but sexual dysfunction had never been a problem for me on anti depressives. So, I may not be representative of most there.

8. I have been using the free, nonprofit app- how we feel project to do check ins at least 2-3 times a day. This helps me monitor things and even allows me to share the simple basic of my rating with anyone I want to.

Hi, guys, I just posted my successful Tapering and weaning off Effexor (Venlafaxine). I hope it is a helpful guide to SLOW tapering, which has been found to be the most symptom free way to taper. Good luck!