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Re: Efexor XR - Long Term Withdrawal - Anyone Else » gargurel

Posted by Tracee on September 28, 2003, at 19:58:41

In reply to Re: Efexor XR - Long Term Withdrawal - Anyone Else, posted by gargurel on September 28, 2003, at 14:15:29

When I first went off, against all advice I went off cold turkey. Big mistake. 3 days went by with the dizziness,dry mouth, nausea and other side-effects all increasing. The worst effect was a physical one. It's difficult to explain. My body was numb inside. I had elastic bands twanging under my skin and I couldn't focus my eyes or my brain properly. At the slightest bit of adrenalin my heart would begin to palpatate and felt like it was going to explode out of my arm.
I then took the smallest dose available to me which was 75mg, and this eased a lot of the symptoms. I then found that if I took one 75mg capsule every three days I could hold off the side effects just enought to keep sane.
My body hadn't figured out that it was supposed to make its own seratonin again and freaked out basically.
The only personal stress I've had coming off them, is that my anxiety attacks and social phobia symptoms are starting to appear again. The medication did help with these, but not with the depression itself.
I'm not happy with the fact that effexor is a relatively new drug and therefore not tested long enough to note and understand all the the side effects and how long they will last.
We are guinea pigs in this particular laboratory and I'm not happy about it as noone offered me that choice.
I take a vitamin B and C supplement every day, I don't know whether it has any effects where the effexor is concerned though.
Good luck in coming off them. Personally I think the doctors/chemists should give us more information at the time of starting any new medication. I was given some, but nothing prepared me for what I would go through coming off this stuff.
I have my first psychiatrist appointment this Friday and I'm not sure whether I'm willing to try any more antidepressants after my experience with the effexor.
It's a rollercoaster ride that I'm not sure is worth getting on.
I wish you all the support you can get through this time. Any friends and family that offer you support, take it. Time out for yourself is very important and so is moral support. Good luck. :)

Thanks Tracy,
>
> I just wish I knew how long to expect these side effects. I didn't have any effexor on Friday, nor Saturday. I took some today just to be sure that effexor was the cause; I took 37.5 and withing 3 hours other than a head acte all the rest went away. This scares me. I know that medicine can be very helpful, but I should have stayed away from this one.
>
> I have heard that vitamin B and a few other supplements can help the brain fonction properly, and this may be a better way out.
>
> Thanks again.
> NGB
>
> > Hi Gar,
> > I believe the symptoms will ease as time goes on.
> > I have been completely off effexor xr for two and a half weeks now.
> > If your looking for herbal teas, perhaps rosehip or something relaxing might be best. I might try it myself. My G.P. has put me on 5mg of valium twice a day to keep me going for a bit longer as the tension I have had building since I went off has been going into my back. (I have a broad base disc bulge).
> > It has been helping, but to be honest, I've had about enough of chemical answers to my problems.
> > Please let me know how the tea goes for you. :)
>
>


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