Posted by noillusions on April 2, 2003, at 13:01:29
In reply to Effexor Withdrawal Highly Overrated, posted by juanantoniod on February 8, 2003, at 22:11:31
Anyone who has gone off of effexor smoothly is indeed fortunate. For the rest of us the experience has ranged from unpleasant to downright horrific. I happen to be in the horrific category. Had I known that this would happen I NEVER would have gone on this medication in the first place. I chose to eliminate effexor for two reasons first my loss of health insurance (it is very expensive) and second the effectiveness wore off over time and and I was having to increase dosage to maintain it's effectiveness. After 3 years I was at 150 mg, this was no longer working and it was being suggested I again up the dose. This frightened me the cost was prohibitive and there was no guarantee this higher dose would not eventually stop working. I went off slowly AND with my doctors knowlege so I cannot be accused of doing it improperly. On the advice of my doctor I weaned slowly. With each reduction in dose came serious depression (worse than before effexor), nausea and vomiting and disturbing electrical sensations in my head and neck. My ability to concentrate was destroyed. These side effects were unmanageable for the 4-7 days. It took up to two months for them to dissapear completely. I have decreased dosage from 150 mg to 0 in 4 increments over a 6 month period. Being the sole proprietor of a buisiness this has wrecked havoc with my ability to make an income for the past 6 months. I took my last effexor dose 4 days ago. The fog is starting to lift and one thing is clear to me. Effexor seems to be a very dangerous drug for a substantial number of users. The consumer is not being informed as to the full risks involved in the use of this product nor will they be unless we who have endured the worst of these risks do our best to get the word out. If anyone is aware of an organized endeavor to address this problem please let me know so I can do my part. My prayers go out to all of you enduring this struggle.
poster:noillusions
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030402/msgs/215432.html