Hi Tempest
I was on 37.5 mg twice a day of venlafaxine but then moved to the 75 mg extended release if I remember correctly. When I was ready to come off the medication, I moved back to the 37.5 mg twice a day and started to chip of bits of the tablet. I know for a fact that there's a well researched reduction plan on line too. I'm sure when I came to the last stages, I took fluoxetine for 5 days as a bridge and then I was off no problem. More importantly, I had no withdrawal effects after either. You do have to be careful of venlafaxine because of its short half life.
Just out of interest, did fluxoetine work for you? If so, would you not be as well to start on something that you have tried before? I'm annoyed that when visiting my GP, they have prescribed me Sertraline, Citalopram, Mirtazipine and Duloxetine....but never the one I had excellent results with years ago.
Good luck.