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Re: Effexor withdrawal - very bad news » roobie

Posted by dancingstar on January 22, 2005, at 21:11:05

In reply to Re: Effexor withdrawal - very bad news, posted by roobie on January 22, 2005, at 13:26:16

> Just my two cents as I have been following this dicussion and posted similar in the past to my comment...
>
> I have been taking Effexor 37.5mg 2x per day for a few months after I decided Paxil was making me too apethetic.
>
> I had 'no' problems with Effexor and FINALLY was able to orgasm again after a couple years lacking from the Paxil. I actually had some giddy-up back starting on the Effexor.
>
> Since my life situation has changed, one of my friends commented, why not stop taking it? Knowing NOT to do it cold turkey, I dropped to just taking it in the morning. The FIRST skipped dose, BOY could I tell!! I did this for about two, maybe three weeks dealing with the dizzies and such. Soon, I started having the same issues that I had pre-Paxil and Effexor, so my doc said I should go back to the 2x per day, as I still need the med to help.
>
> I know I am on a low dosage as compared to most folks - enough to keep me 'stable'. So in my case, it's helping me, but I do know about the withdrawl and how rough it can be.
>
> I've asked before for 'positive' experiences and received comment, but sounds more like when one wants to DISCONTINUE treatment that the problems start. So does the benefit outweigh the withdrawl?
>
> roobie

roobie,

This afternoon I took a break from my endless packing-to-move drama and headed off to the nail salon with this discussion still on my mind. It is interesting that this board has such an on-going impact on me, but I think it is in part because of my strong feelings about the way that Wyeth has handled their disclosure of information about Effexor and my resentment of being a human guinea pig. Perhaps one should ply me with some Effexor so that I won't notice that this has happened to me, and I will once again become the sweet, passive, quiet, docile, creature that I was in September. Yes, this is my opinion of what happened while I took Effexor. I was happy when I wasn't depressed, easy-going, and my life was falling apart. I didn't notice things crumbling around me and I didn't much care if I did bother to notice, figuring that everything will just work out, that I would think about it tomorrow; that today I would simply sleep because the urge to do so was just too overwhelming.

Only problem was that two and a half years of my life went by. I didn't know why I couldn't lose weight. I didn't know why I couldn't stay awake. I was in crippling pain. Me. The same me that used to teach up to five classes a week at the gym, run my business and work full time besides. This didn't happen right away. It happened very, very slowly; so slowly that I didn't know it was even going on. Maybe I'm afraid that it will happen to someone here while they are not looking, just like it happened to me. I just want "you" to know that it is possible, to keep it in the back of your mind when you are not feeling right and not think that it is your body or your mind that are letting you down, but it is likely the fault of a drug that does not belong in your system.

My dad died when I was young, and my mom died quite some time ago. In fact, I have very little living family. I say this only to tell you that every September I get some kind of feeling as though I am getting a message, whatever that may be. (Great, I'm on a psych. board. Please know that I was prescribed Effexor for my back injury originally and stayed at the party too long, I didn't even get it from a pdoctor, though that is who should be prescribing it in my humble but vocal opinion.)

Anyway, this past September I got this -- let's call it feeling -- that I should stop taking Effexor. So I did. Instantly and innocently, knowing only that if I stopped taking this drug, I would be well again. First I got sick and sicker and more sick than that. But I also lost all the weight and found that I do not have fibromyalgia nor chronic fatigue syndrome. Some arthritis/bursitis, yes. But it doesn't make me sleep all day long.

My stomach is damaged, the nerves in my neck are not great but I am in physical therapy. I read here about things all the time that I didn't know were problems related to Effexor that probably are, like not being able to make simple decisions, something that I was always able to do before. I've had panic attacks in public, where I can't catch my breath, but I'm getting better...and better.

Bottom line, it hasn't been much fun. I have my medical records and can tell you flat out that I am -- or was an extraordinarily healthy woman. Maybe or hopefully, I still am or can be again soon.

Some say to blame the doctors for this, but I can't. I've been doing countless hours of research, and I know that in spite of everything that is said by the FDA and by Wyeth, that they have been withholding information since 1996, and I have posted one web link right here. Recently, the warnings for taking Efexor in England have been made much more harsh, and I hope we take the same stand in the United States. They are doing this in England for some reason, not because it is a simply harmless drug and to annoy people, and I can promise you that I am not saying it to annoy anyone either.

Now, for just a moment, back to my story: In the nail salon today, I was chatting with this lovely woman about all sorts of things. It seems that she had gone through a very rough patch during the last year. My heart went out to her since I, too, had gone through my own version of a tough time.

After we had spoken for a bit, I mentioned to her that I stopped taking Effexor and what I had been through; and it seems that she, too, takes it. She had wondered why she was no longer her usual size zero self, had thought it had something to do with getting older, though she, like me, hardly ate and worked out all the time; and she also told me that she now needs to sleep 10 hours a night. I am hoping that she actually reads this at some point and validates what I am saying so that you know that it is true.

My point? I don't think that I am in the minority in the problems that I have had; I think that they are very common, though for some reason many would like me to not say that. Effexor works or seems to work for getting people out of an immediate black hole of depression. The question ultimately becomes whether each individual is willing to pay some ultimate price down the line. What that price will be may vary from person to person, but I do believe that we will hear more accurately about the side effects in the near future. The constantly changing acknowledged warnings and side effects is to me clear indication that something is going on.

Blessings,

Bebe


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poster:dancingstar thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050119/msgs/445936.html