1. < Depression & Anxiety

Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Posted by richyrich @richyrich, Nov 2, 2016

I have been taking Effexor/Venlafaxine for years and tried to get off it a few times but each time I try to give up the chemical withdrawal symptoms are a horror story and I give up giving up. Anyone got any tips or tried and tested strategies? Thank you

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nonnajoy | @nonnajoy | Sep 8, 2023

Hello all....
I am a breast cancer survivor of 12 years. When diagnosed, my dr. put me on Effexor 75mg/day and 37.5/night.
After several years on both, I decided with his approval to stop the 75mg. When I did this, I had no withdrawals at all.
Just this past year I decided to also stop the 37.5. NOT GOOD! I used the tapering off method, but then neuropathy started in my feet. So, then they prescribed gabapentin. I took that for a short while and as my PA and I were discussing me having this neuropathy and she said they also prescribe Effexor for patients with Neuropathy.
LIGHT BULB! So, this is what we know think....that I always had the neuropathy due to the strong chemo I had, but the Effexor masked it.
Anyone else have this situation?
I really am struggling with the neuropathy and I also feel like my whole body (skin) is on fire at times.
We decided I should go back on the 37.5 full time, which I did for a month. So far it's a good day/bad day. Today I have decided to go back to my original order of 75mg and 37.5 mg in hopes of feeling better. I'm going to give that a month or two and when I do (hopefully) feel better, I will drop the 75mg again.

Thoughts?

Thank you kindly

REPLY
kmart720 | @kmart720 | Sep 12, 2023

I’m a breast cancer survivor of 9 years. I was diagnosed Effexor for hot flashes like most of the people in this discussion. I believe at one time I was on 100mg/day. I decided about 11 months ago that it wasn’t really helping my hot flashes and I wanted to stop so I weaned off over approximately 4-5 months, stopping completely in April of this year with some physical withdrawal symptoms that last a few weeks. Since around that time I’ve been experiencing some psychological problems: feelings of depression, anxiety, worry…
I’ve always dealt with a certain level of worry but never feelings of depression and anxiety until recent months. I have known that something was not right but couldn’t figure it out until one day I thought “is it possible this is coming from Effexor withdrawal even though I didn’t take it to remedy depression?” I kinda thought this sounded ridiculous but after reading some of your posts I believe that is probably the root cause.
It makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only person to experience this.
I guess the reason for my post is two-fold-
1. I need some confirmation from some of you that you agree with my self-diagnosis
2. Any recommendations for a natural remedy? Serotonin maybe?
I don’t want to go back to Effexor!

REPLY
3 replies
njoys | @njoys | Sep 13, 2023
In reply to @kmart720 "I’m a breast cancer survivor of 9 years. I was diagnosed Effexor for hot flashes like..." + (show)
@kmart720

I’m a breast cancer survivor of 9 years. I was diagnosed Effexor for hot flashes like most of the people in this discussion. I believe at one time I was on 100mg/day. I decided about 11 months ago that it wasn’t really helping my hot flashes and I wanted to stop so I weaned off over approximately 4-5 months, stopping completely in April of this year with some physical withdrawal symptoms that last a few weeks. Since around that time I’ve been experiencing some psychological problems: feelings of depression, anxiety, worry…
I’ve always dealt with a certain level of worry but never feelings of depression and anxiety until recent months. I have known that something was not right but couldn’t figure it out until one day I thought “is it possible this is coming from Effexor withdrawal even though I didn’t take it to remedy depression?” I kinda thought this sounded ridiculous but after reading some of your posts I believe that is probably the root cause.
It makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only person to experience this.
I guess the reason for my post is two-fold-
1. I need some confirmation from some of you that you agree with my self-diagnosis
2. Any recommendations for a natural remedy? Serotonin maybe?
I don’t want to go back to Effexor!

Jump to this post

I agree with you. I think my feeling of extreme anxiety/fear/worry now is a result of Effexor withdrawal because I did not have a problem with anxiety before I was prescribed Effexor for hot flashes. At that time, I wanted to avoid hormone replacement therapy. 75mg/day did not prevent hot flashes, by the way, but I thought it lessened them. Anxiety brings on additional hot flashes in my experience, so perhaps that is why Effexor is prescribed as an "off-label" treatment for hot flashes? It should not be--because withdrawal is worse than hot flashes, according to what we are experiencing. I weaned myself off 37.5mg/day Effexor by adding more hours and then days between doses, and experienced no negative results until recently--which mirrors my experience the last time I weaned myself off the drug. My pharmacist says 37.5mg/day is a mild enough dose, if I need to return to it--but I don't want to be dependent on it and I want to avoid its many negative side effects.

REPLY
1 reply
kmart720 | @kmart720 | Sep 13, 2023
In reply to @njoys "I agree with you. I think my feeling of extreme anxiety/fear/worry now is a result of..." + (show)
@njoys

I agree with you. I think my feeling of extreme anxiety/fear/worry now is a result of Effexor withdrawal because I did not have a problem with anxiety before I was prescribed Effexor for hot flashes. At that time, I wanted to avoid hormone replacement therapy. 75mg/day did not prevent hot flashes, by the way, but I thought it lessened them. Anxiety brings on additional hot flashes in my experience, so perhaps that is why Effexor is prescribed as an "off-label" treatment for hot flashes? It should not be--because withdrawal is worse than hot flashes, according to what we are experiencing. I weaned myself off 37.5mg/day Effexor by adding more hours and then days between doses, and experienced no negative results until recently--which mirrors my experience the last time I weaned myself off the drug. My pharmacist says 37.5mg/day is a mild enough dose, if I need to return to it--but I don't want to be dependent on it and I want to avoid its many negative side effects.

Jump to this post

Thank you. It makes me feel better just knowing I’m not the only one to experience this.

REPLY
njoys | @njoys | Sep 13, 2023
In reply to @kmart720 "I’m a breast cancer survivor of 9 years. I was diagnosed Effexor for hot flashes like..." + (show)
@kmart720

I’m a breast cancer survivor of 9 years. I was diagnosed Effexor for hot flashes like most of the people in this discussion. I believe at one time I was on 100mg/day. I decided about 11 months ago that it wasn’t really helping my hot flashes and I wanted to stop so I weaned off over approximately 4-5 months, stopping completely in April of this year with some physical withdrawal symptoms that last a few weeks. Since around that time I’ve been experiencing some psychological problems: feelings of depression, anxiety, worry…
I’ve always dealt with a certain level of worry but never feelings of depression and anxiety until recent months. I have known that something was not right but couldn’t figure it out until one day I thought “is it possible this is coming from Effexor withdrawal even though I didn’t take it to remedy depression?” I kinda thought this sounded ridiculous but after reading some of your posts I believe that is probably the root cause.
It makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only person to experience this.
I guess the reason for my post is two-fold-
1. I need some confirmation from some of you that you agree with my self-diagnosis
2. Any recommendations for a natural remedy? Serotonin maybe?
I don’t want to go back to Effexor!

Jump to this post

I just researched your #2 and found this under healthline dot com:
"If you’re looking for natural alternatives to help manage your depression or anxiety, tryptophan-rich foods may be helpful. Remember that these foods [eggs, cheese, pineapple, tofu, salmon, nuts and seeds, turkey] must be combined with healthy carbohydrates [rice, oatmeal, whole grain bread] in order to affect serotonin levels.
"Exercise, light therapy, and a high fiber diet are also good ways to naturally boost your serotonin levels and overall mood..."
My anxiety onslaught occurred during a week in which I was unable to do my usual exercise routine, so I think they could be related in my case.
Wishing you all the best.

REPLY
1 reply
kmart720 | @kmart720 | Sep 13, 2023
In reply to @njoys "I just researched your #2 and found this under healthline dot com: "If you’re looking for..." + (show)
@njoys

I just researched your #2 and found this under healthline dot com:
"If you’re looking for natural alternatives to help manage your depression or anxiety, tryptophan-rich foods may be helpful. Remember that these foods [eggs, cheese, pineapple, tofu, salmon, nuts and seeds, turkey] must be combined with healthy carbohydrates [rice, oatmeal, whole grain bread] in order to affect serotonin levels.
"Exercise, light therapy, and a high fiber diet are also good ways to naturally boost your serotonin levels and overall mood..."
My anxiety onslaught occurred during a week in which I was unable to do my usual exercise routine, so I think they could be related in my case.
Wishing you all the best.

Jump to this post

Thank you!

REPLY
simon007 | @simon007 | Sep 13, 2023
In reply to @kmart720 "I’m a breast cancer survivor of 9 years. I was diagnosed Effexor for hot flashes like..." + (show)
@kmart720

I’m a breast cancer survivor of 9 years. I was diagnosed Effexor for hot flashes like most of the people in this discussion. I believe at one time I was on 100mg/day. I decided about 11 months ago that it wasn’t really helping my hot flashes and I wanted to stop so I weaned off over approximately 4-5 months, stopping completely in April of this year with some physical withdrawal symptoms that last a few weeks. Since around that time I’ve been experiencing some psychological problems: feelings of depression, anxiety, worry…
I’ve always dealt with a certain level of worry but never feelings of depression and anxiety until recent months. I have known that something was not right but couldn’t figure it out until one day I thought “is it possible this is coming from Effexor withdrawal even though I didn’t take it to remedy depression?” I kinda thought this sounded ridiculous but after reading some of your posts I believe that is probably the root cause.
It makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only person to experience this.
I guess the reason for my post is two-fold-
1. I need some confirmation from some of you that you agree with my self-diagnosis
2. Any recommendations for a natural remedy? Serotonin maybe?
I don’t want to go back to Effexor!

Jump to this post

KMART 720,

Hi, Qu, how long were you on EFFEXOR/ VENLAFAXINE?. As I have said before, I too, amongst many other side-effects, am suffering after stopping EFFEXOR. One positive marker, is that extreme heat tolerance issues with 30+ degrees of summer heat 2022 was , this summer, a bit better than last Summer when living thru a hot spell. So, not taking pills / titration by now - summer 2023 - has had some positive effect. But, hot body heat "flushes" , in any ambient temperature , continue. I stopped after a 2 yr titration Oct 22 from 75mg & 37.5 mg - then diluting reduced beads from 37.5 slow release. What would be good is for someone to feed back their long term, timeline resume, of ALL their Effexor / venlafaxine experiences , = post pill cessation to complete end of legacy side effects experience . My guess that all these issues (incl hot flashes etc), fall to the residue of the meds in your body. From what I can ascertain from (limited) feedback, this can take years to clear.

REPLY
2 replies
kmart720 | @kmart720 | Sep 13, 2023
In reply to @simon007 "KMART 720, Hi, Qu, how long were you on EFFEXOR/ VENLAFAXINE?. As I have said before,..." + (show)
@simon007

KMART 720,

Hi, Qu, how long were you on EFFEXOR/ VENLAFAXINE?. As I have said before, I too, amongst many other side-effects, am suffering after stopping EFFEXOR. One positive marker, is that extreme heat tolerance issues with 30+ degrees of summer heat 2022 was , this summer, a bit better than last Summer when living thru a hot spell. So, not taking pills / titration by now - summer 2023 - has had some positive effect. But, hot body heat "flushes" , in any ambient temperature , continue. I stopped after a 2 yr titration Oct 22 from 75mg & 37.5 mg - then diluting reduced beads from 37.5 slow release. What would be good is for someone to feed back their long term, timeline resume, of ALL their Effexor / venlafaxine experiences , = post pill cessation to complete end of legacy side effects experience . My guess that all these issues (incl hot flashes etc), fall to the residue of the meds in your body. From what I can ascertain from (limited) feedback, this can take years to clear.

Jump to this post

Approximately 8.5 years

REPLY
levinson11 | @levinson11 | Sep 24, 2023
In reply to @levinson11 "Been down to .5 Buprenorphine for years and cannot get below it , have tried going..." + (show)
@levinson11

Been down to .5 Buprenorphine for years and cannot get below it , have tried going so slowly and it doesn’t work . Let me know how you do getting totally off it .

Jump to this post

I have tried for years to get below .5, was put in it for depression and had been up at 16, no matter how slow I go I cannot get off it .

REPLY
tnsue | @tnsue | Sep 27, 2023

I can’t sleep. Have been on for 8 maybe longer years and I’m down to 75mg. It’s been almost 2 months and bad insomnia. Nothing works

REPLY
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