Posted by dancingstar on October 16, 2004, at 17:23:12
In reply to Re: Help for withdrawal, posted by invisiblemanpa on October 16, 2004, at 4:30:36
Thanks for your post! Trashed ACL's, ouch!!! I don't know if you are familiar with Krav Maga, but it's almost impossible to not get injured while you are practicing. It's kind of like street fighting. At first most women don't really think it's very much fun at all...until we get the hang of it and then :-) well, it's a blast! I have to say that guys are so much different. They are much more used to a team mentality. We aren't trained that way almost from birth. We take fighting much more seriously, even if it isn't supposed to be. I can see why it is funny for people to watch. Women need to learn team skills, and Krav taught me about that, or maybe it was the wonderful Navy Seal that was instructing at the time.
About pain, which I have, too:I've been trying to get to the bottom of it for quite a while now; and one thing I am sure of: The answer isn't in any pharmceutical capsule. You are obviously a very smart woman, and I know that you know this is true. I also sense that anything that I add in of a chemical nature has the potential for making the problem worse, not better, by complicating an already weakened immune system.
I'm no scientist, probably more in the genre of an artist by nature; but here is how I perceive what happened to me. After having to deal with several "disasters" all in a row and all by myself, I could almost feel my adrenals give out on me. Many times I expressed the sentiment that I just didn't have the energy to "gripe" about things anymore, I was "too tired." It was after that that I just needed quiet time, peace, I was in physical pain, I needed lots of rest. Looking back, I didn't need Effexor or anything else. My adrenals needed to heal, and I was getting in my own way.
One of my closest friends has the same problem. We have handled it somewhat differently, though. Some would say that she is the more fortunate as she has a husband and family. The hard part for her, though, is that she has had to maintain the status quo of life no matter how badly she feels. I've been on my own, and I am fortunate to have built a business that supports me with my having to do -- well, not too terribly much work for me to keep things together in the last few years, and no one demands anything else so that now I can finally pursue the dreams that I couldn't at an earlier age. If I get enough rest, eat really healthily, drink lots of water and keep exercising, I know I'll make it to the other side of this withdrawal thing and hopefully rebuild my adrenal system so that the pain will ultimately dissipate.
You know, I have no right to come to this conclusion, I know that I don't, but except for in the most rare of circumstances, I don't think that depression is chemical.
For over 25 years I did a job that I didn't want to do for financial reasons that started when I was 15. Add in heartbreaks, miscarriages, etc.; things in life that make life the thing that it is with all of its beauty and all of its flaws, its pain and sorrows. Some people are very fortunate; some are not. Is it chemical? I'm so very blessed; I escaped -- on every level, from everything -- well, from the job, the AD, the relationship, the poverty -- I'm working on the pain; and I'm in school just because I want to be, studying something that brings me great joy. I think we can all get to wherever we want to be, but we have to listen to the voices inside, not try to shut them up with drugs unless, of course, we are plagued by problems so severe as to be physically or mentally debilitating to ourselves or to others -- and I admit to not knowing where that line is or when it is crossed.
The last thing I want to add is something that just now came to me. I was taking Effexor for three years, and I have had joint pain and fatigue for -- three years, along with the 20 pound weight gain that I pushed down to a 10-pounds weight gain by not eating any carbohydrates and keeping my calories down to from 400 to 1200 per day for almost three years no matter how much I exercise.
If my fatigue and joint pain go away as a result of being off Effexor, well -- harumph is all I can say at this time!
poster:dancingstar
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041012/msgs/403926.html