Natj: venlafaxine withdrawal

[Natj]

Hi all, I’ve been taking Venlafaxine 75mg per day for almost two years.  I went to see my GP recently about reducing my dose with the aim of stopping altogether and he suggested 37.5mg every other day. Needless to say I quit the half doses today after only 6 days due to the withdrawal effects. I was so tired, like I had brain fog and was struggling to think straight. It would get to mid afternoon on half dose day and I could barely function. I expected some withdrawal, as in the past I’ve had terrible vertigo and nausea if I missed a dose.

I stumbled across this site while looking for ways to manage my side effects and it’s been an eye opener! I now realise I need a different approach. 

My medication is solid slow release tablets that I can’t cut so I’m not really sure where to go from here to start reducing my medication more slowly. Do I start with switching to the regular tablets rather than slow release?

 

Any help greatly appreciated!

[ChessieCat]

Hi Natj and welcome to SA,

 

I assume that you have gone back to taking your 75mg daily.  That is good to hear.

 

I had a similar thing happen when I tried to reduce my Pristiq 100mg to 50mg.  I experienced extreme cog fog for 3 weeks and even walking took all my concentration.  After 3 weeks I couldn't type and being a professional typist realised that something was wrong.  Thankfully I had joined SA a few days before this happened and they had recommended updosing.  I took extra Pristiq and about 4 hours later I could type again and my cog fog started clearing.  The good news is that I've been tapering using SA's suggested taper method since then and am now down to 7mg.

 

It's really good that you have found SA.  BTW skipping days is not recommended.  The brain likes consistency.

 

I'll give you some links to check out.  You might need to stay on your 75mg daily for 2-3 months until you stabilise and then you can taper.  This is your own Introduction topic where you can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

 

Please create your drug signature - dates, all drugs, doses for last 2 years, years and drugs for >2 years.  No symptoms or diagnoses.  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Tips for tapering off Effexor (venlafaxine)

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's WD Symptoms Checklist

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Brain Remodelling

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

[Natj]

Thank you Chessie,

Yes after finding this website I went back up to my usual dose and I'm feeling much better for it.

Thanks for the links - lots for me to read up on!

[Natj]

I’ve been doing a lot of reading, I’m still on full dose and feeling great.

 

from what I can gather before I can think about tapering, my next step would be to switch from the slow release tablet I’m taking (which can’t be cut) to the equivalent ‘normal’ release.

I currently take 75mg slow release once a day so I think the equivalent is 37.5mg twice a day. 

 

Can anyone confirm this?

[ChessieCat]

 

On 5/6/2011 at 1:01 PM, Altostrata said:

 

Convert from venlafaxine XL or Effexor XR to regular tablets
Especially in the last leg of your taper, when you might be down to a few beads of Effexor XR, you may wish to switch from an extended-release version to regular Effexor so you can make a liquid from it to make very small reductions.

 

Because of its short half-life, taking regular Effexor as a tablet or liquid necessitates taking the tablets every 12 hours.

  

 

If you do decide to change over to immediate release, you take the same dosage as XR, but because of the short half life you will need to split the dose and take half the dose twice a day.

 

However there are other ways you can reduce your dose.  Please see Post #1 of tips-for-tapering-off-effexor-and-effexor-xr-venlafaxine

 

It would be a good idea to hold for at least another month or two before starting to taper.

[Natj]

It’s been a while since I checked in so this is a bit of an update.

I started tapering in June 2020. At this point I had been on 37.5mg venlafaxine twice a day for quite a while. 
I’m now down to approximately 6mg twice a day. It’s generally been ok but I’ve now hit a bit of a problem. I’m weighing and cutting my tablets but my scales only weigh down to 0.05g. I weigh and cut 0.05g then cut this in half to get 0.025g which is my 6mg dose. I can’t actually really taper much further with this method. So I’m a bit stuck and back here to look at my options to taper further. 
I did try just stopping the 6mg but the withdrawal kicked in pretty quick.