Effexor tapering question

I was on several kinds of antidepressants since I was 15 years old for anxiety, and I am 66. They all had horrible side effects. Your doctor can help you with the best antidepressant to taper for you. Effexor is difficult to discontinue, but it can be done. I was on it for a good 10 years. I have been off it for 4 years next month, and I still have occasional brain zaps. Took me years of tapering off the drug, then giving up, but I finally got there! Good Luck, and you can do this!

Dear Sharona09,
Hi, I have been trying to find, for a long time now, people who were on effexor / ( *venlafaxine in my case), for prolonged periods of time. And, the legacy side effects people now still get, after their titration off of has finished.
I was on * it for 18 months, with then a near 3 year titration period off of, (was on only 75 mg XR), with Dr oversight of my titration off to 2023. My problem is still legacy side effects, even by now @ July 2025, 2 yrs after titration finishing. I get many issues, including swollen lips every morning, blood spot rashes, brain zaps, tight chest breathing etc. Some of these effects come & go in waves of severity . Mine appears to be legacy allergic reactions to the drug I have read such legacy side effects can last for years with a patient average of 4 years , even after a slow titration as the drug (trace elements of) are still in your body. Did your adverse reactions , after finishing titration, and over time , lessen & reduce in frequency? Your stated 4 year juncture & (I assume by now) occassional side effects , ties in with what feedback I am hearing. This includes one story from a Dr who himself had such legacy issue experience. Regards Simon

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I am in a very similar situation after tapering for 10 months. I am at 14 mg now, and still feel terrible every day, both physically and emotionally. My Dr has added a low dose of desvenlafaxine, hoping to help the withdrawals. While it didn't give me any side effects, I can't say it's any noticeable improvement. This is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I have to keep going because it's harming my liver.
Sometimes, doctors will cross-taper you to Prozac, then have you get off that. Unfortunately, that only made my anxiety worse. I'm not trying to scare you, only giving you my story.

I stopped cold turkey about a year-and-a-half ago. I don't advise this, but in my case, after long term use, it began driving me into a very dangerous depression and causing serious behavioral issues and self-harm actions. There are studies showing this is a rare but documented response. I was on it for 20 years, yet somehow managed to ride out the worst of the withdrawal in about four to six weeks. After that I had months of surging emotions, although I was good with this as, looking back, I feel that Effexor shut down a lot of my capacity for feeling the fullness of life, both the joy and the sorrow. I was emotionally flatlined except for extreme rage, which began developing as I tumbled into massive depression and is very uncharacteristic of me.

It became a nightmare drug for me, and even my psychiatrist is in full agreement that the antidepressant was what was fueling my severe and deepening depression. 18 months after quitting, she's all but cut me loose. She's not worried about me harming myself now (I was hospitalized about two years ago).

I've grown deeply critical of how the drug is handled. I was never told about the difficulties of quitting it (I'm an outlier for being able to wean off of it so quickly; I've heard no end of nightmare stories from others). I was never told about the black box warnings that, it turned out, applied to me. It was prescribed by a family physician who just handed it to me and said if it doesn't work, come back. No medical monitoring. No psychological monitoring. No warnings. Nothing. Just take it and hopefully you'll feel better. Frankly, I don't know if a lot of general practitioners are even aware of the potential pitfalls of it.

I have come across this story on forums repeatedly. People are prescribed it, but not told that quitting it could be a brutal and prolonged experience. They only find out when they decide to quit. This should not be happening.

Antidepressants do save lives, but patients need to be making informed decisions. But in my case, as well as that of many I've seen who have recounted their experiences on forums, this simply doesn't happen.

I did switch to a different provider, a much younger P.A. who is fully cognizant of the possible negative side effects of antidepressants. As I was relaying my experience, he told me that he's very cautious with antidepressants, informs patients before prescribing them that if they need to quit, it could be extremely difficult, and if they do decide to try them he has them to come in regularly for a emotional and physical checks. That's how it should be.

I have been taking Effexor since yr 2000 mostly for anxiety. I have switched to other SNRI's 3 or 4 times because of side effects (sexual numbness) without and problem because I would replace dosage for dosage. I always came back to Effexor because it is a better anti-anxiety med for me. I would think switching one for the other should cause little discomfort if done right for anyone.

I wish i could find a doctor like that! No matter how many times I try to tell them how I'm feeling, both physically and mentally, they act as if they don't believe me. They certainly don't know what to do about it!

I gave my doctor and pharmacist each a copy of Mark Horowitz's book, The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: Antidepressants, Benzodiazepines, Gabapentinoids and Z-drugs," for which they later thanked me. This is the guide I used to work out my own tapering schedule, with the help of my pharmacist. Horowitz's recommendations regarding discontinuing antidepressants are also available through the Outro website and via his YouTube videos.

I seem to have tried every way to taper off venlafaxine / efexor UK version. When I did that ten years ago with Effexor it took many months but was smooth. I was prescribed 225mg two years ago bec I was not sleeping or eating (marital breakup) but I can't get off it.

I have awful dizziness. weakness etc
I have tried efexor and venlablue minitablets of 12.5 mg) and liquid venlafaxine. However tiny the reduction, I get terrible reactions. Two pharmacists have said I is not possible to taper with efexor bec he spheroids vary so much.

I have realised that I can't take instant release forms of venlafaxine. I have tried everything and I don't want to lose hope.

HELP!
XX

I am so sorry. One possible remedy is to replace with some other antidepressant and then slowly reduce that one. I replaced Effexor numerous times with little side-effects. You will always get some brain zaps for a few days but that goes away eventually. Right now I am on 150 mg Effexor and recently discovered CBD/CBG oil from hemp that works so well for my anxiety that I may wean myself off the Effexor to 75 mg, which I have done before. Please don't give up. Maybe switch psychiatrists. There are always some that will nurse you along with the help of low doses of Valium or Xanax while lowering your dose...Stay in touch and keep exercising.

No need to lose hope; you just haven't found what works for you yet.
How "tiny" are your reductions?
Are you still taking 225mg, or a lesser amount at this point?

I'm in the midst of my third attempt to end Effexor, and I know I will succeed this time because I am decreasing the dosage extra slowly. The maximum dosage I was taking was 75mg extended release (ER) capsules. I am now down to 25mg immediate release tablets. I guess I was lucky; I noticed no difference in switching from extended release to immediate release--of course, the ER is taken once a day, and the immediate release tablets twice a day 12 hours apart. I was counting the tiny dots inside the capsule in order to decrease by 10 percent over time (weeks or months)--tedious but possible. Then my pharmacist, following the information provided in the Horowitz book, created a water-based liquid solution for me and provided an equivalent schedule of milliliters measured through a syringe to accomplish a ten percent reduction. When I am ready for the next reduction, however, I am going to go back to the pharmacist's refrigerated liquid solution and reduce by FIVE PERCENT, because the effects of smaller reductions at lower doses is greater. That might be difficult to understand if you aren't familiar with the explanation given by Mark Horowitz for hyperbolic tapering. You don't have to buy the book; you can find the explanation online if needed.
My pharmacist was very encouraging; I'm sorry yours are not. You can do this!