Posted by jeenobeano on December 16, 2003, at 14:20:31
In reply to Re: Effexor withdrawal - very bad news, posted by Blissful_Girl_NOT on December 16, 2003, at 14:08:16
> I'm feeling fantastic!!
>
> I would go through that 3-day sick weekend I had going cold turkey off of Effexor a hndred times over if it means being able to feel like ME again!
>
> I had my last dose of 225 mg of Effexor on November 18...the withdrawal symptoms peaked and made life nearly impossible November 21 -22 (3 days and I timed it so they occured over a weekend)...and today it is 27 days free of Effexor!! It feels like a lifetime ago when I was twitching, itching, brain shivering, irritable, hostile, confused, and feeling like I was wrapped in cotton...and those were all the feelings I had BEFORE stopping the Effexor. Sure the magnified for a few days during withdrawal but the are gone now. I still get the occassional mild "brain shiver-shock" if I'm extremely over-tired or if I've had too much caffeine. As for food and suppliments, here is what my pdoc prescribed during this time:
> 1 multi vitamin once per day
> 3 Omega 3-6-9 capsules twice per day
> 1 100mg Folic Acid once per day
> 1 300mg Iron once per day
> 1 Stress Capsule once per day (containing vitamins B1,2,6 & 12 and vitamin C)
>
> In my case, I wanted off of Effexor so badly because it was not having a positive impact on me anymore. Now, I am on Remeron which seems to be helping somewhat, but my pdoc is planning on having me weaned off of this by mid-January.
>
> Why you ask has my pdoc chosen the radical concept of no meds? Because there are an awful lot of people like myself who have been prescribed medications to treat our symptoms and once we have our symptoms undercontrol, we just don't bother to treat the underlying original condition. My pdocs approach is now to treat the underlying condition FIRST and then deal with the symptoms that are possibly best controlled with meds.
>
> I'd also like to remind all of the people posting that it is a bit insulting to assume that you have more or less responsibilities in your life or to your job than the others posting here. I too have been going through all of this with a family, and as the sole breadwinner and in a profession that does not typically allow for "breaks" or time off. Rather than complain or use these facts as excuses for not improving my situation, I have chosen to be creative and work my healing process into these two important aspects of my life because mental illness and being a prefessional and a mother are not mutually exclusive.
>
> -BlissBliss,
I'm sorry if one of my posts was one of the ones you felt was insulting. I meant no harm by anything I wrote earlier, and I certainly did not mean to imply that I have greater responsibilities than anyone else on this board. If that's the message I conveyed I do apologize.
My pdoc specifically told me that based on the symptoms I experienced when I was taking only 5% less per day than usual, if I went cold turkey my w/d would be waaaaaaay worse than he sees in his typical cases. It wouldn't just knock me on my butt for the 3 days you experienced; rather, he seemed to think I'd be rendered incapacited for a much greater length of time. I didn't mean to belittle what you went through, but I just started a new job and I simply cannot take an indefinite amount of time off of work. I'm also a huge wimp and couldn't stand even 3 days of agony, I'm quite certain.
Like you, I'm trying to be creative here and fix my situation in a way that works best for me.
poster:jeenobeano
thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031213/msgs/290591.html