Effexor xr 225 to 150mgs day 4 please help

Renee, you poor thing, I wish I could wave a magic wand darling and make it all go away.

I went up to 225 mg of venlafaxine and realised after a year and the numbness they weren't helping me. I was just existing. Watching with vacant eyes my children growing. Sorry, seems harsh but that's what it felt like. (I digressed). Ok so decided,enough I need to get off this horrible tablets slowly I reduced the dose from 225mg to 150mg.

So, you went up from 150 to 225 for one week and are now having trouble coming back down to 150?  I think you are in tolerance withdrawal and the increase caused an extreme reaction and destabilization. You weren't at that dose long enough for it to cause compensation changes to occur, so you are probably still suffering from the destabilization of neurotransmitters and it will take some time for it all to settle out.

You need to try to talk yourself out of the fear you are experiencing in response to these chemically induced reactions.  Tell yourself "it's my chemistry trying to get balanced" and try some self-care techniques like an epsom salt bath, taking fish oil supplements, mindfulness/meditation and distracting yourself when the symptoms hit.  You will get through this - nothing permanent.  It will take some time for things to settle out.

 

Hi, hope you are slowly getting better.  I've not been on that high a dose of effexor but I know that whenever you change the dosage it can affect people in different ways, some in the ways you've described.

I've not been on xanax so can't rely on any experience there but I have read many many posts from people on venlafaxine who have had very similar experiences to yourself.

From what I have read and from my own experience the XR stuff (XR = extended release) can be worse than the standard release stuff for some people.

If you are coming down to a lower dosage people suggest doing it in stages.  Your doctor will advise on this but many people cut it down in stages so it's not a big drop.  Everyone reacts differently so there's no easy solution but the common feedback is that doing it gradually lessens the effects.

The irony of venlafaxine is its supposed to help with anxiety but I have found that changes in the dose (increases and decreases) spike it.  Then along with the other stuff (feeling sick, dizzy and weird stuff in the head) it's a bad mix of things that only causes more worry and anxiety.

It might help to keep a diary of how you feel.  Also if you score each symptom you'll start to see things gradually getting better.

The key thing to remember (I *keep* having to tell myself this!) is that the symptoms you are experiencing only began after the dose change.  So if you are returning to the dose with no problems then these things *will* subside.  They are *not* permanent.

As easy as it is for me to say this, distraction helps.  I've found it hard to distract myself but being around other people I trust has helped to get me through some days.

Hi. Sorry you are having a rough time. I do wish your prescribing doctor took you back down by 37.5mg instead of full 75mg. Perhaps that would have been a little gentler on you. Either way typically the dosage changes are rough for about a week to 10 days indeed. I would not worry about taking Xanax right now and would take them at regular intervals as the doctor prescribbed and not on a 'need-to' basis. This is so your brain can keep a little even through this so your condition does not escalata during the adjustment. Going off xanax after only 10 days will be gradual and relatively easy. I had to take xanax for 2 months when going on effexor as my adjustment was awful. Then i was gradually withdrawn from xanax and never looked back. Ever. Once i relaxed and trusted my doctor it all fell into place. Give it a chance. Use this time as an opportunity to fall back on xanax, to rest, regroup and gather strength for all the rebalancing that is abbout to happen. Effexor is in my experience awesome for severe GAD and panic disorders. I am judging by what it has done for me as well as many people i met along the way who had taken it. I don't regret it. I was on it for 12 years. It gave me the balance to rebuild myself. The adjustment is awful but once it starts working there is no mistake about it. Wishing you all the very best.

I see this is an older post. I was searching for this because I am

trying to go from 225mg to 150mg of Effexor XR myself. I don't feel

too great. Feel more depressed , anxious, just weird and kind of out of it.

Memory problems moderately. I am trying to do this just because I have

heard how hard it is to get off and I don't want to be on max dose. I see

from your post that I can expect not to feel too good and have symptoms

of withdrawal for 7 to 10 days. I am seeing my prescriber next week and

not sure if I will tell her or not. I may ask her if I can titrate down and start

going on Prozac. But anyone else doing this you can expect some negative

symptoms. If I know WHY I don't feel well it helps. At first I decided to just

stop completely! I had horrible, sad, dreams of being alienated from the human

race and was so depressed next day I had to call out from my responsibilities.

I took the 3 pink 75mg capsules right away and felt better in an hour or two!

Now I am going down slower which is not fun. I take 0.5mg of Klonopin at night

for sleep and anxiety. I hope your experience and mine may help someone else.