Posted by dancingstar on December 5, 2004, at 19:52:22
In reply to Re: Anyone had success..?, posted by Sinnielou on December 5, 2004, at 19:19:24
> My question is why are people coming off in the first place??? All of a sudden because you feel better for a day or 2 that means you just jump the gun and quit meds cold turkey??? It isn't like you walk into a corner variety store and buy effexor with your bag of chips. Obviously everyones doctor prescribed the meds for very good reason and hey guess what sometimes those good reasons keep people on there meds for as long as they are. I have been on effexor for over a year and I'm proud to say I will never come off what for did my depression magically disappear I wish it did. If I had a headache is someone going to slag me because I take tylenol?? If I was a diabetic and you going to take away my insulin?? I don't think so, people have a hard time remembering what they said to there doctor just before the prescrption was written. I just don't understand the logic in people really I don't yes some have had negative effects from effexor but hey alot of people haven't that's why the drug is prescribed. Giddy up to people who don't need meds and don't take them, but always remember you did need them at one time.
> ShannonDid you read all of the prior posts before you wrote yours? I was prescribed Effexor for fatigue, and though I went to the doctor cause I couldn't figure out what was causing severe fatigue and weight gain (which was causing some depression and anxiety) it wasn't until I switched doctors from the family practice quack that prescribed Effexor for these problems that my low thyroid was diagnosed.
Did you know that low thyroid can cause depression? Anyway, my new, wonderful internist didn't know why I was taking Effexor in the first place, as it could have been for a psychological problem, and so he didn't force me to stop taking it, but I finally figured out on my own that this had to be the cause of my weight gain cause I ate very little food. I was existing on around 400 to 600 calories a day, and having severe fibromyalgia and still trying to exercise...but I could barely keep my weight down to 140 or 142 at 5'6". So I quit taking the drug, and now I weigh around 127ish, and I have no fatigue at all, and every single joint pain that I had is gone...really it is, it hasn't returned, and it's raining. I do have some neck and back pain, more in the nerves from the leftover withdrawal, but I do think it's starting to ease up, and my stomach just isn't right, but I have faith that I'm healing.
Nope, Effexor is being prescribed for all kinds of things that it shouldn't be prescribed for, and that's what we are trying to have stopped. It has been misrepresented as a wonder drug. Gee, you know, I lost an entire three years of my life to that darn drug. Even another day or two would have been too many. The sooner this is all over, the better. I should add that I was so sick and so tired that between everything I did, I needed to rest for at least two hours and there have been days that I could sleep from one until the next without ever leaving the room. I couldn't even get up to answer the telephone. I had no idea it was from Effexor until I began to read that Effexor could cause fatigue, a problem that I was already struggling with before I began to take Effexor.
Some people think that all doctors are perfect and infallible. I'm afraid that I am not one of them. Many are great, but I ended up in the hands of one that cared more about kickbacks than his patients. By the way, this same doctor lied in my medical records and denied prescribing some of the medicines he was having me take. He told my private disability company that there was nothing wrong with me and essentially ruined my reputation and said that I was a liar when in truth I looked up his name online and found out that he had been suspended by the medical board more than one time. I lost $3,000 a month and was too weak and tired to fight about it; so I went back to sleep for about a year and a half, which sounds like an exaggeration, but that was pretty much my life. I simply could not stay awake, I had no idea what was wrong with me, and didn't really think I would live, just kind of hung in there.
Stopping taking Effexor was one of the smarter things that I have ever done, though cold turkey may not be the best way I could have gone. I just didn't have any idea that it was going to be a problem as I wasn't warned that there were any side effects or that there were any problems whatsoever if you decided to stop taking it. The joke was on me.
Next time I was more careful in my choice of doctors.
Bebe
poster:dancingstar
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041201/msgs/424963.html