Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

Hi, I’ve seen lots of posts mentioning having withdrawal, but few mention what the symptoms are. I have started to withdraw. Started at 225 mg, but have cut out one 75 mg pill every third day. Around this time, I started experiencing waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep. I’ve always had problems falling asleep, and take Ambien, Magnesium and Tizanidine to help. But once I was asleep, I slept through the night. Not any more! This seems like a sudden change, and I can’t think of anything else that would have caused it.

Has anyone else had this symptom?

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Ginger

I am sorry to learn you are struggling with this. You have lots of company.... Withdrawal symptoms may include sleep issues. A National Institute of Health (NIH) continuing education article on venlafaxine reports: "Abrupt cessation of venlafaxine can lead to serious adverse effects such as irritability, tiredness, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, trouble sleeping, nightmares, headache, sweating, dizziness, tingling, or "pins and needles" feeling, shaking, confusion, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea." Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535363/
Which is why it is important to wean off the drug slowly. I've experienced most of these effects. I have little appetite and lost more than ten pounds. It's still a struggle, some three months after a complete stop of the drug. I am doing my best each day to counter what I believe are lingering effects of withdrawal (though my doctor disagrees, believing I should be clear of all effects by now). I aim for daily physical exercise, try to keep busy, meditate as needed, think on positive things, and follow many of the suggestions made by others on this website. On occasion, I take Benadryl or Tylenol PM to help me sleep. It's not easy, but I am determined to get better without relying on this drug for hot flashes (which helped little with hot flashes anyway). Wishing you all the best. Keep your doctor and pharmacist in the loop.

Thank you, your comments and the link were extremely helpful!

@susanh824
I suspect cutting your dose by a third every three days, if that's your plan, likely will lead to withdrawal effects. Three days isn't much time for your brain to get used to not having Effexor.

What would you suggest? I have been doing 225 mg, 225 mg, 150 mg, then repeat. It’s been two weeks.

Any ideas on what would be a good conservative plan to lower my daily dosage to 150 mg from my current 225 mg?

My doctor recommended alternating between the two. I was even more careful by taking the lower dosage every third day, and still had unbearable side effects.

Yes- can’t sleep for the last month and a half. Terrible. I’m sure it’s this med. I’m down to 75mg. The no sleeping started after I lowered my dose which I did do slowly over months

@susanh824
How to lower your dose is the million dollar question. Depending on how long you’ve taken, Effexor, you may or may not be dependent.
What worked for me might not work for you.
Personally, I believe in the 5 to 10% method. There was a Dr. in Europe, I believe in France, who was a psychiatrist, and he took Effexor. His patients complained about withdrawal effects, and when he stopped, he stopped the same way he told his patients too and he also suffered from those same withdrawals, he now believes in stopping slower. He uses the 5 to 10% method so by deleting your dosage by 5 to 10% every month, many believe that gives you the best chance to avoid withdrawal symptoms, or at least decrease them.
Also your dose, weight, length of time you've taken it play a role.
Effexor has a very short half-life of about 5 hours. Most people's brains need time to adjust to not having it.
I don’t believe skipping days is a very good option.
The brain is very sensitive. Believe me I know I have had epilepsy for nearly 60 years and have had thousands of seizures. It doesn't react well to quick change. Give it time. I take brand-name seizure medications because of the slight differences in generic manufacturers I have seizures with generics.
Be kind to your brain give the chemicals a chance to adjust. All I can really say is just go slow. Don’t cut buy a third or a quarter. If you are having withdrawals your tapering is too fast.
Good luck,
Jake

Is it possible for you to get the 37.5 mg capsule, so that you can lower your dosage to 187.5 mg as an initial step? That would be a less drastic change, and perhaps one your body could adjust to more easily.