Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Hi Barry: I took 300mg venlafaxine for over 23 years.
I am in process of tapering
8 ⁸under care of a menkhealth nurse practioner.
She is using a " Prozac bridge." This has proved extremely helpful. Does your MD know about this.? I know you want to get off it as oon as possible AND the Prozac helps a lot to reduce all the discontinuation systems.

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How long do the effexor withdrawal symptoms last? I have read that they may last up to a year, is that correct? I had been on Effexor XR, 150 mg., for 18 years. Under a doctors supervision, I weaned off of it after 5 months. It's been a month completely off and I suffer different problems, like headaches, gut pain, dizziness, nausea on a daily basis. So, how long will I have to experience this?

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I have been on 450 mgs for almost thirty years( I know that’s crazy), after 20 years I wanted off. No doctor would even try. So I did it myself. I instantly developed psychosis. Ultimately I lost all concept of reality and ended up breaking the law for the first time in my life. I ended up in prison where they put me right back on it.

I did a short sentence but my life was destroyed. I lost my family, my business, the respect of the community and any resources I had.

I am still at 450 mgs and still no doctor will touch it. If I miss one day the next day I start to withdraw. 7 plus doctors have continued to fill this prescription.

I will likely be on it until I die, which at times seems like it is taking forever to happen.

If you can get off it my recommendation is to do so. If you are considering it let my story inform you. I had the American Dream Venlafaxine contributed to me losing everything. I now live with consequences

I’ve been told Prozac can help with the withdrawal. I just need to find a doctor willing to take it on.

Good luck to everyone and do your own research. The medical profession doesn’t even no what causes depression but they have hundreds of drugs to treat it.

Jump to this post

I have been on 450 mgs for almost thirty years( I know that’s crazy), after 20 years I wanted off. No doctor would even try. So I did it myself. I instantly developed psychosis. Ultimately I lost all concept of reality and ended up breaking the law for the first time in my life. I ended up in prison where they put me right back on it.

I did a short sentence but my life was destroyed. I lost my family, my business, the respect of the community and any resources I had.

I am still at 450 mgs and still no doctor will touch it. If I miss one day the next day I start to withdraw. 7 plus doctors have continued to fill this prescription.

I will likely be on it until I die, which at times seems like it is taking forever to happen.

If you can get off it my recommendation is to do so. If you are considering it let my story inform you. I had the American Dream Venlafaxine contributed to me losing everything. I now live with consequences

I’ve been told Prozac can help with the withdrawal. I just need to find a doctor willing to take it on.

Good luck to everyone and do your own research. The medical profession doesn’t even no what causes depression but they have hundreds of drugs to treat it.

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I started tapering off of Effexor a couple of weeks ago and recently found myself besieged by the most terrifying symptoms. I was sobbing last night in my boyfriend's arms saying, "I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid…." I can't believe the anxiety that I feel; it is unlike anything I've ever experienced in my whole life. I can't go out because the idea of being social terrifies me. I'm in a constant state of barely contained hysteria and fear. Of what? I don't know. I've even thought of going into the emergency room today and just collapsing there…begging for someone/something to mitigate my symptoms. I feel like I'm dying. I get so hungry that I feel nauseated, and if I can't eat right away, I start crying (this from an eating disordered person who used to fast all day long for years). I'm so tired and everything overwhelms me. All behaviors that I formerly used to do to "power through" feelings of depression are useless to me…good and bad. Exercise, drinking, overeating, self-help, being alone and reading to "recharge" my batteries…nothing works; I've exhausted all methods of coping and have never been so scared in my life. Luckily, I talked to a friend who said she's had a similar event in her life, which made me feel better. I've felt so alone, putting on a brave face, going out and trying to be social, going to work and trying to be productive, dragging myself to the gym….all the while feeling like I'm going to break in a million different pieces. I didn't know who to tell because I didn't think anyone would understand, but she made me realize that there is something very wrong in my body/brain (perhaps hormonal in addition to the withdrawal symptoms as I am 48 years old) that is not uncommon and can be fixed. Just knowing that this may have happened to others makes me feel better…again, the barely contained hysteria at trying to seem "normal" has only exacerbated my feelings of desperate helplessness. I think of suicide all of the time…not because I'm sad necessarily, but because I just want to stop feeling this way. I just want to be me again…regular, old, fucked up me…not this helpless, scared, child that I've become. Sorry to write so much, but this has been hell. I hope it helps someone else get through to the other side. As for me, I've put in my second call to my prescriber begging for help. My next stop is the emergency room if I have to, but feeling better just getting it out in the open anyway…all the best

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I’m not sure what you mean about “supplement regimen”? I went from 150 mg to 75mg then down to 37.5. Week by week by week. I think the decrease was too fast. I have taken it for such a long time, my body needed more time to “detox” from each decrease. These drugs are nothing to take lightly, let me tell you. The side affects and anxiety will just about kill you….tread lightly and ask your doctor LOTS of questions and don’t hesitate to question their suggestions. You know your body best….good luck.

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