Women report more withdrawal than men when stopping antidepressants
In one trial women had two-thirds more symptoms than men; in large report databases and tapering cohorts the same pattern held. None separated venlafaxine from other antidepressants.
What the study found
Women report more withdrawal than men, across four kinds of study
In 103 people stopping an antidepressant, women reported 1.67 times as many symptoms. In 338,498 side-effect reports, withdrawal came up 1.38 times as often for women. Among 608 people tapering daily, women rated more withdrawal; among 824 strip users, women more often failed to stop.
The caveat · Women may report more readily
Every one of these measured what people said or reported, not a biological marker, so the pattern could reflect reporting as much as experience. The reporting-database figure has no denominator of users. None separates venlafaxine from other antidepressants.