If your pharmacy changes your venlafaxine brand, the beads per capsule or the tablet weight (in grams) can differ — even at the same strength. Enter both brands and this works out the amount to take on the new one to match your current dose.
Some capsules (venlafaxine XR, duloxetine and several others) contain small beads. Opening the capsule and counting out the number of beads that make up your dose lets you measure a smaller amount. The beads are then swallowed, without chewing.
Bead counts vary by brand — it's recommended to count the contents of 3–5 capsules then take the average. Beads can't be split, so you'll always be rounding to a whole number. The "round up" option is usually safer when reducing.
You weigh a measured amount of the medication on a milligram scale — some people crush a tablet to an even powder, others scrape small amounts from a tablet or weigh capsule beads. It's the method to reach for when a medicine can't be made into a reliable liquid and doesn't divide cleanly with a cutter.
The key thing to understand: a tablet's physical weight is not the same as its drug content. A "50 mg" tablet might weigh 0.18 g once you include the binders and fillers — so the calculator scales by the tablet's measured weight, and shows how much active drug each gram holds. Weigh a whole tablet or the full contents of a capsule (or the average of a few) to get an accurate weight.
Accuracy depends on your scale and on the drug being evenly distributed through the tablet — which isn't true for every formulation. Use a scale that reads to 0.001 g (1 mg), weigh onto a small weigh-boat or paper, and don't use this method for modified-release or coated tablets. If you need very small doses, a compounded liquid is usually more reliable.
This calculator handles one dose. The TaperMate app calculates a full reduction schedule with hold periods, microtapering and symptom monitoring — so each new dose is one tap away, not a daily maths problem.
