Posted by AAA88 on August 2, 2006, at 0:08:06
In reply to Re: Just started Effexor XR 7/26/06? » MaggieATL, posted by HeatherH on July 30, 2006, at 22:08:31
> I was on effexor for 5 years. When i started taking it,i was on 75mg of effexorXR once a day. What a wonderful drug!! So i thought...It worked within a matter of days,I felt like I was untouchable,on top of the world,IN my own little world,free from mental anguish forever. After 2 and a half years,it stopped working and my doctor doubled it,I was then on 150mg of effexorXR. I gained a massive amount of weight. I was once very thin and very cute,I gained over 80 pounds. I didn't even care! I had no regrets of any decisions or actions I made. I got OCD something terrible collecting PETS of all things!! I had a zoo. I hurt and pushed away alot of good people in my life,and even the love of my life. I didn't even care,I had no conscience what so ever. I stopped taking it cold turkey back in January of this year,and OH MY GOD the side effects were of biblical proportions. I couldn't stand,I couldn't walk,I had severe tremors,cold sweats,hot flashes with severe sweating,nausea out of this world,diarrhea,I couldn't eat,when I talked my teeth chattered like one of those hop along wind up sets of plastic teeth. These lasted a week. A WHOLE 7 DAYS. I was given celexa 30mg to start taking after 3 days of effexor withdrawal,and by the grace of God,at day 8 the side effects went away. The physical ones,that is...I started hearing voices,people were calling my name from the corners of every room I was in. I got extremely violent,I talked to people like I was posessed. At work,a vendor had his stock in the aisle I just happened to be walking down,and all of the sudden I just thought he needed to be ran over with it,so I grabbed it and proceeded to run him over with a skid of his own stock. I could have been fired. I hated the world,I said ALOT of hurtful things and did alot of things I would never ever do in the sane frame of mind I am in now. I stopped taking celexa after two weeks of my own free will. Once it started wearing off,I stopped eating and stared at the floor in this room,not moving for two months. I wanted to die. I was going to kill myself. I sought professional help,and mounds of bills later,I am free and clean from antidepressants. Before effexor I was on paxil and prozac,ten years worth of trying drugs and experimenting,ending in nothing but a ruined life. When the drugs were out of my system,every feeling I pushed away in my head was still there,and it ALL came out at once. I would never wish that on my worst enemy. I encourage people to be strong,feel the hurt and sadness,and work to make it better. Sometimes you just have to do away with everything that makes you sad,even if you know it will be a hard decision and adjustment. It DOES get better. I had to learn the hard way,that covering up sadness and feeling depressed with drugs only makes things worse in the end. NOTHING will kill you,it will only make you a stronger person. I ruined my life trying to supress something I could have just made go away by not being afraid to make the leap and take a stand to make my life happy. I encourage everyone to learn from my mistakes. Be brave,make your life the way you want it to be,and you will feel like life is worth living.
--------------------------------------------------thanks for posting that here. if it makes anyone decide on staying off the drugs and helping themselves, that could be a great thing coming from a paragraph of text. ive been going through something similar the past month (not the withdrawals, have never taken meds) and decided to hold off from starting effexor. i realized ive been taking things for granted too often and really need to put more effort into helping myself be the way i really want. even doing things that seem small can sometimes make some great impacts, like this could on someone reading through these posts.
ive never experienced anxiety and depression as bad as i did this past month. usually it wouldnt bother me enough to think about getting help other than from myself. i would have my free will in my mind and it wouldnt be too difficult to notice things (emotion affecting my actions and thoughts) and work on changing them. but this past month it would get to the point where the heavy effects would make it seem like my free will in my mind was clouded way in the back somewhere and that i had lost my mind. plus there were all the symptoms that seemed like my thoughts had no control over (at least not immediately).
the past couple weeks havent been so bad but i can still get episodes of weak to heavy symptoms, just not as bad or as often. it also seems easier to control with my mind. but im wondering, if i achieve the things that i think would make and keep me happier, would it really rid me of the symptoms that make it seem like i have no control over? im thinking that my immediate thoughts have no control over them because its long-term actions and thoughts that will shift my sub-concious mind and/or body into changing whats need to be done in order for those symptoms to vanish.
ive started working on changing my ways and my life and like i said, the past couple weeks havent been as bad. so i think it might be proof to me that my experiences up to now left me this way and doing things without meds really could make me less prone to experiencing these effects.
poster:AAA88
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060724/msgs/672805.html