Posted by Chairman_MAO on January 26, 2004, at 18:04:55
In reply to Effexor withdrawl nausea - how long does it last?, posted by flyingdreams on January 26, 2004, at 13:40:16
SSRI withdrawl is qualitatively similar to opiate withdrawl (shakes, nausea, body temperature fluctuations, diarrhea, etc.) except it seems to last LONGER for most people (acute opiate withdrawl is usually 4-7 days)! Make no mistake about it: drug companies are interested in your money, not your health. Controlled substances are controlled, by and large, not because they are any more dangerous than those non-controlled, but because a "high taxpayer" is an oxymoron.
As for "feeling like a drug addict": how is taking Effexor for psychic distress any different than taking Heroin? Only popular culture says it is. Moreover, I feel for all of those who have been duped into thinking that simply because a drug is incapable of inducing euphoria that it must not produce a severe withdrawl syndrome. I took 60mg of ritalin a day for 4 years and had far fewer withdrawl symptoms from that than when I tried to quit Effexor or Lexapro.
The solution to this mess is not more litigation or media frenzy or banning of antidepressant, but rather the repeal of all drug laws so that Effexor and the like would have to compete with heroin, amphetamine, marijuana (and there are plenty of reasons why a rational being would prefer Effexor over the more euphoric agents, so please refrain from calling me a drug pusher), et. al, not to mention a whole host of superior, non-US, novel antidepressant treatments that we'll never see on the US market because they're either off-patent or the manufacturer can't afford FDA approval.
Lesson to everyone: "What goes up, must come down". Assume that EVERY drug has a withdrawl syndrome until you're shown hard, credible evidence to the contrary.
poster:Chairman_MAO
thread:305636
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040122/msgs/305793.html