Posted by KimberlyDi on January 14, 2004, at 13:28:21
In reply to Effexor, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness., posted by wildchild1957 on January 4, 2004, at 13:12:35
Effexor truely helped me find my way home. I got lost in 1997, trying to drink myself to death. When I emerged for longer and longer times of sobriety, I felt I was born again except in a very bad way. Instead of rising from the flames like a phoenix, I was just the shell of my former self. Remembering my past was like remembering an unremarkable movie. Emotionally, I was completely disconnected from it.
Effexor helped me find my lost self. It supported me enough to start feeling my emotions instead of deadening them. And it made me strong enough to go to therapy and face painful truths.
I have to give up the Effexor because of high blood pressure. From 300mg, I'm down to 37.5mg. But I still have what I learned while on it. I've been experiencing major rebound depression but I now have the ability to step back some. Focus on depression as an illness instead of drowning in my despair.
In a way, there is no reality. Perception is everything. I had to change how I look at life and "get real" about my expectations. I stopped worrying so much about the future because I only have to deal with the present.
It was a relief to finally reach this state of mind. :)
KDi in TX
> First of all, I would like to say that Effexor XR has to be about the best drug on the market for depression. It saved my life and I highly recommend it to all my friends...lol.
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> I'd like to start by quoting my psychiatrist that helped me through my recovery..Dr. J, I call him."The medications will only do so much to help you, YOU will have to do the rest."
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> I am of the opinion that with just medications alone, that a person will never be quite ok. The jouney inward (the good, the bad, and the ugly) is the only sure fire way of curing depression. By breaking down your own personality and ridding yourself of parts that do not serve you to your higher good is the only way for ultimate healing. The accepting of those parts because they were probably invented to protect you, determining if they are really who you are and who you want to be, and then the decision to either keep that part or let it go. This needs to be done with the "Objective Viewer" part of ourselves, the part that doesn't criticize or condemn. It's sort of a Life Review without judgement.
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> Sit back, buckle up and get ready for a long ride. There are no quick fixes. It took you a long time to get to where you are, but it doesn't have to take that long to "fix" you to where you can stand yourself and love yourself. And remember that those changes will take practice and don't be so rough on yourself if you don't get it right the first try...Tomorrow is another day and you can try again and you will make it..cause THIS IS YOUR LIFE and we are co-creators and We Are Powerful. What matters most is that you keep trying. When being ok with who you are becomes your number one priority...only then will life turn around.
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> There is not one thing about who you are that you can not change...It is the only real place we have the Power to control and most of the time I found that changing my perspective was the only thing that I could really do and to understand that big question WHY that slams your brain all of your life.
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> Second, I'd like to discuss my version of getting off of Effexor from 75mg and down.
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> I suggest taking 37.5mg Effexor XR (extended release) twice a day..morning and night. After about a week. Take one in the morning OR at night. Get the pill form for 37.5mg which is good for 12 hours instead of 24 hours. Take one in the morning and one at night for about a week. Reduce that dose to one 37.5mg pill once a day for a week. Drop to one every other day for a week. Every 3 days. By this time you should be forgetting to take it..lol.
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> An anti-anxiety med will help with this process. Not to take the place of but to help in the real nervous times. Even benadryl will help. I have found that when I get so bitchy that I can't stand myself...just 1 effexor 37.5mg XR a couple of days will help tremendously. I find myself using them at times on an as needed basis from day to day.
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> Hope this helps someone. *smiles*
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> I have a new saying: If you're being who you truly are and who you want to be, then you're PERFECT just the way you are. Perfection is like anything else..It's in the eye of the beholder.
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poster:KimberlyDi
thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040114/msgs/300690.html