Posted by mvaureen on May 21, 2001, at 18:32:47
In reply to Followup, posted by ChipW on May 20, 2001, at 16:06:25
Chip,
I read your "diary," and decided that this is the day to respond. Having done it, I think Effexor withdrawal is a brave thing to undergo, especially if you know what will be coming. It is the consistency and pervasiveness of the symptoms which make it so hard. There is almost no moment of relief that comes until the entire process is done. What I want to say is that I also voiced much anger toward the drug itself. I felt it was useless, that it didn't help me, that everyone should know how much damage the drug did to me during and after its use. I was furious about the detachment I had during the treatment and the life decisions I made when I was in that state. I don't think that I realized I was so detached, and thus unable to see the results of the drug, until now. My constant thought for a while was, "What were they thinking -- giving this drug to people?" Anyway, my anger is lessening. In fact, I must admit that I had about two weeks of anger that is beginning only now to wane [I'm starting my 3rd week off of Effexor]. So when you wrote that this drug is useless what I thought was, "Yeah! I sense that anger I've had, too." I have wondered much, though, if the drug didn't save my life. I was in a massive state of deterioration after recessing into post traumatic anxiety and depression. Now I'm not. I still hate the drug and feel it had no right to give me permanent or transient effects. It does seem that the damage or the effects are permanent, doesn't it? That's what infuriated me so much. Good Luck! I love your idea of a diary! I've been posting on this site every other day since I started off. It's important, I think.
> First, let me apologize for a mistake. The post titled Days 8 and 9 should have been 9 and 10.
>
> Essentially, I went from 150mg Effexor XR to nothing in ten days, including several days of 10mg Prozac.
>
> My advice for others trying to get off is to start the Prozac a couple days before you reduce your dose, then taper the Effexor rapidly.
>
> In the time since day 10, I have had several episodes with the "dizzyness" symptom. The most recent one was yesterday and lasted several hours.
>
> One thing that really sticks out to me is that the physical withdrawal symptoms from Effexor are quite severe compared to other drugs. I have explored many illegal psychoactive drugs, including Marijuana, LSD, Psylocibin and MDMA. I have never encountered the severity of withdrawal symptoms that I have gone through with Effexor; even after months of daily use of Marijuana. Effexor did absolutely nothing to help me while I was on it, as far as I and others were able to determine. My opinion is that this drug is at best useless with terrible side-effects, and at worst could be permanently damaging to the user's brain.
poster:mvaureen
thread:61654
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010515/msgs/63854.html