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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Princess on October 9, 2002, at 1:06:01
Hi in New York and hello college senior...
Since nobody wants to respond to a princess( my persian kittens name) I'll give you my middle name and some information.......hopefully it helps you.
I am a college grad with a great career, family and friends. I went through my last relationship in March, no marriage, kids and a future with somebody once again and really became depressed unable to work or cope. Cried alot and was not coming out of it for several weeks. 3 close friends of mine confided in me how effexor turned their life around. I felt desparate and went to my doctor and she gave me a dose of 37.5mg then up to 75mg per day for the last 6 months. This is my experience:
loss of sex drive/ability to orgasm
bad nightmares
weight gain..20lbs. always been thin
no desire to workout. used to hit the gym 3 to 5 x a week
feeling out of it, not quite there and tired
increased desire to drink alcohol, just to feel more like myself( seemed to counteract this drug)*on a positive note, it did get help me to not care so much and hurt and feel anxious. ohhh no, it masked all of that.
I went to half a dose last Sunday for 4 days. I went cold turkey starting Thurday. i have now been off of it for 6 days. The first day I felt a headache and a bit "lost". Hit some golf balls that night and dinner and went to bed at 5pm and woke up the next morning at 9am. Friday was a nightmare. Was at an appointment, could barely function. Went shopping( sale next door and always makes me feel better) Could not stay and could not leave either. SPACED OUT bigtime. nausea, dizzy, had to go home lay down with a cold towel on my head. Drank lots of water and took aspirn. As long as I stayed still i was ok.
Saturday felt much better. had a fun day with friends, kept busy, my mind off of it. Sunday felt good. Today is Wednesday the 8th, I feel so awesome. I am so happy to be off the drug. I have me back. everything is normal again...I will never go on an antidepressant again. i will hire a personal trainer and hit the gym instead. anything but that!
I did some reasearch on the net last Friday night (when i thought i was dying) and found out the following:
Take essential amino acids that help repair and get rid of toxins in your body. i bought it in a powder form called Whey protein. you want it to have glutamine. I make it in a fruit smoothie shake and take a Twin Lab multi-vitamin. Started this all on Sunday. I swear by it!
i hope this helps you. I belive no matter how you cut your dose for how long, your going to have bad withdrawls. Have friends, protein shake, rent good movies, and sleep to get you through it.
i am here if you want to vent or have any questions or comments.
Take Care, Jane
Posted by sleepy lizard on October 9, 2002, at 1:58:39
In reply to withdrawls from effexor, posted by Princess on October 9, 2002, at 1:06:01
Interesting about the glutamine. I could have used that over the month of withdrawals from Effexor. I agree with all you said about the symptoms of withdrawal. I feel so much better off of antidepressants, I'm telling everyone that they could not pay me to take them again. I know some people feel that it is worth the side effects. I had all those sides except the weight gain. Strange that some loose, some gain, but I've read that elsewhere. Hope you continue to feel good.
Posted by BrittPark on October 9, 2002, at 13:25:57
In reply to withdrawls from effexor, posted by Princess on October 9, 2002, at 1:06:01
I'm glad you're feeling better off of Effexor, and sorry that you had a rough few days of withdrawal. However, you discontinued Effexor way to fast. With most antidepressants you should only reduce your dosage by 25% or so a week. I've discontinued a number of antidepressants and never had any withdrawal symptoms.
I also wanted to note that even though you feel much better not taking an antidepressant, there are a lot of people who couldn't live without them.
Continue feeling better,
Britt
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