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Venlafaxine Alternatives

Last Updated on December 14, 2023 by Carol Gillette

Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Samuel Lee MD

At Alternative to Meds Center, our medical professionals provide drug-free treatments and natural venlafaxine alternatives designed to resolve unwanted symptoms.

As a result, alternatives to venlafaxine ( brand name Effexor XR® ) can provide relief without negatively impacting one’s quality of life, the way that toxic drugs often do.

Do Your Symptoms Require Venlafaxine?


successful venlafaxine alternatives

Alternative to Meds Center has provided a wide range of antidepressant alternatives for more than 15 years. We have published evidence that demonstrates our success. We resolve underlying issues that are ruining a person’s life by focusing on non-drug-based treatments. This is true whether or not tapering is required, and whether there were undiagnosed medical conditions or other contributing factors that could have been missed earlier. We offer a brand new approach to treatment that can open the door to being able to fully appreciate and live life without unwanted symptoms and without drugs.

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Venlafaxine Alternatives in Treatment

At Alternative to Meds Center, we offer safe, proven effective choices that are not offered in most mainstream treatment experiences. We have developed residential, inpatient programs based on 15 years of clinical experience that are designed to help transition a person from symptomatic and drug-dependent to being safely drug-free or at significantly reduced medication levels, yet attain freedom from the symptoms that initially led to seeking a prescription.

Prescription drugs such as venlafaxine can introduce their own set of side effects, that can become burdensome in addition to one’s original symptoms. Sometimes, multiple drugs are prescribed to respond to this cascading, expanding symptom set. Alternatives to venlafaxine can reverse this cycle of more and more drugs for less and less positive results.

Not only are the medications reduced, but the program addresses the symptoms that have been long causing concern. So, being drug-free with us aims toward achieving freedom from symptoms.1

Natural Venlafaxine Alternatives Include:
  • natural alternatives to venlafaxineLab testing can determine nutritional deficiencies in vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients.13
  • Vitamin D deficiency is linked with depression and can be helped with sunshine exposure, diet and supplements.2,6-8
  • Toxic accumulations are often overlooked as causes of psychiatric symptoms, these can be purged safely.9
  • Testing reveals toxic accumulations that can be purged through the therapeutic use of sauna, supplementation, chelation, and other holistic cleansing methods.9,11
  • Adequate magnesium, folic acid, and fatty acids are linked with lowered depression 6-8,12
  • Personal counseling can address stressful issues that block happiness and has a lower relapse rate than antidepressant medications.4,10
  • Acupuncture, massage, Reiki, and other therapies for improved mental and physical wellness. Reiki has documented efficacy for pain, depression, and anxiety.5,15,17
  • Exercise releases “feel good” natural chemicals — a proven intervention for anxiety, depression, insomnia, other consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, and many other factors for improved mental wellness.14,19,20
  • A nutrient-dense well-planned diet can help improve mental and physical health.2,6-8,13
  • Avoid contact with neurotoxins contained in cleaning products, cosmetics, food, workplace, home, school, and other environments.9

Strategies That Work

Our programs use several main strategies to achieve these outcomes. First, we use a complete and thorough battery of tests to identify where the problems are potentially stemming from. For example, we search for nutritional deficiencies through testing. Then, a targeted nutritional correction plan can relieve the condition and take care of the symptoms that were connected with it.2

Another fundamental component of our inpatient program is detecting heavy metals or other toxic accumulations, often overlooked in treating psychiatric symptoms.9 This can be corrected by gently purging the toxins from the system. Of note, various methods can cleanse these neurotoxic elements and thereby reduce or eliminate symptoms the toxic load was causing the person. Chelation, sauna, ionic foot baths, and other techniques are used to remove the toxic burden from the body and improve mental well-being.

Counseling, Talk Therapy, Stress Relief

Additionally, CBT and talk therapy of many genres offered at the center provide much relief and can lead to a simpler, more satisfying life without relying on medications for relief.4,10

Stress reduction techniques, such as yoga,5 Reiki,17 craniosacral massage,18 and many other forms of therapy including Equine-assisted therapy, art therapy, physical exercise,7,19,20 and many others, can initiate great changes in one’s life for the better. These Effexor alternatives have been shown to produce long-lasting relief from pain, depression, insomnia, and anxiety. Acupuncture is an extremely popular therapy at the center, useful for well-being and relief from depression and anxiety.5

Venlafaxine Alternatives Reduce Unwanted Drug Side Effects

Above all, our clients tell us one of the most desired goals is they want to reduce drug side effects. Venlafaxine alternatives provide natural mental health improvements, without inflicting drug side effects. Often, a physician will prescribe an SSRI like venlafaxine (Effexor XR) to reduce their patient’s mental health issues. Unfortunately, as the FDA and other drug regulators clearly state, SSRI drugs do not cure or fix anything. In fact, SSRI drugs are known to cause some of the most dangerous side effects imaginable, including suicidality, increased depression, mania, and many others. Further, clinical trials on Effexor generated controversy in reporting drug efficacy.3,16

safe holistic addiction recovery sedona drug rehabAs a result, more and more people are focusing on what CAN be done to improve mental health issues without sacrificing a person’s quality of life due to drug side effects.

Find Out More Information

You are warmly invited to call the center and speak to one of our informed and friendly staff. Ask all of your questions, and we will do our very best to inform you about the best and most complete therapeutic information you may be looking for.

And, please ask us about our inpatient treatment programs, insurance coverage, costs, length of stay, and any other areas of interest you may have. You are invited to review more details about the various services we deliver, by visiting our services overview page. In summary, the Alternative to Meds Venlafaxine alternatives treatment programs have helped thousands of clients for over 15 years and we are here to help you or your loved one as much as we possibly can.

Sources:


1. Venlafaxine (Effexor) Information Sheet. NAMI [INTERNET] 2016 Jan [cited 2022 June 17]

2. Sathyanarayano Rao T, Asha M, Ramesh B, Jagannatha Rao K, Understanding nutrition, depression and mental illness. Indian J Psychiatry [INTERNET] 2008 Apr-Jun PMID 19742217 [cited 2022 June 17]

3. Roest A, de Jong P, Williams C, Reporting Bias in Clinical Trials Investigating the Efficacy of Second-generation Antidepressants in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders. JAMA Psychiatry [INTERNET] 2015 [cited 2022 June 17]

4. Gotzsche P.C., Gotzsche P.K., Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Halves the Risk of Repeated Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine [INTERNET] Vol. 110 2017 [cited 2022 June 17]

5. Sniezek D, Siddiqui I, “Acupuncture for Treating Anxiety and Depression in Women: A Clinical Systematic Review.” Med Acupunct. 2013 Jun; 25(3): 164-172 PMID24761171 [cited 2022 June 17]

6. Huang Q, Liu H, Suzuki K, Ma S, Liu C. Linking What We Eat to Our Mood: A Review of Diet, Dietary Antioxidants, and Depression. Antioxidants (Basel). 2019;8(9):376. Published 2019 Sep 5. doi:10.3390/antiox8090376 [cited 2022 June 17]

7. Parker GB, Brotchie H, Graham RK. Vitamin D and depression. J Affect Disord. 2017 Jan 15;208:56-61. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.08.082. Epub 2016 Oct 11. PMID: 27750060. [cited 2022 June 17]

8. Ljungberg T, Bondza E, Lethin C. Evidence of the Importance of Dietary Habits Regarding Depressive Symptoms and DepressionInt J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(5):1616. Published 2020 Mar 2. doi:10.3390/ijerph17051616 [cited 2022 June 17]

9. Genuis SJ. Toxic causes of mental illness are overlooked. Neurotoxicology. 2008 Nov;29(6):1147-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2008.06.005. Epub 2008 Jun 24. PMID: 18621076. [cited 2022 June 17]

10. Gautam M, Tripathi A, Deshmukh D, Gaur M. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for DepressionIndian J Psychiatry. 2020;62(Suppl 2):S223-S229. doi:10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_772_19 [cited 2022 June 17]

11. Fulgenzi A, Ferrero ME. EDTA Chelation Therapy for the Treatment of Neurotoxicity. Int J Mol Sci. 2019;20(5):1019. Published 2019 Feb 26. doi:10.3390/ijms20051019 [cited 2022 June 17]

12. Serefko A, Szopa A, Wlaź P, Nowak G, Radziwoń-Zaleska M, Skalski M, Poleszak E. Magnesium in depression. Pharmacol Rep. 2013;65(3):547-54. doi: 10.1016/s1734-1140(13)71032-6. PMID: 23950577. [cited 2022 June 17]

13. Bourre JM. Effects of nutrients (in food) on the structure and function of the nervous system: update on dietary requirements for brain. Part 1: micronutrients. J Nutr Health Aging. 2006 Sep-Oct;10(5):377-85. PMID: 17066209. [cited 2022 June 17]

14. Sharma A, Madaan V, Petty FD. Exercise for mental healthPrim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;8(2):106. doi:10.4088/pcc.v08n0208a [cited 2022 June 17]

15. Brinsley J, Schuch F, Lederman O, Girard D, Smout M, Immink MA, Stubbs B, Firth J, Davison K, Rosenbaum S. Effects of yoga on depressive symptoms in people with mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2021 Sep;55(17):992-1000. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-101242. Epub 2020 May 18. PMID: 32423912. [cited 2022 June 17]

16. FDA label EffexorXR (venlafaxine Extended-Release) Capsules [initial approval 1997] [cited 2022 June 17]

17. Richeson NE, Spross JA, Lutz K, Peng C. Effects of Reiki on anxiety, depression, pain, and physiological factors in community-dwelling older adults. Res Gerontol Nurs. 2010 Jul;3(3):187-99. doi: 10.3928/19404921-20100601-01. Epub 2010 Jun 30. PMID: 20635803. [cited 2022 June 17]

18. Matarán-Peñarrocha GA, Castro-Sánchez AM, García GC, Moreno-Lorenzo C, Carreño TP, Zafra MD. Influence of craniosacral therapy on anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:178769. doi: 10.1093/ecam/nep125. Epub 2011 Jun 15. PMID: 19729492; PMCID: PMC3135864.[cited 2022 June 17]

19. Carek PJ, Laibstain SE, Carek SM. Exercise for the treatment of depression and anxiety. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2011;41(1):15-28. doi: 10.2190/PM.41.1.c. PMID: 21495519. [cited 2022 June 17]

20. Andersson E, Hovland A, Kjellman B, Taube J, Martinsen E. Fysisk aktivitet lika bra som KBT eller läkemedel vid depression [Physical activity is just as good as CBT or drugs for depression]. Lakartidningen. 2015 Nov 17;112:DP4E. Swedish. PMID: 26574804.


Originally Published Mar 11, 2020 by Diane Ridaeus


This content has been reviewed and approved by a licensed physician.

Dr. Samuel Lee

Dr. Samuel Lee is a board-certified psychiatrist, specializing in a spiritually-based mental health discipline and integrative approaches. He graduated with an MD at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and did a residency in psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He has also been an inpatient adult psychiatrist at Kaweah Delta Mental Health Hospital and the primary attending geriatric psychiatrist at the Auerbach Inpatient Psychiatric Jewish Home Hospital. In addition, he served as the general adult outpatient psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente.  He is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology and has a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Religion from Pacific Union College. His specialty is in natural healing techniques that promote the body’s innate ability to heal itself.

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Nothing on this Website is intended to be taken as medical advice. The information provided on the website is intended to encourage, not replace, direct patient-health professional relationships. Always consult with your doctor before altering your medications. Adding nutritional supplements may alter the effect of medication. Any medication changes should be done only after proper evaluation and under medical supervision.

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