Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

My bad test results a month ago indicated that my liver was suffering damage from medication and was triggering autoimmune hepatitis. I've been reducing my medications ever since. I take a series of supplements and vitamins to help me get off the 375mg Effexor XR I've been taking for 12 years. I would recommend that anyone following this protocol take the supplements and vitamins for a month before trying to reduce your Effexor; also, make sure you are doing so under a doctor's supervision in case there are any reactions to the supplements. Lastly, this protocol has helped me avoid any physical symptoms of withdrawal. It is important to be aware of emotional symptoms when coming off antidepressants. If you start having intense emotional symptoms, contact your doctor immediately.

I have been reducing my Effexor by 75mg every 4-5days. It has always been beneficial for me to split my dose throughout the day. In other words, if I am taking 300mg, I take 150mg morning and night to keep the dose steady throughout the day. Now that I am taking 37.5mg, I am taking the dose only in the morning. I have only a few more days at 37.5mg before I come off the drug completely. I am also following the Paleo diet (recommended by my doctor for the autoimmune hepatitis) and exercise with cardio and weight training 4-5 times per week.

This is my daily medication protocol as of today:
Morning (taken first thing in the morning without food)
1 cap Vitamin D3 1000 UI
1 cap L-Tyrosine 750mg (to boost dopamine production in the brain)
2 cap probiotics (I take Dr. Tobias Deep Immune Probiotics, 4.4 billion)
1 cap Vitamin B6 100mg (to assist the L-Tyrosine)
1 cap Effexor 37.5mg

Night (taken at least one hour before bedtime)
1 cap L-Tryptophan 500mg (to boost serotonin production in the brain)
2 cap Omega 3 Fish Oil (I take Dr. Tobias Omega 3 2000mg Fish Oil w/ 1400mg Omega 3s - 800mg EPA, 600mg DHA)
2 cap Choline/Inositol 500mg/500mg (more a supplement for my Paleo diet, but I wanted to include it here as well)
1 cap Viatmin B6 100mg (to assist the L-Tryptophan)
1 cap multivitamin (I take Centrum Woman as it contains iodine for healthy thyroid support)

To assist with any anxiety, I have a prescription for 25mg Seroquel to use on an as-needed basis. I have only been needing the Seroquel rarely but when I do take it, I take it right before bedtime. I purchased all the supplements and vitamins from Amazon as they had the best selection and fastest shipping. I hope this information is helpful. I came up with this list through research into reducing Effexor and looking at supplements that can help boost neurotransmitters in the brain. If there are any questions about this series of supplements that I am taking, please message me or reply and let me know. Thanks.

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I also managed to slowly taper off, from the highest dose you can be prescribed down to 35.7 being the smallest amount you can take (without splitting pills)
The tapering process was a breeze. Because of venlafaxines half life, coming off the last 35.7 is usually the hardest and has the most side effects. Your brain goes from having 35.7 to NOTHING and that's when it got really tough for me. I'm on day 6 or 7 of being off venlafaxine completely. Almost straight away I started getting the vertigo and brain zaps. Day 4 was the worst for this and fatigue. Today I have flu like symptoms but it does seem the brain zaps arent as full on as they have been.. or theres less vertigo accompanying the brain zaps. It's seriously hard work, if we weren't in a nationwide lockdown due to covid-19 I would have definitely needed to take a week off work. No way i could function at that level as I go through this.

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I also managed to slowly taper off, from the highest dose you can be prescribed down to 35.7 being the smallest amount you can take (without splitting pills)
The tapering process was a breeze. Because of venlafaxines half life, coming off the last 35.7 is usually the hardest and has the most side effects. Your brain goes from having 35.7 to NOTHING and that's when it got really tough for me. I'm on day 6 or 7 of being off venlafaxine completely. Almost straight away I started getting the vertigo and brain zaps. Day 4 was the worst for this and fatigue. Today I have flu like symptoms but it does seem the brain zaps arent as full on as they have been.. or theres less vertigo accompanying the brain zaps. It's seriously hard work, if we weren't in a nationwide lockdown due to covid-19 I would have definitely needed to take a week off work. No way i could function at that level as I go through this.

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It sounds like your journey to come off Venlafaxine has mirrored mine, admittedly I didn't start at the same high dose as yourself but I too stopped at 37.5mg and then nothing. I am on day 7 today without the drug and I feel like I have come out the other side... the flu symptoms have disappeared, I am sleeping better (already!), the sweating is easing, as are the nightmares. The most uncomfortable effects for me have been dizziness, brain zaps, nausea and diarrhoea... today I have no nausea or diarrhoea, the brain zaps are there but they are becoming less noticeable; I do still feel the same amount of dizziness but I can cope with that, I am working from home, don't need to drive and so I am happy to sit this one out until it ebbs.

@jakedduck1 - may I offer my reasons for not tapering past 37.5mg. Like @kirsty29 I am taking the tablet form of Venlafaxine (sorry if I have interpreted this incorrectly), this is the lowest possible therapeutic form of the drug unless you wanted to split the drug; there isn't the opportunity to count beads unless one switches to the capsule form. This was offered to me as an alternative but my reasons for the choices I made were as follows...
I wanted to drop the drug entirely over the shortest time possible, my GP said I could do this at 37.5mg without relapse of depressive symptoms... bear in mind I had been at this dose for at least 6 months, my GP left it up to me for when I was ready. He did offer to switch me to the capsule form so I could count beads but, my main question to him was, is this likely to prolong the withdrawal symptoms I am likely to feel?... he said yes... that was enough for me not to do it. I knew there were going to be unbearable withdrawal symptoms, I was prepared for lying in bed for days if necessary, I just wanted it to last for the least amount of time possible.

Here I am on day 7 and I feel like the worst is over; I can live with the symptoms I have for weeks / months if necessary. I feel so proud of myself, I feel like I have done it already and the clarity of mind I am experiencing right now is something I haven't felt since taking the drug. I naively thought at the start of this journey that, based on the half life of the drug, I should be home free after 3 days - tops - how wrong was I? Nevertheless, on day 7 I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel, I am closer to normal now than I have felt in a long time, I feel hopeful... the end is near xxx

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I also managed to slowly taper off, from the highest dose you can be prescribed down to 35.7 being the smallest amount you can take (without splitting pills)
The tapering process was a breeze. Because of venlafaxines half life, coming off the last 35.7 is usually the hardest and has the most side effects. Your brain goes from having 35.7 to NOTHING and that's when it got really tough for me. I'm on day 6 or 7 of being off venlafaxine completely. Almost straight away I started getting the vertigo and brain zaps. Day 4 was the worst for this and fatigue. Today I have flu like symptoms but it does seem the brain zaps arent as full on as they have been.. or theres less vertigo accompanying the brain zaps. It's seriously hard work, if we weren't in a nationwide lockdown due to covid-19 I would have definitely needed to take a week off work. No way i could function at that level as I go through this.

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6 weeks without medication now. I don’t have any physical symptoms anymore. My mental is still very unstable though. I’m anxious, paranoid, uncertain and stressed. This whole Corona situation making it very tough to stabilise the conditions mentioned above.
I’m in the psychiatric hospital (willingly) again where they’ve prescribed me Ven 3 years ago.
Today the doc suggested me to take some Duloxetine to get my shit a little together.
Yep they wanna put me on meds again. I’m not “forced” to take any, but certainly you feel that the docs don’t really consider the difficulty of tapering that poison off, short term solution in a capsule is all they can offer.

The last 3 weeks I’ve been taking Amino acids to help normalising the levels of neurotransmitters, have been eating Walnuts like crazy (because of Omega-3) and did spend at least 30 minutes under the sun daily. I’m trying to stick to a routine, trying to keep a healthy day rhythm, but the condition does not improve dramatically.

Do I need more patience? If so then how long?

I’m just overloaded with anxiety, frustration and self hate.

Could someone give me any practical suggestions before I give up on everything and go on SNRIs again. Thank you. Thank you everyone for being there and your advices. Stay safe.

Jump to this post

6 weeks without medication now. I don’t have any physical symptoms anymore. My mental is still very unstable though. I’m anxious, paranoid, uncertain and stressed. This whole Corona situation making it very tough to stabilise the conditions mentioned above.
I’m in the psychiatric hospital (willingly) again where they’ve prescribed me Ven 3 years ago.
Today the doc suggested me to take some Duloxetine to get my shit a little together.
Yep they wanna put me on meds again. I’m not “forced” to take any, but certainly you feel that the docs don’t really consider the difficulty of tapering that poison off, short term solution in a capsule is all they can offer.

The last 3 weeks I’ve been taking Amino acids to help normalising the levels of neurotransmitters, have been eating Walnuts like crazy (because of Omega-3) and did spend at least 30 minutes under the sun daily. I’m trying to stick to a routine, trying to keep a healthy day rhythm, but the condition does not improve dramatically.

Do I need more patience? If so then how long?

I’m just overloaded with anxiety, frustration and self hate.

Could someone give me any practical suggestions before I give up on everything and go on SNRIs again. Thank you. Thank you everyone for being there and your advices. Stay safe.

Jump to this post