Posted by zelia on June 2, 2005, at 1:19:00
In reply to Re: About the Effexor XR Withdrawal, posted by dr_laura on April 27, 2005, at 22:44:06
i know this is a really strange tip..... but if it will help anyone i am going to share my experience. read through to get to my long rambling point.
in one of my worst depressive periods i was using alot of street drugs to drown myself, specifically extacy. one time, i used way too much and did some real damage. (yes, im sure using it in the first place did damage) anyways, the result of my self medicatiing was this horrible brain zap that lasted for almost a month. i seriously thought shooting myself would have been better then living with it. i really could not walk more than five paces without becoming dizzy and had to turn my whole body just to look at something.
my luck changed when one night, my dear brother invited me for dinner. i jjoined him and his family for dinner and stayed over that night since the roads were icy and i really wasnt able to drive since i couldnt look in any direction without wanting to throw up. my brother lit a fire in the living room where i was sleeping to keep me warm. i stared off into that fire for like 2-3 hours.i couldnt look at anything else because if i moved my eyes my brain would zap itself. the next morning when i woke up, the mind zaps were almost gone. not just a little less, but almost completely gone! they continued to diminish over the next week until they stopped. i don't know if it had run its course or if it was the fact the i stared blankly into the fire, but they went away.
after getting help for my depression i was prescribed effexor. i am now in the throws of tapering down and can attest to the fact that the mind zaps are just as bad as that incident i had years ago. at times they seem worse because they are more intense and exhaust my entire body. i figure since both drugs have an effect on the seretonin levels in the brain is why the similarity. ive spoken to my doctor who says everyone goes through this; that it will pass. believing that he himself has never experienced this pain; will never know the frustration and overwhelming sense to pinch your own eyes out of your head just to make it stop.
hang in there and seek out every unconventional approach that might work for you. try the fire, i will be in a month when i am on the last dose and can visit my brother. try anything that will relax your eyes or brain or both... maybe meditation, maybe even wearing a blind fold (when you are safely tucked into your bed) and listening to soothing music.
i know how bad it is and how hopeless it can make you feel. i thought i would never experience it again and already just starting to taper i realize i am about to experience something worse. hang in there, it passed that one time for me, and everyone seems to be having a similar experience with the effexor. try to find something that will work best and relax you and your brain. good luck :)
poster:zelia
thread:469497
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050519/msgs/506686.html