I've read through hundreds of posts on this topic, and i'm ticked off about it! I've been tapering off of this medication for 6 months now, and still feeling like i'm losing my mind! From the very start, I asked my doctor how much harm this effexor meds would cause, being on it, coming off, etc. I was told that there would be flu-like symptons for a short time, but it would be easy. If I ever see that doc on the street, he's gettin smacked in the mouth! I now have 2 attorneys going after him, since he's moved to a different city, the place he works for, then hopefully the manufacturer for making this c**p. I know it's going to be a long battle, but i'm ready for it. I began taking "Focus Formula" I got from GNC yesterday, and it seems to be taking the edge off. I've read that Omega 3 fish oils help, so that'll be picked up today as well. The FDA has warned this company about the "not informing people of any problems correctly" with it, and hopefully the FDA will be on them again to come up with some way of helping us detox off of it as well. My type of work is very stressful, then I get to come home to 4 children, all wanting attention at the same time. Then the rage inside of me takes over. I have to just "go away" or i'm going to start screaming at them. It has affected parts of my marriage, closeness to the children, parts of my job, and mostly, any enjoyment in life. I feel like i'm just "exsisting". I do nothing that I used to enjoy anymore. I just bought a motorcycle this past spring which seems to help. I get to the point sometimes, weather permitting of course, jump on it, and i'm gone to clear my head. At the same time, it gets more and more, and that just takes away from any family time I know I need to do. Hopefully this will be over soon, but i've read that some are still having problems 4 years later! I just want some relief!!!!!!!!!
Detoxing
By Pete K. 3/28/2012
After seeing films of addictive persons detoxing from various prescribed addictive products, I felt I had a grasp of what the process entails. Suffer awhile to get to whatever normal is without the drug. Pay for the withdrawal with some discomfort. Use will power and focus to extract the temporary demons.
Well, I am (right now as I type) in the process of detoxing from a drug that has been prescribed for me for over five years. The process does not resemble the films I have seen or the verbal descriptions of others who have preceded me in this process. The experience does resemble the Google search chats of others who have experienced this process with my drug.
I stopped typing three times so far as a light headed wave flows through my body. It is difficult to stay focused. My vision is not as clear as normal. I hear a rhythmic rasping noise periodically in my left ear that I first thought came from outside my home. I now know intimately what is referred to as brain shivers. My heart beat is elevated. My wife woke me last night as I was thrashing against some imaginary demon with both hands while yelling. Sitting at my computer last night I had a heat flash that brought sweat to my head followed by a bout of uncontrolled sneezing. As I laid in bed last night, a wave of nausea swept over me. I had a desire to simply take the drug again and live with it forever rather than experience this almost constant discomfort.
As long as I could remember, I experienced a low form of depression that dogged my life. After years of various dead ends, I finally found a cognitive therapist who was able to help me extract a higher sense of peace after a few years of work. He then suggested a depression drug to enhance the process. This suggestion was supported by my internist and others I trusted to have the experience to understand my issue.
A drug specialist began to administer small doses of Effexor, a common antidepressant drug, to me as I continued my talk therapy. The hypothesis was that talk therapy helps, Effexor helps and that even better results were achieved when the two were combined. Then some day in the future the drug could be stopped without regression back into the low grade depression.
So off I went on the new journey of therapy and Effexor with enhanced results. Could the enhancements have been due to a placebo effect? I will never know.
Two more large waves of light headedness just passed. These are disorienting even though not painful. Part of the discomfort is the surprise of how quickly they come and a lingering concern of how long they will last or what new symptom will suddenly surface.
In all the discussions of going on Effexor, I do not recall any conversations or literature on what the withdrawal effects would entail. None. And this information gap is repeated in the Effexor chat rooms today by hundreds of Effexor users who have attempted to stop the use of the drug. Other chat rooms reveal similar experiences with other depression medications, pain pills, etc.
Would I have started the drug usage if I knew the drug cessation hurdles? Again I will never know, but I am sad over not having the information presented to me in all the early discussions.
As of this moment, I am 53 hours into withdrawal. Chat room chatter suggests this may take weeks or months or just days. I have told those close to me to monitor my behavior as it may be odd at times till I either finish withdrawal or return to the drug out of frustration.
There are three pieces of good news so far. One is that I seem to be acclimating to the withdrawal process without undo problems. Second is that I am not spiraling down into the old depression mode. The last is that I have lost 4 pounds (no real food appetite) which will thrill my Weight Watcher associates at our meeting next Tuesday.
Snippets of songs flush through my mind as another wave flows – crimson and clover, drove my Chevy to the levee, yesterday, you are my sunshine, fools rush in, etc.
Where do I hope to end up? I recall as a 10 year old lying on my back in a small field of grass and weeds as expanding and contracting big bright white cotton ball clouds were whizzing by overhead surrounded by an amazing light blue sky leading to an unknown eternity. I snapped off one of the tall grass stalks with seeds on the end next to my face and stuck it between my teeth like a long flexible tooth pick. No one could see me prone out in the field. It was peacefully quiet. A few bees were landing on clover blossoms proudly trying to reach up with the taller grass. I was in the moment and all was right with the world.
I rolled on my side and plucked a few clover stems. I jostled the clover and became entranced with looking for a four leaf clover. Nowhere in the clover leafs was a four leaf clover. I rolled on my other side and expanded my search. Still no success. I wondered why good luck was associated with the 4 leafs. Finally I rolled back on my back and abandoned the 4 leaf search while simply enjoying the sky and the warmth of the sun on my body.
When these waves and other wild symptoms diminsh, I will return to the field.