Posted by David55 on January 13, 2005, at 20:10:52
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawl - I did it, so can you, posted by msbarker2u on January 12, 2005, at 13:44:43
Hang in there Ms. Barker - it gets better! But please keep yourself safe in the process. Everyone's body chemistry is different, so we're all going to respond to Effexor withdrawal in our own way. If your withdrawal symptoms are severe enough it would be much better to work with your doctor to withdraw more gradually, even if it means dealing with milder symptoms over a longer time. There's no shame in that. But that's a decision that each of us has to make.
I've reached Day 22 since stopping my Effexor (150 mg SR/day). The brain shivers are very mild and infrequent at this point. In addition to the symptoms I reported earlier, I developed a rash after about 10 to 14 days that is just now starting to go away. I can't say for sure it was associated with withdrawing from Effexor though. I also have had a lot more pain associated with my back condition (L5-S1 spondylolisthesis), but after discussing this with a nurse practitioner friend this makes sense now. She said that antidepressants are often given to folks with chronic back conditions to dull the pain. It really burns me that I've been masking the pain without knowing it, doing who knows what kind of neurological damage in the process. Once I realized that my back was actually doing worse than I knew, I decided to take action. I ordered "gravity boots" and installed an inversion bar a couple of days ago. It's too early too tell, but I'm encouraged by the results I've seen so far.
A couple of other things I've noticed since I first posted 2 weeks ago is that I am now back to having regular bowel movements again - all this time I thought constipation was just a part of getting older! Little did I know it was the Effexor. I have also had a similar experience with urination. Within the past couple of years I found it was getting harder and harder to urinate. That has cleared up completely since getting off Effexor. I'm wondering now if the weight gain I've read about in this thread (and I must admit I've had a harder time myself maintaining my target body weight while on Effexor) has to do with food being resident in the body longer than it would be without Effexor, thereby increasing the nutrient capture from that food - just a thought.
One thing I haven't been since getting off Effexor is depressed! I have been pretty darned happy just seeing my former mental acuity, not to mention other bodily functions, return to normal. But I'm not naive enough to think that depression won't once again become a problem. So I'm starting now, while I'm ahead of the game, to develop non-medicinal ways of staving off depression. I will never take Effexor again!
Best wishes to Ms. Barker and everyone else trying to break the "Effexor habit".
poster:David55
thread:12459
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050113/msgs/441861.html