Wallas: Need help tapering off Effexor 150mg

[Wallas]

Hi everyone, I'm brand new here. I've been taking Effexor 150mg since april 2021, and even though it has helped me plenty with a lot of things in my life, the side effects are very unpleasant, which is why I'm planning to taper off. My psychiatrist previously recommended me to take 150mg one day, 75mg the next, 150mg the next, 75mg the next. Needless to say it was absolutely awful and set me back for some months. Now, however, I feel a lot stable and willing to taper off the right way. The dr recommended me to take 150mg one day, 150mg the next, 75mg the next, 150mg, 150mg, 75mg, and so on. I'm feeling like I'm not making any progress at all and I don't want to damage my brain in any way lol. Which is why I was planning to taper off opening the capsule and taking 2 beads out of it, then increasing it to 4 the next day, 6 the next, and so on. I was wondering if this is safe to do? Any help would be appreciated.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @Wallas

 

What adverse effects do you feel from Effexor 150mg?

 

I am sorry you got withdrawal from your psychiatrist's irregular dosing schedule. We do not advise this type of dosing to go off any psychiatric drugs. For your information, see Tips for tapering off venlafaxine (Effexor)
 

Do you have any lingering withdrawal symptoms?

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please summarize your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

 

 

 

 

[Wallas]

Hi @Altostrata, thanks for answering.

 

2 hours ago, Altostrata said:

 

What adverse effects do you feel from Effexor 150mg?

 

 

Emotional numb, a LOT of brain fog, shaky hands, disturbing dreams, sleeping troubles, and some others I'm forgetting right now.

 

2 hours ago, Altostrata said:

I am sorry you got withdrawal from your psychiatrist's irregular dosing schedule. We do not advise this type of dosing to go off any psychiatric drugs. For your information, see Tips for tapering off venlafaxine (Effexor)
 

Do you have any lingering withdrawal symptoms?

Yeah it was awful from his part. I was reading through that thread but I found most information to be very complicated and time consuming for me to understand. I can't afford to spend another year slowly tapering off, given that the medication is extremely hard to find here in my country, and very expensive too. What I'm doing is opening up the 150mg capsules, removing -2 beads every day, I'm on day 5, I've already removed -10 beads to my dose. For the most part I feel fine, just some slight anxiety and shaking.

[Altostrata]

That is a more gradual taper, but may also be too fast. Suggest you make those reductions every 3 days rather than every day. This may enable you to recognize withdrawal symptoms before you make another reduction.

[Wallas]

I see. As I mentioned, Venlafaxine is very hard and very expensive to find in my country, so I'm opting for this tapering method given my circumstances. I'm on day 9 of tapering, today I took out -21 beads out and I feel fine.

22 hours ago, Altostrata said:

Suggest you make those reductions every 3 days rather than every day. 

I will definitely do that if I have any heavy withdrawal symptoms though, thank you!