Yes. You can go thru some serious side effects by stopping cold turkey. Weaning yourself from them by slowly lowering the dosage is the safest way to stop.

@A MyFibroTeam Member, I’m making cranberry bread to give our neighbors. I answered the OP’s question really fast and went back to baking. I started thinking about you and thought you may take what I said the wrong way. I didn’t mean any disrespect, sorry if I sounded like it was.....I get really worked up when it comes antidepressants and doctors. I also don’t put what’s in my head into writing well. Sometimes I’m a bit abrupt but don’t mean to be. Sorry if you took it the wrong way ❤️

I disagree with talking to a doctor or a pharmacist regarding how to taper from an SSRI. Everyone that I’ve dealt with don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. They will taper you too fast or tell you to take one every other day. PLEASE DON’T TAKE ONE EVERY OTHER DAY. That is like playing ping pong with your brain. Some people don’t have a hard time getting off of them and others, like me, have a tough time. I had horrible withdrawals getting off cymbalta because my doctor and 3 pharmacists didn’t know what they were talking about 😡 i started Venlafaxine and was only on it 3 weeks, I didn’t like the side effects so I stopped thinking I shouldn’t have a problem getting off because I was only on it 3 weeks. WRONG, the withdrawals started 😟 and I was on the lowest dose.

Please research how to get off Venlafaxine, see if there are and fb support groups. You get the best information from the people that have gone thru it not someone with a degree in medicine. The best way to wean is by going down 10% at a time. You can tell your doctor you want to lower it so you can get a new prescription at a lower dose, then just keep lowering it.

Did you go on Venlafaxine For depression or fibromyalgia? You said you weren’t depressed anymore, were you depressed before taking it?

Hi everyone,
Thank you for your replies. I apologize for the late response; I had flare-ups since I made this post, even during the Christmas holiday.

I have a good understanding of the side effects of Venlafaxine. I talked to my doctor this morning, and she suggested that I slowly lower the dosage from 75mg x 2 to 75mg + 35mg. I hope I will eventually stop taking this medication because I don't think it was helping decrease fibro pain anyway. If my pain gets worse after stop taking it, I guess I should start taking it again.

I hope everyone has a very safe, pain-free, happy new year!

You never go off antidepressants cold turkey ... you must taper yourself off. Also some antidepressants have pain relieving properties so be aware that the pain may increase after stopping them. Hope this helps.