Years on venlafaxine may make it harder to stop than months
The label says so, and people surveyed after two years' use had far more withdrawal than those under six months. The short trials never ran long enough to test it.
What the study found
Years on venlafaxine make stopping harder, say the label and patients
The label says symptoms grew more frequent with longer treatment. In 310 people who had tried stopping one, over two years of use raised the odds of withdrawal about tenfold against under six months; of 824 people tapering, 78% got off after under a year on it, 59% after over ten.
The caveat · 18% replied, recalling past attempts
The survey reached 18% of those invited, all recalling past attempts, which plausibly inflates every figure, and it did not separate venlafaxine from other antidepressants. The tenfold odds ratio ran from about 3 to 38. The label states the trend without a number. The tapering cohort had no comparison group.
What we don't know
Whether years on venlafaxine make it harder to stop is open. The label and long-term users say yes; the trials that say no lasted only weeks, so they never tested the question.