Has anyone had paranoid feelings and agitation on withdrawal from effexor?
I have to say I encountered some major problems with patients trying to come off venlafaxine. It seems to produce more withdrawal problems than either fluoxetine or even paroxetine. This is compounded by the fact that there is no liquid preparation, nor any very low dose preparation to facilitate withdrawal. The smallest dose is either 75mgs SR or 37.5 mgs which is only a 12 hour preparation and has to to be taken twice a day or withdrawal occurs in the second 12 hours. I consulted my local pharmacy adviser who suggested that either we cut pills in pieces, which is never desirable or switched patients to fluoxetine and then withdrew them using it, as it has a liquid formulation. Neither of these techniques proved very useful, so instead I arranged with the local chemist to get one of the ‘generic houses’, ( manufacturers of unbranded drugs), to produce a liquid for named patients. This was expensive ( for the NHS, not the patient), and also the liquid was only stable for 30 days, so it
