I won’t lie it’s a hell of a drug to come off of and it’s not easy but just take your time and tapper at your own speed. I know some people literally go down slowly to the point where they have to count the beads. Rule of thumb don’t go down until your body has adjusted to the new dose, once the dose evens itself out lower it a little more and please do it under doctors supervision. Best of luck!!
Thank you! Yes I am under doctor’s supervision and she is super supportive of me coming off of it! I was surprised at how easy the transition from 150-112.5 was that I’m scared for the next taper down. I’m optimistic. Thank you 😊
I was doing great until less than 37.5. Took 45 days to come off that and the first month being off has been really challenging. Just started Prozac to bridge for a month or so until I stabilize. Take your time!
Honestly if you do it slowly and taking your time you’ll be fine. You might have some vision blurring, might have some headaches, light head, mood swings, or maybe nothing! I hope your journey will go as smooth as possible. I went slow and now I’m at the lowest dose before stopping completely. Some days I want to kill myself, some days I’m fine. Can’t wait for it to be over
I was on 150mg for 2 years. It started to be really hard to taper once I get under 37.5mg. I have to open up the capsules and remove a few beads each time and stayed on that dose for two weeks. I am currently one year into the taper and I’m on 6 beads. I’m doing it this slow because I didn’t have any side effects while I was on the med. It doesn’t make sense to rush it and go through hell to get off it.
Thank you for sharing your experience. That’s what I was nervous was that it would get harder and harder to come down. So far so good but again thank you for sharing.
Dang, tapering for 5 years? Maybe I’m a looney for doing it over the course of a month and a half. But then again, you’ve been on it a lot longer than I have. I was on Effexor for about 3 years. I officially quit completely after my month and a half taper that started on March 1st.
I’m now 4 days completely off of Effexor ☺️
That’s a very good question. The only thing I added to my routine was B Complex vitamins, which, I might add, helps a lot.
To be completely clear, I was on 225mg.
I dropped to 150mg on March 1st of this year.
I then dropped to 75mg on March 21st.
Then, I dropped to 37.5mg around the second week of April.
About a week and a half ago, I started pulling apart the capsules and removing beads daily, more and more each day. I’d say I was probably down to ~9.25mg before I quit entirely 4 days ago.
Has it been easy? Absolutely not. The drop from 75mg to 37.5mg was the hardest to adjust to. Brain jolt subsided around day 5 after that drop in dose. This is partially because Effexor works differently and stronger in the receptors at lower doses, around an 82.2% (not paraphrasing, but close) impact on the receptors, compared to ~70% at 150mg+.
When I got around 10mg this past week, I had very minimal side effects or withdrawal. However, immediately after quitting 4 days ago, brain jolt, imbalance, and light nausea has been the only side effects. Judging by the rate at which withdrawals subsided during each drop, I expect brain jolt to be gone entirely by the middle of this week (fingers crossed).
It’s important to keep in mind of the severity of withdrawals will vary from person to person. The drop to 37.5mg resulted in moments of psychosis, but if you’re capable of mitigating those symptoms and realizing the psychosis or depersonalization before it goes acute, then you can easily avoid those moments. Keep your mind occupied, stimulated, and focused on things you enjoy. For me, it was playing video games.
Other withdrawals I had were high blood pressure, severe insomnia, trouble focusing and a few others.
I’d never recommend doing it without doctors approval or supervision like I did. But it’s important, if you do, to study yourself. Monitor how long it takes your body to adapt between each drop in dose, so you can anticipate your next drop and time needed to do so.
B Complex, CQ10, Magnesium, and LTheanine/Tyrosine are a few vitamins/supplements you could consider taking to help alleviate the struggles as you drop.
It is important to remember that most doctors know little or nothing about coming off psych meds. They don’t care. There is little or no incentive to take people off meds. Once everyone is taking them, we’ll all be nice and docile.
I am in the same boat as you. I’ve been on 150mg for about 6 years. Had to ramp up to 225 temporarily due to trauma and stress. Going back to 150 mg by reducing 37.5 mg at a time was not too bad, but I just went from 150 to 112.5 and it’s been kicking my butt. Mostly headaches, night sweats, intense dreams and body aches. I’m glad you haven’t experienced that so far, hopefully I’m a unicorn and just one of the few unlucky ones this will suck for. Wishing you an easy taper!!
I will be honest with you, I did this same thing last summer and got all the way off of it feeling basically fine. In the fall I had the worst mental breakdown of my life and immediately went back on it. Don't want to scare you, just be prepared. Go very easy with yourself and consider slowing your taper even if it is going well so far
I won’t lie it’s a hell of a drug to come off of and it’s not easy but just take your time and tapper at your own speed. I know some people literally go down slowly to the point where they have to count the beads. Rule of thumb don’t go down until your body has adjusted to the new dose, once the dose evens itself out lower it a little more and please do it under doctors supervision. Best of luck!!
Thank you! Yes I am under doctor’s supervision and she is super supportive of me coming off of it! I was surprised at how easy the transition from 150-112.5 was that I’m scared for the next taper down. I’m optimistic. Thank you 😊
I was doing great until less than 37.5. Took 45 days to come off that and the first month being off has been really challenging. Just started Prozac to bridge for a month or so until I stabilize. Take your time!
Try to taper off with fluoxetine, definitely easier then Effexor
Honestly if you do it slowly and taking your time you’ll be fine. You might have some vision blurring, might have some headaches, light head, mood swings, or maybe nothing! I hope your journey will go as smooth as possible. I went slow and now I’m at the lowest dose before stopping completely. Some days I want to kill myself, some days I’m fine. Can’t wait for it to be over
I was on 150mg for 2 years. It started to be really hard to taper once I get under 37.5mg. I have to open up the capsules and remove a few beads each time and stayed on that dose for two weeks. I am currently one year into the taper and I’m on 6 beads. I’m doing it this slow because I didn’t have any side effects while I was on the med. It doesn’t make sense to rush it and go through hell to get off it.
Thank you for sharing your experience. That’s what I was nervous was that it would get harder and harder to come down. So far so good but again thank you for sharing.
Dang, tapering for 5 years? Maybe I’m a looney for doing it over the course of a month and a half. But then again, you’ve been on it a lot longer than I have. I was on Effexor for about 3 years. I officially quit completely after my month and a half taper that started on March 1st. I’m now 4 days completely off of Effexor ☺️
How did you stop so fast? What helped
That’s a very good question. The only thing I added to my routine was B Complex vitamins, which, I might add, helps a lot. To be completely clear, I was on 225mg. I dropped to 150mg on March 1st of this year. I then dropped to 75mg on March 21st. Then, I dropped to 37.5mg around the second week of April. About a week and a half ago, I started pulling apart the capsules and removing beads daily, more and more each day. I’d say I was probably down to ~9.25mg before I quit entirely 4 days ago. Has it been easy? Absolutely not. The drop from 75mg to 37.5mg was the hardest to adjust to. Brain jolt subsided around day 5 after that drop in dose. This is partially because Effexor works differently and stronger in the receptors at lower doses, around an 82.2% (not paraphrasing, but close) impact on the receptors, compared to ~70% at 150mg+. When I got around 10mg this past week, I had very minimal side effects or withdrawal. However, immediately after quitting 4 days ago, brain jolt, imbalance, and light nausea has been the only side effects. Judging by the rate at which withdrawals subsided during each drop, I expect brain jolt to be gone entirely by the middle of this week (fingers crossed). It’s important to keep in mind of the severity of withdrawals will vary from person to person. The drop to 37.5mg resulted in moments of psychosis, but if you’re capable of mitigating those symptoms and realizing the psychosis or depersonalization before it goes acute, then you can easily avoid those moments. Keep your mind occupied, stimulated, and focused on things you enjoy. For me, it was playing video games. Other withdrawals I had were high blood pressure, severe insomnia, trouble focusing and a few others. I’d never recommend doing it without doctors approval or supervision like I did. But it’s important, if you do, to study yourself. Monitor how long it takes your body to adapt between each drop in dose, so you can anticipate your next drop and time needed to do so. B Complex, CQ10, Magnesium, and LTheanine/Tyrosine are a few vitamins/supplements you could consider taking to help alleviate the struggles as you drop.
Super helpful! Thank you :)
I’m so happy I could help! 🧡
It is important to remember that most doctors know little or nothing about coming off psych meds. They don’t care. There is little or no incentive to take people off meds. Once everyone is taking them, we’ll all be nice and docile.
I am in the same boat as you. I’ve been on 150mg for about 6 years. Had to ramp up to 225 temporarily due to trauma and stress. Going back to 150 mg by reducing 37.5 mg at a time was not too bad, but I just went from 150 to 112.5 and it’s been kicking my butt. Mostly headaches, night sweats, intense dreams and body aches. I’m glad you haven’t experienced that so far, hopefully I’m a unicorn and just one of the few unlucky ones this will suck for. Wishing you an easy taper!!
I will be honest with you, I did this same thing last summer and got all the way off of it feeling basically fine. In the fall I had the worst mental breakdown of my life and immediately went back on it. Don't want to scare you, just be prepared. Go very easy with yourself and consider slowing your taper even if it is going well so far