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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 Emmi on May 22, 2005, at 10:35:29
Thank GOD someone mentioned joint pain and muscle soreness. I thought I was losing my mind.
My Doc has been ordering my meds from pharmacy.ca. They can make any med in any quantity so we're diminishing effexor by 10mg at a time. I was at 150 and finally am down to 65 mg. Once I hit 85mg, I thought I had lock-jaw! the tension!! Next came sore neck, sore knees (can no longer scrouch down to play with my puppy) then sore shoulders etc etc. Is this normal and will it go away once the effexor is out of my body??I need to have a physical exam and I'm afraid my family doctor will chalk all this up to Effexor when maybe somehting else is going on. Who knows..maybe its arthitis or something. I'm pretty scared. I'm only 40 years old and have been in excellent physical condition. No I cam hardly go for walks it hurts so much.
Can anyone tell me if this goes away? Also, I'm thinking of reducing 10mg after two weeks at each level rather than doing one month at each new level.
I just want this stuff OUT of me!Emmi.
Posted by SLS on May 22, 2005, at 11:44:58
In reply to Aching body-withdrawal from Effexor, posted by Emmi on May 22, 2005, at 10:35:29
> Thank GOD someone mentioned joint pain and muscle soreness. I thought I was losing my mind.
I'm still looking for mine.
> My Doc has been ordering my meds from pharmacy.ca. They can make any med in any quantity so we're diminishing effexor by 10mg at a time. I was at 150 and finally am down to 65 mg. Once I hit 85mg, I thought I had lock-jaw! the tension!! Next came sore neck, sore knees (can no longer scrouch down to play with my puppy) then sore shoulders etc etc. Is this normal and will it go away once the effexor is out of my body??
These symptoms can be part of the withdrawal syndrome, and appear on quite a few lists as being potential effects of drug discontinuation. Even so, it would be unfortunate should another medical issue be overlooked. I would not want to place myself in a position of giving you the wrong advice. Perhaps you can temporarily increase the dosage of Effexor to see if these things disappear. That might be the best diagnostic procedure of all.
The last 75mg seem to be the hardest to taper. You might want to try dosing several times a day rather than once or twice. It helps prevent an ebb in blood levels. It is not at all inprudent to spend two weeks or less at each dosage. However, you may find that at some point - perhaps 12.5 - 18.75mg - no further reduction is possible without the emergence of the withdrawal symptoms. At this point, you will discontinue taking the medication altogether. With a little luck, your final withdrawal symptoms will be milder and short-lived. Personally, I have done well using a flexible-dosing strategy, whereby you allow your body tell you how much medication you need to optimize your taper.
There are several alternatives that have been offered here on the Withdrawal board. It is probably best if you read through the threads yourself and determine which method you would like to try. In the meantime, you might find that Benadryl, and over-the-counter antihistamine and anticholinergic might reduce the severity of your symptoms.
- Scott
Posted by jjaustex on June 12, 2005, at 19:53:10
In reply to Re: Aching body-withdrawal from Effexor, posted by SLS on May 22, 2005, at 11:44:58
First, I want to say that I am very happy to have found this site, it has been a God Send!!
I have been taking Effexor for a while now. This past year I began to develop some fairly serious (at least to me) health issues which I never realized until recently could be related to the Effexor. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure (technically it is pulmonary hypertension), sleep apneia (yes, I have to use a CPAP machine) and glaucoma (increased pressure in the eye). The high blood pressure I was sure was related to this obscene amount of weight I had gained during the last two years. And I was sure that the glaucoma was a result of the hypertension.
Just to be on the safe side, when I started taking high bp medicine, my doctor started tapering the Effexor. I had experienced the "electrical impulses" and vertigo (I call them the hebbiejeebies) as well as extremely bad nausea when I got off Paxil a few years ago. (I thought THAT was a Terrible experience! Well, I am being proven wrong.) At first, things went ok. I had the usual heebiejeebies with the tapering, but the high bp medicine was helping so much with the tiredness and shortness of breath, I felt relieved and thought for sure I was gonna get better and be able to start exercising and lose some weight. NOPE! I went downhill as I dropped my dosage from 187.5 mg a day to 150 mg. All of a sudden I started having the same old tired feeling PLUS this terrible aching and tightness in my muscles, joint pain, nausea/vomiting, headaches...you name it. I thought it was the high bp (which was still a little elevated) or electrolyte depletion from the diuretic in the high bp medicine, compounded by my weight problem. Nothing I did helped the situation. The tightness in my muscles and the joint aches have kept me awake at night. I have felt like such a LOSER because I can't get my weight down to control all of these problems. To be honest, the symptoms have been so bad, I thought I was dying or losing my mind, or both.
Until today, when I found this site. I read all of the postings I could find on Effexor withdrawal and I can't describe how much better I feel knowing that I am not crazy and I am not going to die.
I am angry when I think that Effexor has almost destroyed my health. I have obesity, high blood pressure, glaucoma, sleep apneia, anemia, chronic fatigue....all of which can be traced back to Effexor.
I will be darned if I am going to stop tapering it, though, even if I DO have to taper it by counting out the little granules each day!! I am not going to lose this battle without a real fight!
Thanks to all of you who posted about the symptoms of withdrawal. It is gonna make this battle a whole lot easier knowing I am experiencing side effects from withdrawal not going crazy and not dying!
This is the end of the thread.
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