CareD: Effexor tapering

[CareD]

Hello.

 

I am very glad to have been introduced by a very knowledgable friend to this site and community of knowledge when I decided to wean off effexor/venalfaxine. 

 

I started with Effexor almost 20 years ago when I had 2 little kids and classic sx of depression. It was very effective for me at 75mg for a long time. One time I upped to 150mg to respond to sx increasing in winter, but it made me feel cloudy. So I've relied on exercise and 75mg quite nicely. My insurance company tried to switch me to the generic about 4 years ago and I started experiencing low-level, generalized anxiety and constant buzzing. I worked with my provider and was able to get back on the brand, where I stayed.

 

In January, my insurance company DENIED, for any reason, the brand, so I switched to generic. Again, the buzzy, tinny, vertigo started. After a conversation with my general practitioner I decided to taper off because my mood is super stable.  She suggested 20 mg of flouxetine with the intent of increasing that after I tapered off the venlafaxine. I wanted to be completely off before deciding if I needed to find something else, so I never started it. 

 

Here's my taper history since I started paying attention:

 

4/30 - 37.5 mg venlafaxine XR

5/21 - 19 ish mg - I started dividing the contents in roughly half

6/4 - I started counting beads and taking approx. 36 beads per dose

 

I got a scale and figured out that 36 beads is about .05 mg. I'm using vegan pill capsule. 

 

6/17 I'm now weighing and plan to stay at .05 mg through the end of June which will give me 4 weeks at that approximate dose. 

 

My question is, as I taper, do I subtract a percent of the medication weight or the medication + capsule weight?

 

Thank you! 

 

 

[Carmie]

Welcome @CareD, Yes, changing to a different brand of the same medication can certainly cause problems. I’ve been on a particular generic brand of my medication for many years, I’m always concerned they’ll stop making it one day. Quite a number of people on this site have had problems when switching to a different brand. I’m sorry your insurance company denied the brand you were originally on.

 

What are your symptoms like now? You tapered pretty quickly. It’s recommended to taper by no more than 10% of the previous dose per month. I personally wouldn’t be tapering again any time soon. 
 

How are your symptoms? Sometimes withdrawals can catch up with us months later if we taper too quicker. 
 

I’m not familiar with beads, so I’ll leave a message for someone to answer your question. In the meantime, can you please put in your drug signature. Just go to the top of the Introductions and Updates page and you’ll see a thread asking you to start a topic for yourself. There’s a link in the first paragraph showing you how to do it. Can you please put in any other medication you may be on in there as well. Thank you. 
 

Sending hugs🤗

[manymoretodays]

Hi there CareD and welcome,

And thank you for getting your signature portion completed.  From time to time you may need to update that, so we have a good idea of where you have come from, and where you are at with tapering, so I'll leave you the full link that explains the signature, which also has a quick link to get back there that you can use:

How to Summarize Your Drug History In Your Signature

 

As I don't know where you are coming from with reading and information around tapering I'm also going to give you links to topics which will help empower you from this point and going forward with your taper.  It's often not as simple or easy as we might have thought.......when we first get started with the idea of getting off a single psychiatric drug or for some, combinations of psychiatric drugs.  So bear with me.  We are here to help reduce the harm that can result from too fast tapers, ill advised tapers, and also work hard to collect information as we go along to improve de-prescribing.

 

It appears you started your taper at 75 mg of Effexor XR.

And then have been cutting your dose down, first by 50%, and then another 50%.

Did you do these cuts gradually over many months by less of a percentage or all at once?

 

I'd sure encourage you to just HOLD right now, or don't change your dose, which might now be at 19 mg of EffexorXR.  It just is not really clear.  Yet.  Give us a chance to get to know you and further sort out some of these details.

 

This is what we promote:

 The 10% taper recommendation is a harm reduction approach to going off psychiatric drugs.

*Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

*Tips for tapering off Effexor and EffexorXR(venlafaxine)

 

Counting beads in a capsule versus weighing

Using a scale to weigh and measure doses

 

Are you experiencing withdrawal symptoms at this point?

Using Dr. Glenmullen's symptoms checklist

look for the PDF copy of symptoms in that topic and tell us what you are experiencing now in the way of WD symptoms.

 

If you ARE presently mired in symptoms an updose may even be in order, so I will leave you this topic as well:

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

Please do keep communicating with us, and check in if considering an updose so we can help.  We are internet forum style, so do be patient and know that someone will get back to you as soon as possible.  It isn't always right away.  We're staffed with volunteers who have been through or are going through tapering and WD.  And then mentors, and members who all pitch in to help each other out.

 

More about withdrawal and what happens as we come off drugs like yours:

Brain Remodelling

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

When we take medications, the CNS (central nervous system) responds by making changes over the months and years we take the drug(s). When the medication is discontinued, the CNS has to undo all the changes it made.  The CNS likes stability. Rebuilding the neurotransmitter production and reactivating the receptor and transporter cells takes time -- during that rebuilding process symptoms occur.  However, the best tapering plans can minimize withdrawal symptoms.

 

On 6/17/2023 at 9:29 AM, CareD said:

4/30 - 37.5 mg venlafaxine XR

5/21 - 19 ish mg - I started dividing the contents in roughly half

6/4 - I started counting beads and taking approx. 36 beads per dose

 

I got a scale and figured out that 36 beads is about .05 mg. I'm using vegan pill capsule. 

 

6/17 I'm now weighing and plan to stay at .05 mg through the end of June which will give me 4 weeks at that approximate dose. 

 

My question is, as I taper, do I subtract a percent of the medication weight or the medication + capsule weight?

 

We base percentages of tapers on each previous dosage.  Once you know your dose and it's corresponding weight, you can do a percentage reduction from either and it should be the same.  It's important to know what your dose is in mg at all times though, so you can avoid going too fast with a taper.

 

You may have already decreased your dose pretty quickly since January and in big swoops of reductions, rather than a percentage drop from each previous dose.  We never base the taper percentage from the starting dose only.   Each new taper dose gets calculated from the previous dose, not the starting dose.

 

Alot of information for you to take in, if you have not already read some, or found good tapering information anywhere yet. 

Let us know what you think.   And what your previous knowledge base is, on tapering.

 

Oh......I hope you are doing well enough.  Welcome again.  This is your page now, your Introduction, you've begun to introduce yourself to this community.  You should post questions around your case right here, and please do so, and do any updates as well here.

 

Love, peace, healing,and growth,

manymoretodays(mmt)

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by manymoretodays