Venlafaxine Effexor withdrawal

FatallyFlawed - if you are getting depressed and self harming then you might not be ready to come off the venlafaxine?

In terms of how long it lasts this is how it worked for me.

75 MR -> 2x37.5/day 1am/1pm - nausea, disorientation, sleeplessness, faint 'zaps' duration:11 days

after another two weeks I made the following change:

2x37.5 -> 37.5am - same as above but much worse in the evening duration so far: 7 days

Therefore for me it was roughly around 2 weeks for 90% symptoms to disappear then maybe another two weeks for the remaining. So far after 7 days I still feel pretty crappy. I'm hoping after the next 7 days I'll feel better.

Anyhow good luck.

Hi future,

Thanks so much for your information about reducing venlafaxine. I have bi-polar disorder and plan to stop taking it so i can become pregnant (it can affect the unborn baby). I'm currently having an accidental experience of coming off it as my pharmacy didn't order my prescription on time. I haven't taken my usual 75mg dose for 2 days now. Today I got up at 3pm, had no motivation to do anything and have sobbed uncontrollably for most of the day. I feel sick, nervous and just want to cry all the time. Reading your post made me realise its not just me! I won't get my prescription for 2 more days, which will be hard, but at least I know why I feel this way, thank you. My doctor has never mentioned side-effects from venlafaxine. I'm already having an awful experience coming off Depakote (which my doctor prescribed me without telling me about the awful withdrawal symptoms). I will be much more careful about which medications to take in the future.

You mentioned sending a plan for reducing venlafaxine. I would really like this, if possible.

Thank you, Denise.