You are likely in Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal at the moment. This page gives you quick solutions to the existing Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal side effects and gives guidance on how to proceed with a safe and effective Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal.
The most debilitating Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal side effect is something called brain zaps. An electrical jolt that usually starts at the base of the skull and feels like it runs into the brain. Effexor Venlafaxine brain zaps is the leading cause of people stopping the Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal process and they go back on a higher dosage of the Effexor Venlafaxine in the hope of relief.
What to do: Go to any store that sells supplements and look for omega 3 fish oil. Select a bottle that is highest in EPA. Look at the back label and you will see the amount of DHA and EPA per serving. Choose the one that is highest in EPA. Ideally, around 400mg per softgel in EPA works the best.
Take 4 softgels as soon as you can, and you should begin to feel relief from the Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal brain zaps. We will provide long-term solutions for you later on this page.
Nausea from Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal – While at the store getting the omega 3, get a box of ginger tea. Drink at least 2 cups of ginger tea a day and the nausea should ease.
Doing the two suggestions above will help you begin to feel better quickly but there are a few other things you will need to do for a successful Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal.
Next – Go back up to the last Effexor Venlafaxine dosage you felt stable at. Hopefully, it was the last dosage you reduced from. If you were not stable when you reduced the last dosage of Effexor Venlafaxine, you need to consider going back up further on the Effexor Venlafaxine. Let your prescribing physician know what you are going to do. The sooner you go back up to the last dosage you felt stable on the Effexor Venlafaxine the better off you will be.
You may feel hesitant about going back up on the Effexor Venlafaxine dosage because you do not want to lose the ground you have gained but there really is not another option for you. The further you proceed doing what you have been doing the harder it will be to dig out of the Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal side effects.
Again, go back up on the Effexor Venlafaxine and get stable.
Effexor Venlafaxine Withdrawal Timeline
Effexor needs to be reduced by no more than 10% of the original dosage every 2 weeks. However, you should not reduce Effexor after 2 weeks if you are having Effexor withdrawal side effects. You need to remain on that dosage until you feel very stable.
How to reduce Effexor
Reducing Effexor Venlafaxine
With Effexor Venlafaxine being a time-release medication, you have a few choices to make.
First Option – You can switch to the immediate release Effexor Venlafaxine. If you do this, count the switch over to the immediate release Effexor Venlafaxine as a reduction. Meaning, if you are taking 150mg of the extended-release Effexor XR Venlafaxine each day and you switch to the immediate release Effexor Venlafaxine, stay at the 150mg of the immediate release Effexor Venlafaxine for the next 2 weeks. You need to do this, so you know if you have any reaction that it is being caused by switching to immediate release Effexor Venlafaxine and it is not being caused because you reduced the Effexor Venlafaxine.
You will be reducing the immediate-release Effexor Venlafaxine every 14 days by 10 percent of the original dosage. So, if you were taking 150mg of Effexor Venlafaxine daily, you will reduce Effexor Venlafaxine to 135mg. Your next reduction will be down to 120mg. You will be reducing the Effexor Venlafaxine by 15mg every 14 days.
To achieve an exact reduction of 15mg with each reduction, you will need to have a compounding pharmacy to make the Effexor Venlafaxine to the dosages. This approach is a bit expensive, but it does give you the exact dosages you will need during the Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal.
Other than the cost of compounding the Effexor, there is a chance after 2 weeks of the reduction you are not stable. The Effexor should not be reduced again until you are stable.
It is a good idea to have a 30-day supply made of the Effexor compound in case you need to stay at a dosage longer during the taper.
Second Option – Open 1 capsule of the Effexor Venlafaxine and count the balls inside of the capsule. As an example, let’s say there are 60 balls in the capsule. To reduce the Effexor Venlafaxine by 10 percent, you will remove 6 of the balls. The next reduction you will remove 12 of the Effexor Venlafaxine balls and the next reduction you will remove 18 of the Effexor Venlafaxine balls. Just remove an additional 6 Effexor Venlafaxine balls with each reduction.
When you are opening the Effexor Venlafaxine and removing the balls you should wear sterile gloves. Do not reuse the gloves. You want to avoid the chance you will get body oil on the Effexor Venlafaxine balls.
Here is an example you might follow for removing the Effexor Venlafaxine from the capsule.
Put on your clean gloves.
Get a clean saucer or bowl.
Pour the Effexor Venlafaxine into the saucer or into the bowl.
Remove 6 of the Effexor Venlafaxine and discard them.
Now you have the remaining 54 balls of Effexor Venlafaxine. If you can put them back into the original Effexor Venlafaxine do that. Make sure the capsule is sealed tightly again.
If you can’t use the original capsule again, you will need to put the Effexor Venlafaxine balls into applesauce. Mott’s applesauce is the recommended brand to use.
Get a tablespoon and fill with the applesauce and then pour the Effexor Venlafaxine onto the top of the applesauce.
When you take the Effexor Venlafaxine balls and applesauce, DO NOT CHEW THE BALLS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. You want the Effexor Venlafaxine balls to slowly release as they would normally.
The Mott’s applesauce gives you the same pH level as you would with taking the Effexor Venlafaxine in a capsule. Keeping the pH level the same in your gut is what makes the Effexor Venlafaxine breakdown slowly just as they are intended to do.
I would go to Walmart or a pharmacy and pick up a pill container that gives you 14 days’ worth of slots. Using the 60 Effexor Venlafaxine balls as an example and removing 6 of the Effexor Venlafaxine balls, open the first container slot and put 54 Effexor Venlafaxine balls into it and snap the lid shut. Then do the other 13 days’ worth of Effexor Venlafaxine balls. This way you only need to go through this process once every 14 days, instead of every day.
Since you are changing how the Effexor Venlafaxine is being taken, your first 14 days of the Effexor Venlafaxine taper should be taking the entire 60 Effexor Venlafaxine balls for 14 days. Again, this allows you to know if there is any reaction, it is from taking the Effexor Venlafaxine balls with applesauce and not a reduction reaction.
Using either of the two options above gives you a 50% chance of completing the Effexor withdrawal. Are you shocked by such a low percentage? Probably so. So were we in the early 2000’s when we first developed this withdrawal program.
We were assisting hundreds of thousands off Effexor and 50% of the people simply went back up on the Effexor and stayed on the Effexor due to withdrawal.
The other 50% made it off the Effexor but still struggled with Effexor withdrawal side effects. Most eventually went back on the Effexor to get relief.
In 2004, Jim Harper started a DNA testing laboratory with the hope of finding some answer for Effexor withdrawal based upon an individual’s DNA and how fast or slow they metabolized Effexor. The test results showed why some went into withdrawal quicker than other but no real answers for a more successful Effexor withdrawal.
In 2005, Jim began researching other areas that might help with Effexor withdrawal, and he looked at specific nutritional supplements. The first sign of success was found early on with this approach. Over the past 26 years Jim has continued to research and formulate new supplements as new evidence came to light. Basically, Effexor and other medications make certain genes and proteins become too active and this is part of what makes the Effexor withdrawal begin.
Bringing those genes and proteins back to a normal balance, while not changing how the Effexor metabolizes turned out to be the answer for an effecting Effexor withdrawal.
As of December 2024, our estimated Effexor withdrawal success rate is now around 90%.
Next on this page is how we recommend you do an Effexor withdrawal.
You start with what we call a Pre-Taper. These are the things you do before reducing the Effexor. If you have already started reducing the Effexor, your step is to be at a dosage of the Effexor you feel stable on.
You will need to start taking supplements that have been formulated to help reduce Effexor Venlafaxine withdrawal side effects.
Click here for the link to the supplements you will need.
You need to take the supplements below and how they are described to take each one before reducing the Effexor Venlafaxine.
How to take the supplements
You will need to take these supplements:
Neuro Day
JNK Formula
Maca Supreme
Omega 3 Supreme
Neuro Night
Maca Supreme – You need to slowly increase the Maca Supreme. Start by taking 1 capsule in the morning.
After 3 days, take 1 capsule in the morning and 1 capsule at noon.
After 3 days, take 2 capsules in the morning and take 1 capsule at noon.
After 3 days, take 2 capsules in the morning and 2 capsules at noon.
After 3 days you can now start the rest of the supplements.
Morning – Take 2 Maca Supreme capsules, 1 Neuro Day capsule and 1 Omega 3 Supreme.
Mid-Morning – Take 1 JNK Formula capsule.
Noon – Take 1 Neuro Day, 1 Omega 3 Supreme and 2 Maca Supreme.
Mid-Afternoon – Take 1 JNK Formula capsule.
Night (15-minutes before bed) – Take 2 Neuro Night capsules.
This is the ideal way to take each supplement.
Try your best to keep a constant schedule with the supplements.
Omega 3 Supreme – Effexor Venlafaxine is known for a withdrawal side effect called, brain zaps. A brain zap is an electrical jolt that tends to start at the base of the skull and run up and into the head. Omega 3 Supreme is the only supplement that will give you relief.
You can increase the Omega 3 Supreme to as much as 2 softgels in the morning and 2 softgels at noon if needed to get relief from the Effexor Venlafaxine brain zaps.
You can also adjust the time you take the Omega 3 Supreme if needed. An example of this could be – let’s say brain zaps start around 4pm every day. Instead of taking the Omega 3 Supreme at noon, take the Omega 3 Supreme at 2pm.
If Effexor Venlafaxine brain zaps tend to start around 11am, wait until around 9am before you take the morning Omega 3 Supreme.
You should take all the supplements for at least 1 full week before starting to taper the Effexor Venlafaxine.
Use the graphs to track your symptoms before you start this method and during the Effexor Venlafaxine taper process.
Get all symptoms below a 5 on a 1-10 scale before you start reducing the Effexor Venlafaxine. If this takes a few extra days or a few weeks, it is more than worth it in the long term.
Goal of Effexor Pre-taper
If anxiety is present, have it eliminated
If fatigue is present, have it eliminated
If flu like symptoms are present, have them eliminated
If depression is present, have it eliminated
Eliminate all other antidepressant side effects
Set up the body correctly to eliminate potential withdrawal symptoms. The goal of the pre-taper may seem unobtainable to you at this moment, but after you experience a day to two of taking the supplements used with this program, you should begin to experience the changes we suggest will happen. It is not out of character for people to feel as though they are no longer even on an antidepressant as all side effects vanish quickly.
Action:
Rate your daytime anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia and other side effects. Use the Daily Journal and rate anxiety, sleep and any additional symptoms you may be experiencing from 1 to 10. Rate with number 10 being the worst and number 1 being no side effect or symptom remaining.
Rate the previous night’s sleep first thing the next morning. Rate the daytime anxiety just before bedtime of that day.
If you take the Effexor Venlafaxine first thing in the morning, take the Effexor Venlafaxine as normal and 1 hour later take the morning supplements.
Finishing the Pre-Taper
Do the Effexor Venlafaxine pre-taper at least 7-full days. Do not cut the pre-taper short no matter how well you may feel after a few days. Give your body a chance to balance, give yourself the chance to fully experience relief before you tackle the reduction of the Effexor Venlafaxine. If you wish to stay on the pre-taper for an extended time, that is fine to do, many have.
You may have experienced extreme trauma the last time you tried to get off the Effexor Venlafaxine and the apprehension you may feel now is normal, not a mental disorder. This is your time; do not let yourself get rushed by your physician or by the information in this book. The drug manufacturer, the F.D.A., and even the American Medical Association state a gradual reduction of the Effexor Venlafaxine is required. We cannot stress enough, take your time. This is when the tortoise beats the hare to the finish line.
Let’s Say you have a reaction of some type when you change how you take the Effexor Venlafaxine
This is where the pre-taper comes in handy as well as taking good notes during that time.
Keep good notes on these new symptoms, what they are and the time of the day they start.
Let’s say you normally take the Effexor Venlafaxine at 10am and the negative feelings started at 1pm. The negative is anxiety. The odds are you had anxiety before adjusting the Effexor Venlafaxine. If the anxiety was lowered during the pre-taper and you can tell the Neuro Day is what lowered the anxiety, adjust the time of day you take the Neuro Day. Instead of taking the Neuro Day as the first supplement in the morning, take the JNK Formula first and then take your first Neuro Day at noon. Just before the negative symptom tends to begin.
If you get a head symptom the Omega 3 Supreme will always be the answer. Take another capsule of Omega 3 Supreme at noon.
I hope you see where we are going with this. Using your notes from the pre-taper you will know which supplement helped with which symptom. Adjust the supplements around so you are taking the one that helped with that negative symptom an hour before it tends to start.
The good news. Any symptom that might start at this point is likely one you had before the pre-taper and you know which supplement it was that helped.
Slow and steady will win this race!
There is Hope and There is a Solution
1. Acute and Persistent Withdrawal Syndromes Following Discontinuation of Psychotropic Medications
Studies on psychotropic medications decrease, discontinuation, or switch have uncovered withdrawal syndromes. The present overview aimed at analyzing the literature to illustrate withdrawal after decrease, discontinuation, or switch of psychotropic medications based on the drug class (i.e., benzodiazepines, nonbenzodiazepine benzodiazepine receptor agonists, antidepressants, ketamine, antipsychotics, lithium, mood stabilizers) according to the diagnostic criteria of Chouinard and Chouinard [Psychother Psychosom. 2015;84(2):63-71],
Keywords: Antidepressant; Antipsychotic; Benzodiazepine; Discontinuation; Lithium; Mood stabilizers; Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; Serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor; Tolerance; Withdrawal.
2. Antidepressant Withdrawal and Rebound Phenomena
Background: Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed drugs worldwide. They are often discontinued, frequently without the knowledge of the prescribing physician. It is, therefore, important for physicians to be aware of the withdrawal and rebound phenomena that may arise, in order to prevent these phenomena, treat them when necessary, and counsel patients appropriately.
3. Withdrawal Symptoms after Serotonin-Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitor Discontinuation: Systematic Review
Background: Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) are widely used in medical practice. Their discontinuation has been associated with a wide range of symptoms. The aim of this paper is to identify the occurrence, frequency, and features of withdrawal symptoms after SNRI discontinuation.
Keywords: Adverse events; Antidepressant drugs; Desvenlafaxine; Discontinuation syndrome; Duloxetine; Levomilnacipran; Milnacipran; Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors; Venlafaxine; Withdrawal symptoms.
4. Withdrawal Syndrome Following Discontinuation of 28 Antidepressants: Pharmacovigilance Analysis of 31,688 Reports from the WHO Spontaneous Reporting Database
Introduction: Evidence is lacking on withdrawal syndrome related to individual antidepressants and relevant risk factors for severe reactions.
Objective: To ascertain whether antidepressants are associated with an increased reporting of withdrawal syndrome as compared with other medications, and to investigate risk factors for severe reactions.
5. Antidepressant withdrawal reactions
Antidepressants can cause a variety of withdrawal reactions, starting within a few days to a few weeks of ceasing the drug and persisting for days to weeks. Both tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors cause similar syndromes, most commonly characterized by gastrointestinal or somatic distress, sleep disturbances, mood fluctuations and movement disorders. Most symptoms related to tricyclic antidepressant withdrawal are believed to be caused by rebound excess of cholinergic activity after prolonged anticholinergic effect on cholinergic receptors. (This situation is analogous to the adrenergic rebound that occurs after beta-blocker withdrawal.) Treatment involves restarting the antidepressant and tapering it more slowly. Alternatively, tricyclic antidepressant withdrawal symptoms often respond to anticholinergics, such as atropine or benztropine mesylate. Three case reports of antidepressant withdrawal are presented, including one featuring akathisia (motor restlessness) related to withdrawal of venlafaxine.
6. Antidepressants for people with epilepsy and depression
Background: Depressive disorders are the most common psychiatric comorbidity in people with epilepsy, affecting around one-third, with a significant negative impact on quality of life. There is concern that people may not be receiving appropriate treatment for their depression because of uncertainty regarding which antidepressant or class works best, and the perceived risk of exacerbating seizures. This review aimed to address these issues, and inform clinical practice and future research. This is an updated version of the original Cochrane Review published in Issue 12, 2014.
7. Venlafaxine
Infants receive venlafaxine and its active metabolite in breastmilk, and the metabolite of the drug can be found in the plasma of most breastfed infants; however, concurrent side effects have rarely been reported. Some experts feel that venlafaxine is not recommended during nursing,[1] but a safety scoring system finds venlafaxine use to be possible during breastfeeding.[2] Breastfed infants, especially newborn or preterm infants, should be monitored for excessive sedation and adequate weight gain if this drug is used during lactation, possibly including measurement of serum levels of desvenlafaxine (O-desmethylvenlafaxine), to rule out toxicity if there is a concern. Bruxism has also been reported in one infant. However, newborn infants of mothers who took the drug during pregnancy may experience poor neonatal adaptation syndrome as seen with other antidepressants such as SSRIs or SNRIs. Use of venlafaxine during breastfeeding has been proposed as a method of mitigating infant venlafaxine withdrawal symptoms,[3,4] but this has not been rigorously demonstrated.
8. Venlafaxine withdrawal syndrome
Dual-action antidepressants serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SRNIs) are widely used to treat depression. Owing to its efficiency and safety, venlafaxine holds a prominent place in this group of depressants. Abrupt venlafaxine discontinuation involves a high risk of withdrawal syndrome. Mechanism of its development is similar to that of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), but of higher intensity. Venlafaxine withdrawal symptoms may include several somatic symptoms as well as several psychiatric symptoms. In some cases, symptoms may look like a stroke. A treatment option is re-inclusion of venlafaxine or a SSRI antidepressant. The paper presents the case of a 70-year-old patient who discontinued of her own accord to take venlafaxine, which she had been taking regularly at a daily dose of 225 mg for more than a year. A few hours after taking the last dose, withdrawal syndrome occurred with severe symptoms resembling a stroke. The patient was examined by a neurologist and the CT and laboratory parameters showed no irregularities. Diagnosis was made after psychiatric observation. Venlafaxine, 150 mg per day, was prescribed, the symptoms disappeared relatively quickly, and the patient fully recovered. Withdrawal syndrome is a real risk for each venlafaxine treated patient. The possibility of its occurrence should be always kept in mind and patients should be timely informed about it. In this way, the risk of venlafaxine withdraw syndrome could be reduced, unnecessary stress to patients prevented and the costs of medical treatment lowered.
9. Withdrawal symptoms of antidepressants
Withdrawal symptoms are encountered with both the classical anti-depressants, i.e. the tricyclic antidepressants and monoamineoxidase inhibitors, the modern antidepressants, i.e. the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, and the new antidepressants such as venlafaxine and mirtazapine. The symptoms that are reported following the withdrawal of these drugs can be classified into 8 groups: influenza-like symptoms, psychic symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep disorders, equilibrium disorders, sensory disturbances, extrapyramidal symptoms and other symptoms. It is characteristic of these symptoms that they appear 1-4 days after reduction of the dose or the last administration of the drug. They may also appear in the infants of mothers who used an antidepressant during the last phase of the pregnancy. It is important that the patient be informed accurately and carefully at the start and termination of any treatment with an antidepressant. In order to prevent withdrawal symptoms, it is advisable to reduce the dosage slowly if possible when the treatment is to be terminated.
10. Serotonergic anti-depressants and ethanol withdrawal syndrome: a review
Aim: To review laboratory findings on the effects of anti-depressant agents that interact with the serotonergic system on signs of ethanol withdrawal syndrome in rats.
Method: Adult Wistar rats received a modified liquid diet to produce ethanol dependence. Signs of ethanol withdrawal, locomotor hyperactivity, stereotyped behaviour, tremor, wet dog shakes, agitation, and audiogenic seizures, were evaluated for the first 6 h of ethanol withdrawal. The effects of the anti-depressants fluoxetine, venlafaxine, escitalopram, tianeptine, and extract of Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s wort) (HPE) were examined.
Results: Some beneficial effects of fluoxetine, tianeptine, HPE, escitalopram and venlafaxine on ethanol withdrawal signs were observed, ranked as follows: fluoxetine = tianeptine > HPE > escitalopram > venlafaxine.