Hi, I'm Maypot

Hi @Maypot, welcome! 👋 I’m tapering off Zoloft myself, so I’m not personally familiar with Effexor, except for knowing that slow and steady seems to be the safest way forward. However, looking at the literature on Effexor 👇, it makes total sense why hitting 60 hours felt so rough. Venlafaxine has a very short half-life. Instead of spacing out the hours, the guide recommends taking your dose daily (so bead-counting is a good idea!) and following a hyperbolic schedule. https://taper.community/resources/blog/how-to-taper-off-effexor-xr Now here is the thing: the next fraction depends on how stable you feel and what your last dose was. A very, very broad recommendation is around 5% to 10% of the last stable dose per month. BUT! Before you make a move, I would personally dig a bit deeper into the resources (the guide above and more in the resources on the left sidebar) and the Effexor-specific forum right here: https://taper.community/forums/effexor Holding is also always an option if you are not in a good place yet. Let us know what else you might need! Everybody here is happy to help wherever we can.

HI @Maypot, welcome to Taper Community! I'm tapering Effexor XR 37.5 mg. I do this by counting beads. We recommend a Hyperbolic taper here of no more than 10% each month from the previous month's dose. Therefore, the doses will get smaller and smaller as time goes on. This is because the greatest changes in serotonin receptors happen at very low doses. If you need further help with tapering, you can go to the Tapering Protocols section of the forum and click on the Guides tab for lots of helpful articles about how to count beads and prepare for a taper. We look forward to supporting you with your taper! Catina 💜

@Gigi.0809 and @Catina, hello and thank you for the information! 😊 I'm looking forward weaning off these meds without all the big withdrawal symptoms. I just bought a jeweler's scale so I can bead-count safely. Since I'm already used to having 37.5mg every 48-60hrs, I'm trying to figure out if where to start 33.75mg or 30.37mg or ??? Thank you again for the support on this journey 💖

"I'm already used to having 37.5mg every 48-60hrs, I'm trying to figure out if where to start 33.75mg or 30.37mg or ???" — @Maypot

Hi Maypot, it's best to take a consistent dose each 24-hour day. You can then attempt to do a 10% reduction from that.

Yes, agreed. That's why I'm trying to determine the beadcount amount. I'd hate to backtrack to 37.5mg again. I've been weening off since April and I was taking 75mg for almost a year before that.