A lot of anxiety; fearing n* from weaning off of meds..SCARED!5

[Charzy14]

Hello all!

I am really anxious right now and today is my first day of going from 75mg of Effexor ER (Venlafaxine ER) to 37.5 mg. I have read/heard many horror stories about how you could v* or have extreme n* from getting off of this drug, as it is one of the worst to come off of. Ugh!! I would much rather all of the other unpleasant effects.

After a year, I am coming off of this drug because it did it's job. I became depressed last winter due to situational issues, such as starting a new job, moving to a new house, it being winter, etc. Anyway, I don't like a lot of the effects of this drug and feel I no longer need it. I am scared to death that I may feel extremely n* and/or v* coming off if it.

I will say, that the one time I forgot to take this med (last spring), I realized I missed my dose hours after I didn't take it (short half-life). I got the typical brain zaps and felt a bit foggy and just "off". I also remember I felt an EXTREME wave of n* come over me and realized that it was because I hadn't taken the med. Ugh. I do not want to endure that again... I just don't.

I did go to my doc yesterday and he is the one that started the tapering process. However, I don't feel he knows what kind of effects I may experience. I have read so much on it.

Anyone ever taken this drug and tapered off? Any other advice that would be helpful? I am just dreading the next few days.

Thanks,
Charlotte

[KarMar]

just taper as gradually as possible and you wont notice anything. going from 75 mg to 37.5 is almost half-- that's big. if you can somehow cut the pill into fourths or something, and take 1/4 less for 2 weeks at a time, you will probably notice very little.

[Charzy14]

Well, so far I have only noticed a little bit of drowsiness and dizziness (today I decreased my dosage of Effexor).

Thank you KarMar for your advice. I am taking capsules though, so I can't change the dosage unless I count little balls that are inside.

[KarMar]

ooooh bummer, well id imagine then you can at least take your time with it and itll be okay. i weaned off lexapro last spring with minimal issues.

[stopthissong]

Try to think positively on how good it is that you are trying to reduce the dose in the first place! Good on you! That's a big step and you know the risks involved but you still want to do it, so congratulations on the strength you have I guess your body will take time to get used to lowering the dosage, but our bodies seem to deal with things like that fairly quickly so long as we are overall pretty healthy and active. I would just suggest maintaining good hydration and either taking with or without food (some meds are different, not sure what this one does... but what I mean is if you're meant to take it with food... DO THAT), it might make a big difference. Try not to think about all the things you've read, you'll trick yourself into feeling n* and it may just be in your head. All the best.

[Charzy14]

Thank you both!