Hello,
First and foremost, you should taper off of Effexor under the supervision of your prescribing physician. Discontinuing Effexor abruptly may lead to very unpleasant or even dangerous consequences.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1681629/
Cannabis helps thousands of patients cope with excessive anxiety. Although we would need to know more about your goals and situation in order to provide you with safe and specific recommendations, below are a few products which are efffective anxiolytics for most.
https://dosist.com/pen-calm/
https://www.cbd.org/products/cbd-sublingual-spray (1:1, 2:1 or 4:1 for most)
https://treatwellhealth.com/products/high-cbd-tinctures/ (1:1 or 3:1 for most)
https://kivaconfections.com/products/bars/ginger
*Please consult with a physician before starting any cannabis treatment regimen.
drkim
I second Dr. Kim’s advice to withdraw from Effexor under medical supervision. Too rapid a withdrawal may give your body inadequate time to re-stabilize the neurotransmitter levels changed by long term use of Effexor. Another important issue is that venlafaxine is metabolized in the same pathway as important cannabis compounds like CBD. This makes the strategy of using both substances for a while, as one is withdrawn and the other gradually increased, a bit more difficult because one directly affects the metabolism of the other. But I also second Dr. Kim’s advice regarding how useful and safe cannabis can be for the issues concerning you, and since medicinal cannabis by itself carries essentially none of the risks involved in using SNRIs I’d consider it worth the effort to try making the transition. Hopefully, the physician prescribing Effexor for you will see it that way too. For many patients seeking both moderation of mood and reduction of anxiety it seems a matter of trying different CBD:THC ratios at different doses to find what is most helpful for them. I definitely recommend beginning with CBD dominant preparations such as those recommended by Dr. Kim if anxiety is a significant issue.
drelkind
