I have been taking venlafaxine xr 250mg for 25 years want to stop,

I recently discontinued 450mg of Venlafaxine daily, that I had been taking for fifteen years. I did so with my providers oversight.

My first thought is why do you want to stop? For me there were two answers; I believed it had stopped working and the drug had very real negative side effects. I also believed I never should have been on it to begin with. Something my providers tacitly agree with.

I stopped a number of medications at the same time, probably too fast. While I did not experience any of the usual discontinuation effects my sleep collapsed.

Sleep had been a problem shortly after I was put on psychiatric medication. Of course I was given medication to help me sleep. When I discontinued all of them it wasn’t long before I was sleeping only two hours at a time. This has not improved, even though it has been three months since I’ve taken any Venlafaxine. Sleep disturbances are a side effect and a discontinuation effect of the drug.

I am physically much healthier but I’ve recently gone through a terrible collapse that probably could have been avoided if I had gone slower,

The only interventions that have worked all the time with no exceptions are; a very clean diet and vigorous daily exercise.

I keep track of what I eat. I avoid garbage food (refined sugar and fast food) and I exercise everyday. For me exercise makes me happy so I usually go for two hours, two out of twenty four doesn’t seem like a lot to me.

The science is 💯 percent clear. Medication for mental health is a crapshoot, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. Even when it does no one really knows why.

A healthful diet and exercise, always work! And science is clear on why. No one wants to hear it, I didn’t, I’d rather take a pill. But what we eat and how much we move directly correlates to how we feel.

If I were to titrate all over again, I would follow the same diet and exercise regime and slow the discontinuation down to no more than one change every four weeks. The body needs time to adjust.

In my case I think fifteen years of high dose psychiatric medications may have made irrevocable changes to my biology. Meaning, whether I needed them originally or not I may need something for the rest of my life. We’ll see,

My advice, get your providers support. Go slowly. Eat nutritious foods and exercise. Hopefully you can avoid a setback, like I just had, that made me have to reset before I can start cleaning these drugs out again.

Be well and live in peace.

Many years ago I took myself off venafexaline myself. I opened up the capsule and removed a number of the little pieces inside. It took a long time but I did it with no side effects

Thank you. I have opened the capsule, it has 12 small tablets in it. I plan to take out 1 for a month and see how it goes.

thank you

@sandralane, tapering is often discussed in the Depression & Anxiety Support Group here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/depression-anxiety/

See this list of discussions: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/?search=venlafaxine+

Here are 2 long-running discussions with helpful tips from members:
- As promised, my successful tapering off Effexor (Venlafaxine)
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/as-promised-my-successful-tapering-off-effexor-venlafaxine/

- Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tips-on-minimising-withdrawal-symptoms-from-effexor-aka-venlafaxine/

@samrichardson posts here https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/694900/ about the advice he was given from his pharmacist about counting beads and detailed information about his research and experience.

Please note that this is not universally recommended as outlined here by a Mayo Clinic pharmacist. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/696464/

The concern is that if the beads are not standardized the dosing by bead counting would be variable. The manufacturer offers no indication that there is any particular amount of drug per bead, and release from the beads themselves could vary from the drug delivery from the bead and capsule since they are not designed to be taken that way.

The bottom line is that everyone is different and tapering is not a one size fits all. The final mile is the toughest and I can hear @jakedduck1 in my virtual ear reminding me to tell you – take. it. S L O W.

@colleenyoung
Although slow may not always work but it's going to give you the best chance of not having withdrawal symptoms. I took over 2 years getting off a large dose of Klonopin but only had very slight symptoms at the end of my taper which I controlled.
I believe the best way to taper is to get your doctor to write you a prescription and go to a compounding pharmacy. That way you reducing exactly the same percentage every month or whatever timeframe the doctor wants to reduce it. The problem with compounding pharmacies is often times insurance doesn't pay for the medication. I use sterile compounding pharmacy, which prepares injection medication and my insurance doesn't pay anything for that drug. I have also been taking the barbiturate phenobarbital for over 50 years and again I would use a compounding pharmacy if I were to stop it since I have been on it for such a long time. Had a compounding pharmacy you're getting an exact dose with each reduction, no guesswork. In my opinion the important thing is to make sure your doctor makes your reductions a low percentage.
SLOW IS KEY, SLOW SLOW SLOW. There was a person here on connect who took Effexor for 30 years. She decided to stop and she stopped cold turkey. She ended up in the hospital because she had a stroke. I don't understand what the big rush of getting off of a medication is as long as you're not suffering withdrawal effects.
Another connect member was on an infant testimony small dose, but yet he/she was still having with drawl symptoms. If memory serves, I believe he/she was only taking around 1/2 of one percent.
Just go slow, and I can't emphasize that enough.
Thank you Colleen.
Take care,
Jake

How have you been doing, Jake?

@ sears
Tired of being sick. My friend and I celebrated Christmas a couple days ago. It's not that I mind being sick but I wish I wouldn't get sick on the various holidays. I miss the holiday meals, but especially miss all the desserts.
Take care of yourself. Hope you haven't haven't beeen sick.
Jake

Jake, are you sick because you quit taking the Effexor ?

@sears
No, that was a long time ago. I only took it to shut my doctor up and didn't take it long. I don't remember taking it for depression, maybe for my pain because doctors were saying maybe the pain was causing seizures. I didn't buy that argument then and don't buy it now. At least not my type of seizures.
Jake