Posted by jiggitykid on December 18, 2003, at 8:20:40
In reply to ya effexor withdrawl account, posted by dMacy on December 17, 2003, at 18:26:35
I have been "off" effexor XR for about a month, give or take a few days. The brain zaps are very few - maybe one or two per day. The heart rate is back to normal. The dizziness has subsided, but my eye sight still isn't quite normal. The hot/cold is better, the nausea is gone, but daily diarrhea is in effect. For the first three or so weeks, I was extra-talkative, fast moving, imperative, but that has settled down. My sleep is normal, for the first time in a very, very long time. The dramatic dreams have settled down. About the third week, the dreams disappeared completely and I had completely dreamless sleep for several days. Boy, how nice! My normal dream pattern has come back, and I don't carry around haunting images all day the way I did after quitting effexor. My doctor "strongly encouraged" me to take 5 mg. of Lexapro, but I refused. I just as "strongly" felt that I needed to see how my brain was all by itself, off of any meds, before I began anything else. Please note that I am not recommending this for everyone; this is just what I knew I had to do for myself. I have not, as yet, needed any other med for depression. I am watching myself, as are some key people around me, for signs of change. My daily prayer is that I will not have to go on anything else, if not for a while, then forever.
When I first discovered antidepressants, I credited them with truly saving my life. I was ready for the ledge. However, as the dosages had to be increased, the side-effects increased. Sadly, often when I would go to my GP (and there was a mistake; I should have been under the care of a therapist/psychiatrist in tandem) I would complain of a lack of effectiveness or an increase in the depression, and instead of figuring out if the antidepressant was no longer working for me or if there were other triggers, the current dosage was increased. Effexor XR nearly ended my marriage and my life. I understand that there are folks here to depend on it simply to get up each morning. I caution you to be open to recognizing the danger signs of Effexor - fatigue, loss of interest in everything, appetite increase, crying easily, etc. Ironically, bad effects of effexor mimic depression! So when I thought I was sinking, I was really needing to get off of the Effexor.
Keep in touch with your doctor and make sure he/she is listening to what you are saying. If you don't have a therapist/psychiatrist, I urge you into considering getting one. Mental health needs a two-fold approach, and a therapist alone OR a GP alone aren't enough.
I wish you all a better year. I am praying for you all to make it successfully through the holiday season. Please don't let your feelings today make permanent, irrevocable decisions for tomorrow. Find the people around you who really do love you and will be willing to support you during transition times. Put your heart in God's hands. He'll take care of it. Please, take care of yourself. You are worth your time.
poster:jiggitykid
thread:12459
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031213/msgs/291229.html