Posted by mxgirl13 on January 3, 2003, at 12:45:20
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? , posted by Kam on January 2, 2003, at 23:27:01
I'm happy, and sad, to say that I did stick to cold turkey off of Effexor XR. Happy because only day 2 and 3 were complete hell, and sad because I know it's NOT the way to go for a million reasons.
Memory issues are significant, but getting better, so I don't remember how many days it's been since my last med. I think it was around the 21st or so of December.
The worst symptoms were: dizzy/shocks, sweats day and night, fatigue, my head hurt to touch it or to wear anything on it (these equate to the intense "blender headaches" that I'd read about), and I "nutted out" a couple times when I got really stressed out (my sister who also has depression and anxiety, was there to talk me down from this).
Mild symptoms were: nausia, shakes, tingling in my arms and hands, intestinal upset and auditory hallucinations.
I was a basket case for most of December. The last few days I've been very pleased that my brain is making a comeback! I can remember things, and even can do things I want to and I don't screw them up! So I know I'm on the upside.
I'm jobless for the time being, and my son was on vacation with other family, so I had a nice quiet home to sit in while this worked out. I could NEVER have done it otherwise!
Effexor XR was the only med that helped me and didn't make me intensly sick. A couple years into it, and after enough behavioral modification do deal with stuff, I came to have a great relationship with Effexor XR because I knew I wouldn't have a life without it. So I moved on with life and continued to educate myself and modify my behavior utilizing Effexor XR, until I had to make this untimely stop. I know I can make it without Effexor because of all the behavior modifications I learned and what I learned to do during ups and downs naturally without meds. It just became a matter of how to get off it. I thought, no time like the present.
If I need it, I will take Effexor again. Not even this cold turkey withdraw was enough to scare me away from the benefits it gave me all these years.
I really enjoyed the post by Daisyduke comparing drugs of the 60's and 70's to withdraw. That was really funny. I'm only 31, and I didn't do drugs, so I can't relate on that level, but I totally understand the point. The statement made "Cold turkey is like working for a relative, not recommended, but an experience." is SO fitting I laughed out loud.
I watched my sister switch meds like candy for a couple years while my Effexor was doing just fine. She got so mixed up that she couldn't tell one from the other. I'm sorry to say she quit trying meds, and she doesn't believe therapy will help her (that she can do it all alone just fine). It took me at least 2 years to find Effexor XR. Yeah, it sucked. But I just kept reminding myself that I knew it would be an extremely lengthy process to find the one that worked best for me, and that it would be worth it. It was. Fortunately, those 2 years are but a blur in my memory. Knowing what I do now, if I were to start a search over, I would definitely taper off the one until it is GUARANTEED gone from my system and then ever so slowly start a new one. I would keep a journal of every symptom every day no matter what. Switching meds gets the symptoms all mixed up and soon that's so complicating you won't be able to know if anything's working because you're too pissed off at the symptoms.
I did find one place on line that had tingling sensations included in the list of sypmtoms. I don't think (although I am NOT a doctor) that they are harmful (like permanently physically change your body unless they are extreme in your case). I think they're just another lovely side effect that should go away with dosage changes or time. I think the dizzyness, brain zaps and shooting through the body sensations are all related and based on who you are, you feel a different percentage of each part of that chain.
I HAVEN'T READ THIS ANYWHERE YET, SO I'LL SAY IT NOW: FOR HEAVEN SAKE STAY OFF THE ROAD! Don't get out there and try to drive while experiencing any head related symptoms. I want you to live.
If you guys can locate what I think was my last post, I wrote it I think on day 3. I'm sure you could see how I was feeling from what I wrote. Obviously today my brain is reattached from that. Thank you, God.
poster:mxgirl13
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021230/msgs/134312.html