Posted by kcg33 on September 30, 2003, at 5:49:39
In reply to Re: EFFEXOR - The good, the bad and the ugly, posted by BJL on September 29, 2003, at 20:53:01
Well, all, I hear your cries. I made it through an absolutely horrific 7 days, the last 3 of which I should have truly been in the hospital. Today, in desperation, I took the research I had done on Effexor along with my broken spirit and visited my doctor. I explained how absolutely horrible I have felt, and BEGGED for him to hear me and understand that I literally feel like I am dying here. My response? "After 7 days, Ms. Gray, you should no longer have any Effexor in your system. So it can not be the Effexor causing your symptoms. Effexor is a wonderful medication that has helped millions of people, and look here, according to my (handy dandy) little PDR, the studies they did with this medication before FDA approval indicated that NO BODY gained any weight on it, migraines were not an issue, visual disturbances were not a big issue, and in fact, 3% of the people in the study actually lost weight. So, Ms. Gray, if you have gained 30 pounds since you have been on this medicine, I assure you, it came through your teeth to get there. Are we clear? I will just put you on some Vistaril for nausea and meanwhile, hop on over to the hospital and have an MRI done on your head so we can be sure you don't have a tumor. Otherwise, everything looks fine, just try and get some rest".....
I have no idea what stupid little me was supposed to say to that. Like I had been lectured for being a tub-o-lard head case, I just took my little file to the front desk, paid them, and went on my way. I cried all the way home. And what did I do when I got here? I walked over to the desk and took the DEVIL (Effexor) out of the bottle and took one. I guess if the only way I can make the withdrawals stop is to swallow the crap because nobody believes me that this medication is killing me, then I guess Effexor wins. But I, too, do not have the money (and ZERO insurance) to continue paying the equivalent of an electric bill for medication I DO NOT WANT, yet I AM STUCK WITH IT BECAUSE I CAN'T GET RID OF IT. And my doctor really let me down today. I was so sick and so desperate, I really needed him to hear me, this week has been soooooo awful. So I put myself through a whole week of torment thinking I would come out the other side victorious over this creature, and it won anyway.
If there is anyone out there who has ever actually beaten this and was able to make it all the way- I could really use some encouragement. Without my doctor's assistance, I don't know what to do next, but I know that this past 7 days has been way more than I can ever do twice.
poster:kcg33
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030928/msgs/264401.html