Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)

@lindmissi

Hello and welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm a Volunteer Mentor with Mayo Connect; I am not a medical professional and I can only offer you my personal experience. We're all here to share our experience in hopes of helping others with similar situations, understanding that each individual is different and what helps or hinders one person may not apply to other people.

I was prescribed Gabapentin 300 mg 3x day, for my chronic back pain. I found during the 6 months I took it that I was losing my memory. Large amounts of time disappeared and I was always in a brain fog. I thought I was getting Alzheimers. I was just goofy, and at one point had a small fender bender, im sure due to the Gabapentin. I decided that day to get off it. It seems as if doctors, mine was a pain doctor, prescribe Gabapentin for everything now. When I told my pain doctor I wanted to stop taking it, he got mad at me and wanted to know why. I explained my reaction to it and said k didn't think it was helping me. He would not help me withdraw and said I should just quit. I knew that was wrong from what i had read on Mayo Connect. After I withdrew with the help of my pharmacist over 3 months, I discovered that my pain improved. I think it made me feel more pain than i was actually having. I will never take Gabapentin, Neurontin, or Lyrica which are all related again. I think its a bad drug personally. I was even wondering if drug companies were giving doctors kickbacks for prescribing those medications. Probably just my imagination. Good luck with finding out what you need to help you. Please let us know what you find out from your doctor about why he has prescribed it for you.

Gail B
Volunteer Mentor

Hi there! I am new to Connect, but hopefully can offer some insight. I DID go off 150 Effexor XR (name brand) COLD TURKEY on January 2016. I survived it, but will never in my life EVER go off ANY antidepressant cold turkey. I had taken Effexor for at least 8 years, Zoloft prior to that and and Imipramine (sp?) as the first antidepressant (in all 25+ years on antidepressants.) It all started with running out of meds over a long weekend and deciding it was time to try to get off antidepressants to see how I would do. Since I had recently retired from teaching, thought this would be an ideal time to give it a go. In addition, Effexor just wasn't helping all that much anymore (I thought.) The first 3 days I felt like I was going to die! When I realized that I wasn't dying, decided to keep going to get it all over with. In addition to the symptoms you have heard about, I had deep bone/joint pain that felt like I was being pinched with clamps. Also had skin sensations and peeling, and noticed a strange smell on my skin. Each day got a little better and by the 3rd week started to function a bit more normally. I was very emotional, however, which caused my family great concern. Well, to make a long story short, the depression crept back in full and I am still trying to get my life back. I did everything I could to stay stable, including herbal supplements and took a vacation where I hiked 6 miles daily for 9 days on hilly, rocky terrain. I finally had to accept that I'm a person who will need antidepressants for the rest of my life. With the help of a PCP and counselor, I am on my 3rd antidepressant & may need to resort to going back on Effexor, because nothing seems to be working. All in all, in my opinion, the chronic depression is worse than the withdrawal symptoms that do eventually end. If you are a person with situational depression, you may be successful weaning off Effexor gradually. If I were to do it again, that's what I would do (while replacing Effexor with something else.) Here are the things that helped me with the physical withdrawal symptoms:
1. Get plenty of sleep/rest.
2. Eat a very well-balanced diet (this is not the time to worry about your weight.) Lots of soup & easy to digest foods the 1st few days.
3. Drink plenty of water, including coconut water.
4. Have a glass of wine in the evening (if advisable.)
5. Get outside and walk or other excersize (the warm sunshine will feel good!)
6. Hot yoga 3-4 times per week. Stay in class even if you feel nauseous & can only do a few postures.
7. Soak in a hot tub (with bath salts if available.)
8. Use a good moisturizer on face & body several times per day.
9. Get several professional massages.
10. Take Tylenol for muscle pain, if OK on your stomach.
11. A heating pad is also helpful at bedtime or during naps.
12. If you are single & live alone, make sure a few trusted friends/family members know what you are doing.
13. In general, be kind & gentle to yourself.
14. NEVER give up! Keep going, even when you don't feel like it (which will be often.) YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!

I went off Venlafaxine 4 weeks ago after being on it for several years. I tapered down from 225 to 75 myself, it was really ok. But i couldn't get down to 37.5 without getting brain zaps, nausea, headaches, insomnia, trembling, anxiety and all the rest. I went to see a psychiatrist who booked me into hospital for a couple of days to help me get off and to monitor me. For the first 2 days he put me on 37.5, then and from day 3 nothing. From day 1 though he put me on Urbanol that helped with anxiety, Aropax SR 25 mg, pain meds and nausea meds as necessary, Biotrazadone 100mg at night, Disipal that helped with the brainzaps and shaking and Inderal. Using those meds really helped a lot, i only experienced slight brain zaps, a little bit of nausea, diarrhea and vertigo, nothing as severe as when i tried to go of Venlafaxine by myself. Im off it now and adter a month i only get slight brain zaps occasionally, feeling a little weak and tired but nothing too bad. I could stop using Disipal, Inderal, pain and nausea meds.

Hi,
Thanks for sharing. Wondering if your depression came back and how to cope with it without antidepressants?

Hi there! I am new to Connect, but hopefully can offer some insight. I DID go off 150 Effexor XR (name brand) COLD TURKEY on January 2016. I survived it, but will never in my life EVER go off ANY antidepressant cold turkey. I had taken Effexor for at least 8 years, Zoloft prior to that and and Imipramine (sp?) as the first antidepressant (in all 25+ years on antidepressants.) It all started with running out of meds over a long weekend and deciding it was time to try to get off antidepressants to see how I would do. Since I had recently retired from teaching, thought this would be an ideal time to give it a go. In addition, Effexor just wasn't helping all that much anymore (I thought.) The first 3 days I felt like I was going to die! When I realized that I wasn't dying, decided to keep going to get it all over with. In addition to the symptoms you have heard about, I had deep bone/joint pain that felt like I was being pinched with clamps. Also had skin sensations and peeling, and noticed a strange smell on my skin. Each day got a little better and by the 3rd week started to function a bit more normally. I was very emotional, however, which caused my family great concern. Well, to make a long story short, the depression crept back in full and I am still trying to get my life back. I did everything I could to stay stable, including herbal supplements and took a vacation where I hiked 6 miles daily for 9 days on hilly, rocky terrain. I finally had to accept that I'm a person who will need antidepressants for the rest of my life. With the help of a PCP and counselor, I am on my 3rd antidepressant & may need to resort to going back on Effexor, because nothing seems to be working. All in all, in my opinion, the chronic depression is worse than the withdrawal symptoms that do eventually end. If you are a person with situational depression, you may be successful weaning off Effexor gradually. If I were to do it again, that's what I would do (while replacing Effexor with something else.) Here are the things that helped me with the physical withdrawal symptoms:
1. Get plenty of sleep/rest.
2. Eat a very well-balanced diet (this is not the time to worry about your weight.) Lots of soup & easy to digest foods the 1st few days.
3. Drink plenty of water, including coconut water.
4. Have a glass of wine in the evening (if advisable.)
5. Get outside and walk or other excersize (the warm sunshine will feel good!)
6. Hot yoga 3-4 times per week. Stay in class even if you feel nauseous & can only do a few postures.
7. Soak in a hot tub (with bath salts if available.)
8. Use a good moisturizer on face & body several times per day.
9. Get several professional massages.
10. Take Tylenol for muscle pain, if OK on your stomach.
11. A heating pad is also helpful at bedtime or during naps.
12. If you are single & live alone, make sure a few trusted friends/family members know what you are doing.
13. In general, be kind & gentle to yourself.
14. NEVER give up! Keep going, even when you don't feel like it (which will be often.) YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!

Hi there! Just wanted folks to know after 6 months of tapering from 225mg of Effexor (been on it since 2003) I just finished a wonderful day 2 of zero Effexor! I had some minor bumps- a little dizziness, very brief irritability session first thing this morning but overall great. Yesterday, day one at zero was a nightmare of rage and headaches, feeling like I wanted to crawl out of my skin etc. but today I felt more clear headed and happier than I have felt in well, I honestly don’t know how long!
To those of you who are in the process: hang in there! There may be bumps ahead for me in the coming days and weeks but I know that I will have a lot more days like today (and better) in my future!
Good luck.

I have been on Effexor on and off since about 1995 when I replace Paxil with it. Since then I have tried several other medicines but I always returned to Effexor. Recently I cut my dose in 1/2 to75 mg, but after a major anxiety attack went back to 150mg. The only side effect I have is no ability to have sex, but that can also be the result of a prostate operation where I have little left. Being 79 yrs old, it's a pleasure I and my partner are willing to give up.
Since adding CBD/CBG oil to my daily medicine, my anxiety is virtually nil.

Good for you! I am in the process of reading/ researching all the posts regarding weaning off Effexor. Forgive me if I missed your thread on who helped with the taper. Could a moderator plz guide me ?