Effexor withdrawal, how long will these feelings last?

Those electric shocks are horrible aren't they? I'm sorry I'm afraid your doctor is wrong, that reduction is way too fast for venlafaxine. It's a very effective drug, but also horribly addictive, and you'll need to come off it more slowly. At that speed, it's little better than going cold turkey.

Were you getting the electric shocks when you were at 75mg for 10 days? Or did they start after the further reduction? I would recommend going back to 75mg to see if your side-effects disappear. If they do, then stay there at least a month to stabilise.  If not, you may have to go back up to 150mg for a while. Don't panic, you won't be on them forever, but there is no reason for you to suffer like this. 

Now, when you are at the dose at which the electric shocks disappear, I would ask your gp to switch you to the tablets. Then you can taper off as slowly and carefully as you like, because you will be able to cut them in half or quarters to reduce by a little bit at a time. I had a friend who had difficulty coming off SSRIs and would shave a little bit more off the tablet every day until she was off completely. That's an extreme reaction, but it shows that tablets are more versatile than capsules. The good thing is that Venlafaxine tablets are also slow release now so you shouldn't notice any major difference by changing to them. I suspect that you will be able to come down to 75mg fairly easily if you do it over a month or so, but will have to come off more slowly after that, but you will have to experiment. Oh also, because it's so addictive it's not a good idea to take one every other day, because you will start to get withdrawal on the intervening day, and there's no point in beating your body up like that (In the old days, when it was first on the market, there weren't any slow release tablets or capsules and Venlafaxine was prescribed as two tablets to be taken morning and evening). It's much better to cut them in half. 

I'm afraid that the guidelines written by the drug companies are very inadequate, and many GPs don't have much experience of prescribing anti-depressants. The reality is that everyone is different, and responds to every medicine in a different way (though SNRIs like Venlafaxine are more addictive than SSRIs). You will have to listen to your body and be your own doctor. I hope your GP will understand and go along with your needs. The tablets are much much cheaper for the NHS than the capsules so he/she should be fine with it. 

Sorry, there's a lot of information and a bit of rambling there, and it might sound a bit of a step backwards at first, but there is no reason for you to feel like this, and if you follow the guidelines I've suggested you should be able to come off more easily.  Kudos to you for sticking with it this far, it shows you have determination. You might prefer to ride it out now, especially if you get some more positive answers, but the important thing is you don't let the side-effects overwhelm you and erode your mood. I found the shocks didn't go away and I couldn't take it but, as I said, everyone reacts differently to each medication, so it may be that they do for you. At least you have a back-up plan now, right? Anyway good luck, let me know how you get on x

i am always very annoyed with advice some doctors give about withdrawing from these type of drugs.

with venlafaxin you cannot take it any other day at low doses as it has a very short half life (about 6 hours) which means you create a rollercoaster. the best state is a constant concentration in your blood but this is obviously not possible as almost every substance gets metabolised. there is another problem with withdrawing from these drugs. as long as one is in a range in which the serotonin transporters are occupied by about 80% or higher you do not have harsh withdrawal symptoms. but when you go lower you hit rock bottom. unfortunately this isn't a linear thing but like an exponential curve (). meaning the decreases over time have to be less and less. you cannot just half the dose each 10 days.

there is a solution for the problem but not everyone tolerates it the same way.

before withdrawing from venlafaxine, switch to fluoxetine (which has the longest half life of the SSRI family). this could help make a much easier withdrawal as fluctuations are minimised. however: fluoxetine is not also a norepinephrin reuptake inhibitor which means you should be at a dose of lower or equal 150mg of venlafaxine to make the switch as you might end up with withdrawal due to the noradrenalin component of venlafaxine.

my advice is:

• reduce by only 10% at the time and stay on that regimen until all withdrawal symptoms have subsided,

  if: a) no withdrawal symptoms present you may make bigger reductions

  b) severe withdrawal symptoms occur you may want to make smaller reductions

• if you cannot get lower than a specific dose with venlafaxin, consider a switch to fluoxetin or another drug that has a longer half life e.g. sertraline.
• try to avoid use any other medications regularly during the withdrawal to manage symptoms of withdrawal such as benzodiazepins as you might create additional problems which then cannot be seperated from the withdrawal.

a book i can request is from joseph glennmullen and is called the anti-depressant solution. here he describes the strategies for withdrawal equivalent to my advice. plus he offers forms to monitor withdrawal symptoms so you get used to the routine of your individual withdrawal.

I know this is an old thread but I may have some hope for someone out there.

Getting off this brain fog medication is difficult, My wife is currently attempting it after being on 150mg for a year. It worked decent for her migraines but made her into a "couldn't care less about her home life and family, brain fog, identity seeking zombie".

The taper was fast, something like a month, with doses dropping 37.5 at a time. by the time she was down to 37.5 mood change was getting better but brain zaps and dizziness when making sudden movements started. After going to zero the sudden movement dizziness was unbearable. This went on for about 5 days until she remembered having some 150 mg pills left that had pellets in them. I got some blank gelatin pills counted all the pellets and divided by 15 to find out how many needed to be in a pill for a 10 mg dose. Immediately her dizziness symptoms improved by 95%. We now have our own tapering schedule and I have set her up with every two weeks dropping the mg's by 2 until 2 months from now when she will be free of this awful drug.

The doctors try to taper you off of this way too fast, I believe a person's only hope is to get the pills with beads in them break them open and figure out what works for you, this is by no means medical advice for anyone, just sharing what worked for us. Fyi, these are extended release.

By the way, on 10mg she is back to caring about her family, looks forward to cooking meals, and out of the fog. She can't believe how it affected her outlook on life.

I know many have taken this for depression with great success but be careful taking for migraines if you do not have depression it may change you into someone other than your true self.