Venlafaxine (Effexor) Tapering

Hi AnnaAnna, great that you've decided to taper off E. I'm now on 70 mg and am doing a weekly taper of about 1mg. I'm wondering how you are doing the taper. Weekly or monthly and how much? Hope these side-effects are only temporary. Best!

Splash cold water to help with the fatigue. Try to do cross word puzzles/ games on your phone. Stay connected to this thread for community. I have a joke for you . What’s the difference between in-laws and outlaws? outlaws are wanted

Hi AnnaAnna, I'm 70 years old, have been on 150 mg a day of Venlafaxine for 25 years. Tried tapering off many times without success. Learned that my doctors were correct - I am "hard wired" for anxiety, meaning my anxiety is permanently built in to my brain and nervous system. A month ago, with the approval of my psychiatrist, I increased my dosage from 150 to 300 mg per day. I've never felt better in my life. I have a joke for you too. What's the difference between ignorance and indifference? I don't know, and I don't care. 💖

Hi, i recently switched, after 17 years, from 150 to 75. Two weeks ago i had a magnetic resonance that made me feel anxious as much as before i started Efexxor. This bad anxiety stuck with me many days after, to the point i needed some benzo to stay quiet. After 2 weeks of this episode i'm still at 75mg, stopped the benzos and supplementing with high doses of magnesium and thiamine (vit B1). Can't say if it's placebo or not but i feel almost back to my normal baseline. Speak with your doc about it because it seems to help a lot of people. At least it's worth a try.

Hello Nico. Magnesium and thiamine, eh? I think someone else told me that was a good idea - I'll check it out, thanks very much for the thought, kind of you.

Nico, I can't seem to reply to other people who responded to me. Am I doing/not doing something? The 'Write a Reply' doesn't appear ...

I'm pretty new on this app, so i'm not the most entitled to give you a precise answer. In my case i can see your replies 👍🏻

Ah, and now I can answer you, so maybe things have sorted! Many thanks!

Geoff and Rock: Thanks for the messages - I don't seem to be able to have a response area to reply to you personally! Working on it! AnnaAnna

I just started taking Lavender pills a few days ago. I also take Magnesium.

"Anna, great that you've decided to taper off E. I'm now on 70 mg and am doing a weekly taper of about 1mg. I'm wondering how you are doing the taper. Weekly or monthly and how much? Hope these side-effects are only temporary. Best! — @Geoff

Hi Geoff, thank you for that encouraging message! I'm using hyperbolic tapering strips, which reduce 10% of your present dose over 28 days. I'm down to 67mg. Can I ask what dose you started tapering at? Are you feeling fine? Have you felt fine throughout the taper? Have to go out now, but catch you later. :) AA

"Hi Geoff, thank you for that encouraging message! I'm using hyperbolic tapering strips, which reduce 10% of your present dose over 28 days. I'm down to 67mg. Can I ask what dose you started tapering at? Are you feeling fine? Have you felt fine throughout the taperr? Have..." — @AnnaAnna

Last summer I started to go down from 150 to 75 in two equal steps, holding a couple of weeks. In september I started by removing 5 % from 75. This gave me the panic attack of 16 years back. So went up again. New plan: removing only 2 % each week and holding. Each time just minor side-effects: flu like feelings, muscle ache, one evening of negativity. But all seem to disappear after a long walk or sleep: Important! In my country (The Netherlands) there's only 1 pharmacy that is willing to make the taper strips. The insurance will only cover 1 or 2 months. And as I'm going to be taking 1 year alone to go to 37.5 I've decided to remove the beads/pellets/spheroids. Best on your taper!

Thanks! I wonder if you/anyone has any thoughts on this: I've hit a nasty patch of depression. I'm at 67mg. Should I hold at that dose or go back up (marginally)?

I would try to hold. But if it lasts for a longer period then do go up a few mg. And do micro tapers. As you might know, the first 37.5 has about 60 % effect decreasing with each additional mg: 37.5 - 75: 20% etc. Thus: smaller steps when going down. Micro tapers give you the option to increase the amount (me: 4 pellets instead of 2..... not much, but not in a hurry). Feels better than doing a "yo-yo taper". best!

Hi AnnaAnna, what I did was to decrease my dosage, monitor the effects, then if I felt worse, I increase the dosage, and monitor the effects, then report the results to my doctor, and request a prescription based on what made me feel most mentally and emotionally healthy.

Thanks very much for this...much the same as others are saying. Makes sense - it's just the person taking the med. who knows (well, approx!) how he/she feels!

— @Geoff

Dear Geoff, thank you very much for your response. I feel completely different today, so will just keep hobbling down, little by little!