Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 72 of 140}

Ok, so I'm getting really worried here...
I was on 75mg for about three years when I decided it was time to kick it out of my life. I went down to 37.5 about three weeks ago and my doc---who has no clue the extent of withdrawal people go through---told me to take 37.5 every other day for two weeks and then nothing...The first time I tried going 48 hours I had to leave work and go lay down at 36 hours and take another dose. At that point I realized I was only prolonging the withdrawal process and haven't taken another dose since Monday at noon. (It's now Friday at noon) I'm really freaking out at these posts because I really wasn't expecting to have to go through this for more than a couple of weeks. I'm reading about people who are on their 15th and 26th week and still feeling miserable. I'm at work right now and I'm crying while I'm typing this. I'm hoping that since I was only on 75mg to begin with then maybe I'll be ok???

Bless you! i was on Efexor and came off it. The withdrawal symptoms were very unpleasant but in my case didn't last much more than a week. I felt better after that. I hope and pray it will be the same for you when the withdrawal has finished, and that it won't last much longer.

Victoria-Thank You!!!
I think it is totally awesome that you are still posting even when you are well. I wonder how many other people do that. You must be a really amazing person. I thank you from the bottom of my bottom ;) that you replied so quickly.
These last few days have given me a new mission: To make public these horrible withdrawal symptoms. I went to the Wyeth website and tried to find any kind of link to contact them...and I came up with nothing of the sort. I did, however, come up with several different ways to contact them if I want to invest!!! Idnit funny?
So these brain surge things are awful, huh? Wow. Did anyone out there notice their tongues tingling during this? I've tried to explain it to my boyfriend and he just looks at me in a lovingly confused sort of way.
I feel just terrible that he has to go through this with me.
I'm babbling so I should get on with my day.
I hope everyone is feeling even the slightest bit better today!
And Victoria-thanks again for giving me a little hope back!!!

BigBaby

It really, truly, does get better. I think the timelines for that are different for everybody though. This morning I caught myself singing at the top of my lungs to the radio on the way into work and though, wow - I'm back! I'm still irritable, but have joked with my husband and kids that I'm actually enjoying the crabbier me a little. I sure don't have to ask that something be done more than once these days!

I, too, have been trying to figure out how to raise awareness, get Wyeth to 'fess up.....This just shouldn't be happenning to so many of us. What about a whole bunch of us going on the 'Oprah' website and suggesting Effexor and other anti-depressant withdrawal as an idea for a future show? If they received a lot of similar requests, they might actually pay attention.....

I sent a big letter to the FDA explaining that there should have been at least some kind of warning of the withdrawal symptoms before getting on this stupid drug and I also sent them a link to these postings so they can see for themselves. I don't think it should be pulled off the market because it would cause a huge problem with those who don't feel the need to come off effexor. It's also very apparent that doctors aren't aware either of how severe this is. It's not the saddness and depression that's the problem (at least not for me so much) it's the physical symptoms!!! Of course I cry over nothing, but I did that before I took effexor, so I say 'whatever' to that. I just hate the zaps and severe dizziness along with the nausia and inability to focus my eyes, bluriness...you know all the crap we're all going through...
We should all contact someone/something and eventually we'll get our point across.

BigBaby

bigbaby....Withdrawal symptoms are different for everyone. I was taking 100MG for about five years and since I lost my job in July and my insurance I had no choice but to get off the Effexor. It has been a month now and I feel terrific. I had the traditional brain zaps and dizziness for about 2-2 1/2 weeks. They then started tapering off and I hardly have any now. If I do, they are real mild. I have lost 10 pounds and my blood pressure is down to 127/70. While on the Effexor it hovered between 150/80 and 170. So hang in there girl....you have plenty of people here to support you.

I wish I had taken the time to read up on Effexor XR before taking the medication, unfortunately I assumed (wrong)that I could trust that the medication I would be taking was ' Not Addictive' , or whatever terminology she used I can hardly think clearly enough anymore to even keep on solid thought in my head for more than 3 minutes. However I was truly in for a surprise when I ran out of medication after having taken it religiously for 6 months. I was off the medicine for One day before I started feeling the effects, not sure what it was I brushed it off as a cold or flu coming on...thank God for the week-end I thought! Yeah right. Well by day 3 I was vomitting about 2 to 3 times a day, sweating, nausea, severe brain shivers and dizzyiness. People who have had these withdrawls would probably agree with me that there is a vast difference between the two. Long story short, I got back on Effexor to stop feeling so sick, but wanted to wean myself off, after having discovered how bad I would feel without it. So my doctor prescribed Wellbutrin 150 mg days 1-3, then 300mg day 4 to continue as long as necessary. The horror was just beginning By day 5 I was having audio, and visual hallucinations, severe anxiety, as well as paranoia. I can honestly say that initially the wellbutrin seemed to act as a buffer against the effexor, but when I started to hallucinate all bets were off.Beware that little peach pill (oh and by the way I was only up to 75 mg a day of effexor) I would sugguest that natural remedies, excersize, and change of diet and/or lifestyle be an option. I officially hate medication.

Today is the one-year anniversary of when I took my last little dose of 4mg out of a 75 mg Effexor. The next day I threw away a 6 week supply. It took me almost five months to do it slowly, dropping my dosage by half each time taking me about 2 to 3 weeks between drops. I went through a lot of what you who are now withdrawing are going through. When I started with this support group in May of 2005, there were a lot of great people already involved in the process. We all became sort of a little family, checking on each other, giving moral support, even helping with some of our personal, non-effexor related problems. I think having a support group like this saved my sanity. So if you are still checking in, I want to say thank you to as many people I can remember for helping me get through that difficult time. Thanks to Regent, Naria, Elena, Bonnie, Jamikissezs, Wonderingwhy, Fruitbat, Beemarie, Ronda, Dirk, Melissa14 and all you other wonderful people who shared their withdrawals with me.

Although I am sorry to see so many new people join this site (it means MDs are still prescribing it), I am glad you found us because there are so many great ideas on how to make the withdrawal less painful. I want to report to all of you new people how I feel after a year so that you will know that you will get through this.

I am one of the lucky ones. My problems were quite simple, general anxiety, light deprivation, a serious depression after events in my life put me at an all time low. I have not had a return of that deep depression, but I have had an occasional anxiety or panic attack but nothing like before. I have occasional head zaps but I am beginning to think I had them before Effexor. They are very mild and only occur early in the morning and when I get dehydrated.

I went back last weekend and reread all my posts and relived that period in my life. As some of you have learned—lots of water, sweating and exercise help a great deal. All of the ideas given by various people are good ones. I also have learned from reading posts after I finished that others have had cholesterol problems, something that happened to me while on the Effexor. I am still working on that but am now taking fish oil capsules along with my other handful of pills and eating ground-up flax seed on my morning yogurt. My HDL is now incredible, my LDL is still a bit high but my doctor who was threatening to put me on cholesterol medication said the ratio was so good to keep doing what I was doing. I already ate healthy but am now eating even better.

I feel absolutely wonderful and I am going to tell you why I think I feel as good as I do. Last July (2005) I was browsing through other threads on this homeopathy site looking for one on cholesterol when I came across one on aspartame. What I read there concerned me a bit so I did some more investigation. I am not going into detail here, but if you go back and read my posts on page 34, 35, and 36 of this site, you will find out what I am talking about. Essentially, I gave up all artificial sugar. That included anything that says sugar-free, diet or lite in its title or “contains phenylaline.” I had eaten and drunk this stuff since it first came out back in the early 1980s. My blood pressure dropped 20 points in the 6 months after I quit (to the point my MD halved my BP medication (which by the way, I have been on since 1983), my arthritis (I am in my 60’s) has improved, my bad back has been virtually pain free and numerous other things have improved in my life. But the most important thing is I have not had the mood swings I used to have, I am not craving sweets all the time, and I am starting to lose weight without dieting, slowly but real. I have spent the last 30 years of my life trying to keep my weight under control and have always had a difficult time losing with no problem gaining. And just recently someone asked me if I had had a face lift!! Please investigate those old posts of mine because there is also a mental health issue involved with the artificial sugar. I am going to go back and find that thread on the aspartame and add to it so that it will be on the first page and you all can read it.

Best wishes to all of you. It will be worth it in the end. If you still need to take antidepressants, talk to your doctor about some of the older ones. The SSRIs are bad news for the average person and only should be prescribed for serious problems, they work, but at what price (the previous is my opinion but I think it is a justified one.)

I will keep you all in my prayers that you get through this trying time—as I did.

Love, Sheila (aka catgranny)

i cannot write in words how thankful i am to have found this discussion/chat group. i have been taking effexor of about 3 years, the highest dose being 325mg. or maybe 375. anyways, i am now down to a little inder 37.5mg. i have been opening up the capsules and pouring some out. i tried to not take it for a day (had gone from 75 to 37.5 and been on the 37.5 for about 2 weeks) and had all the regular (nothing regular about 'hell') and had a panic attack so bad i broke out in hives (first time the hives ever had been a part of anxiety for me) and gave in and took some effexor. i beat myself up about giving in and not being strong, but someone her posted that you shouldn feel guilty if you need to take some to deal. that made me feel so much better, thanks who ever that was, i dont remember...
I wish no one had to feel these things as i am but i am so so so so thankful i know i am not alone. during the last 3 years, ive had longish term boyfriends that have resulted in a break up due to the fact I NEVER WANTED TO HAVE SEX. when my boyfriend now and i became serious (as serious as you can be after a month :)...) i decided to get off all the way because i thought maybe the effexor had something to do with it... MAYBE??? augh! only after i went and brought this up to my doc he told me at first they didnt think the efxr had sexual side effects but now they know its the opposite. even writing about this right now seems weird since it is more thought ive given to sex in years!! i do not understand how someone that has a job where they cannot make thier own scheduele (i am a hair stylist and make my own) or a mother could ever ever ever detox from this medicine. it seems actually IMPOSSIBLE. thers no way. i am a total wreck and now have started to even wonder if i was ever normal and had energy to walk to my car and had a desire to have sex. i feel like i never did and im crazy to think that i did. my boyfriend is being so so so patient (thank god) but when I dont even like myself with all these withdrawl symptoms, how can anyone else? does anyone know how long i can expect to be a mood switching pyscho after i comletely get off the meds? and not to be crass, but how long until my libido comes back? if i everhad one? i am very thankful the emotional withdrawl effects are limited to outbursts of crying but the physical ones are making me just as crazy as i felt when i went to the doc for mild depression and more than mild anxiety. FOR ANYONE WHO'S DR IS TRYING TO PUT YOU ON EFFEXOR FOR DEPRESSION AND ANXEITY AND THINKS IT WILL HELP W YOUR ADD OR ADHD INSTEAD OF TRYING MEDICINE FOR ADD/ADHD DO NOT TAKE EFFEXOR!!! it ends up most of my anxiety and depression were from effects of my adhd (problems in my life that were reactions to adhd symtoms) and my new doc said i should of tried that FIRST. please ask your doc about treating gad/depression and add/adhd SEPARATELY!!!! to add insult to injury, i friggin paid cash for all dr visit and meds since no insurance!! (THATS ABOUT 350$ PER MONTH ON 325MG)
thanks for any answered questions and i hope none of you has a hairdresser with electric shocks and verigo and no equilibrium! i am that hairdresser! ikes!!!!!!

I have been on Effexor for over a year and I am ready to get off of it. I was taking 3 pills a day and I weaned myself to 2 pills a day and now on day 8 I feel horrible. I have vertigo so bad it makes me have nausea. I start balling for no reason and have gotten extremely angry at my dog for wanting to be pet. This sucks!!! I did find a website that tells ways to wean off of effexor with natural remedies. The site is called TheRoadBack dot org. I found it to be very interesting and worth trying. I challenge all of you to at least look into it to see if it will actually help us in these horrendous withdrawal symptoms. Above all else, God is with us and His Grace is sufficient for thee. God bless you all and good luck.

I am 18 years old and about 2 months ago i went into the local medicenter because i was having severe signs of depression i was suicidal i cried like no tomorrow i was so mean to my friends that i was beginning to lose them because i would not talk to them and tell them what was wrong...and when i told my friend i thought i was depressed she said why.
This clinic that i went into is one of those walk in clinics they dont really care about you they just want to get you in and out and thats exactly what happened i told him i was depressed he asked what my biggest issue was i told him and he prescribed me this crap called effoxer he gave me one of the samples for 2 weeks i went home and started to deal with taking the crap.

I have now been off it for 3 days because i could no longer affored the meds. I keep having these shock waves where i feel like im going to black out. I cant talk to anyone not even my boyfriend that i live with. Im a hundred times worse than i was before i started the meds. I want to curl up into a ball and just stay like that for as long as i can. These little shock spells effect my talking. And im craving them .

I also have a past history for drug addiction which totally does not help this situation.

Please can anyone tell me how to lower these effects so i can manage to pull through during a day of work...to maybe smile because right now everything feels so pointless.

It doesnt help that i have no one to talk to about these issues, I try to talk to my boyfriend but he doesnt get it, hes like how can we fix this, IF I KNEW HOW I WOULD i say....ugh i dont want to do anything so if anyone has some advice for me i would gladly try anything right about now.

I think right now alll i need to do is rant and rave, kick and scream.

I treid going into work today it didnt last long i couldnt talk And i kept on feeliong like i was gointo pass out.

This laptop is making me frusterated i just want to throw it across the room.
My kitten wont stop attacking me and she even made me cry.
I feel like im spinning and i keep having crying sprees over nothing. I was only on Efxr for 3 months and been off for a few days now and i feel like there is nothing anyone can say or do to help.

My boyfriend is trying to help me but i get mad at him when he asks whats wrong....I just want to get better i want to be normal and happy. I love my boyfriend with all my heart but he just doesnt get it. His life is so normal and he is always so god damn happy i dont think i have been happy truly happy about being a live in about 4 years now.

I just dont see how i can get off of this when everything else in my life is the same depressing as hell. My family life is non existant my friends...well i dont have any of those anymore because i cant seem to pull myself together good enough to call one of them up.

I used to be soooo happy so happy i wish i could be like that again i wish that this pain could just go away but it wont it stays with me and tortures me.

Today im afraid of people yes i said it im afraid to go to the store or leave the apartment because i dont think i could face anyone right now.
I feel like im having a bad trip on some crappy drug.....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

im sorry for ranting i just had to get it out i just need to cry.

to pureluck87>>>>>>
first and foremost, you need to go to the doctor that prescribed you the meds,,,they should most likely have the effexor starter pack.....it is a weeks of 37.5mgs and one weeks of 75mg pills...grab one. in fact, grab two. im almost positive they will have it, considering i cannot think of another reason all of us would be in this situation except for the pharm companies pushing this to the docs to prescribe. take the 37.5, you should feel better w in about 24 hrs..(yes it takes a bit) or if you are feeling strong, you can opn the capsule and put about half of those little grains on a spoonfulk of yogurt, pudding or applesauce (you get it---dont chew). im sure what im telling you is what the doc will tell you (hopefully). it is way better to ween off the meds than stop all together. what i am concerned about is the fact that you were only on them for 2 months? this means that the drug hasnt had enough time to get your body back in the habit of feeling mentally healthy so you might need to ask your doc for another drug that will take care of the orginal problem....i read up, and apparently wellbutrin has the least amount of side effects....
as far as the boyfriend.. what i did w mine was print out this page fromm this forum and had him read it so he could se what i was feeling. also go on a page that will outline all of the adverse physical side effects and emotional side effects and print that out too. have him read it. keep it next to the computer, handy, so he'l be able to refer to it if needed.... also, you are not alone w the alienating yourself from your friends thing. i took a second to call about one friend a week to tell them what was going on w getting off the meds. of course, they were way cool...even when i had flaked on some pretty important events... dont get overwhelmed and make list or anything, just call if someone pops into your head, thats what i did, and ive been calling about oneperson a week for a month or so now...the biggest advice i can give, tho is go back to the doc. they will have the freee pack, and its nothing to them to give them away. im sure effexor will send more!! (scary)! tell him effexor is not right for you, make up a plan to ween off SLOWLY! (not over a week! try 5 to 8 weeks!) im not a doctor, but god knows ive researched this and gone thru it myself. im now on 8 granuals a day (in the applesauce) and having these forums kept me sane. good luck, and dont worry, i have past addiction probs and it doesnt make your body actually crave the effexor itself, just crave not feeling insane!
good luck, girl!!

Hi everyone. Well .... what a relief it was to find this web site and to realise that I am actually normal!
I've been taking 150mg for the last 6 months or so and after getting clearance from my pysch for the depression, I decided it was time to give the drugs away! Like everyone else thats posted here, little did I know how much easier said that was than done.
A month ago I cut my dose in half - half a capsule before sleep! It only took me 2 days to think I was having a stroke..I remember getting home in tears after leaving a party early, scared of the 'tingling' in my fingers, down my arms and legs and into my toes not knowing what was going on...I've perservered though and continued with the inaccurately measured half a night right up until last week. I'm on my 5th day of complete withdrawal and I'm so determined to beat this and just keep telling myself it can't get any worse!
Yesterday was my worst day and was the day that I sought help from the internet - I'd explained away my 'stroke-like' symptoms to having tweaked a nerve, pulled a muscle pah you name it, I blamed it. Its almost like the penny finally dropped yesterday and I realised it was the lack of drugs in my system that was causing this.
Having read other peoples accounts I'm feeling a little bit lucky in comparison. Yes to the brain 'zaps', the emotional roller coaster, the constant 'tingles' but only a slight feeling of nausea, I'm managing to go to work (can't say i'm functioning 100% normal, but at least I'm here and I'm getting through the day).
The reason why I decided to post my experience today is because I have hope! I'm not taking any substitutes (wouldn't know where to start) and while I'm constantly tempted to dip my finger into the drug I know will give me instant relief, I also know thats a huge backward step. I've come this far and I'm determined to beat this horrible, controlling, life-halting prescribed agony!
Through my pysch-therapy, one of the greatest things I learnt was the importance of 'positive thinking'. When you're suffering from depression (and now withdrawal), positive thinking can be an impossible concept....it is so very important and such a major contributor to success at either beating depression or beating withdrawal!
Without learning how to change my thought patterns to be positive I would have stayed in bed this morning and that would have been the first step in letting this drug beat me. I forced myself (literally) to get up, get dressed and get in the car and drive. When the emotions kick in, so does my conscious decision to think positively, when the 'zap' strikes, so does that positive thought ... don't get me wrong, its far from being easy and its energy-consuming but let me say this ... without those positive thoughts, I'd be home in bed right now, probably crying my eyes out, consumed with negative thought patterns, and no way in the world would tomorrow be any different.
i know this has been long and I guess there are two main points:
1) WE CAN BEAT THIS
2) AND WITH POSITIVE THINKING HOW CAN WE FAIL!

Hello
Well I have been Effexor free for two months now. I am really just beginning to feel like myself again. I have not had brain zaps for a long time but I have felt like my head was not on right. I also have a lot of anxiety. I did not ever have anxiety before I took the E. My emotions have been very strong and at times I felt it was better not to feel all of this stuff. Of course that is not true but I have found it hard to deal with after ten years of feeling nothing. I am not taking anything for the anxiety I am just learning to cope.

I urge all the new people to wean very slowly.The side effects will be much less severe.
Good Luck to all of you!!
Delaney

Hi Everyone. I have never chatted online before but I am just so sad at the moment that I don't know what to do. My husband (together 16years)has always been a quiet man but had found a voice with issues that were affecting both himself and his collegues wages at work. Anyway he stood up for his rights, and what was right only to be kicked in the guts by his employers. He had never loved his work place and this started a spiral of inability to gain higher duties and promotions that sent him into a spiral of depression. When he finally snapped at work and got emotional(cryed)and walked out on them, the phone at home started ringing and all of a sudden his bosses seemed to care, ha ha ha yeah right.they whipped him off to a doctor that said he was depressed and put him on Efexor XR. To start with it seemed to help he was calmer at work and could handle being there. The dose was increased to 150mg and all was well. At work that is. At home my sweet husband changed. He went from the most gentle loving caring husband and father to a robot.Our sex life has gone from good to never, something that I have put down to efexor and have lived with until he said it was because of my weight and lack of sex appeal that I now have to him. But other things have also changed,he now lives for work and has hardly talked to us for a year and when you talk to him it is as if he doesn't listen or is not there at all and the scariest thing is he looks at us if we question anything that he thinks he has said or has been said with such hard cruel anger. We are scared to disagree with him on even the minutest of things. I have been telling the children 12,10,6 that dad is sick but he will get better for what seems like ages. We have both lived busy lives and have been studying/ working. Me for a BA degree and him for higher certificates and promotional chances. I thought if I could finish and get a job it would make him happy. He has been going away for a week a month for nearly the whole time he has been on the drug and when he got home we would fight. I have been doing what all the support sites say for so long that that week he was away and all the worrying about him (he drinks heavily when away)would just make me so tired. It would always be a huge one usually on a sunday. I should of just shut up.
I don't know if this is making sense as I can't stop crying. I have been searching the net for answers for months but mainly just cry when i start reading.
Anyway last time he was away he came home, we fought and he left. He doesn't love me anymore. Has no feelings for me. He just wants to be friends. He says work is so stressful that he wants alone time and that happens to be needed when the kids and I are with him. I know he loves the kids but they don't want to visit with him. They are scared because he doesn't talk to them. He can't communicate. He tells me he needs space. He spends most of his time chatting on the net to strangers cause he likes that he can be anyone he wants.
I know that he is not really like this that the drugs have done this too him but I don't know how to help. I have tried to help for so long.And now we are in different houses. he has said about getting off the drugs but I don't know if he can alone. He has worked all the way through this nightmare because of our mortgage repayments. I love him so much and although he is not in love with me cause he has no emotions I want him to get well and be the man that he used to be for his kids. They deserve to have that gorgeous caring man that he used to be for a dad and to have a proper loving relationship with him. As far as i am concerned will just keep praying that he can love me again but I need help with everything else.Or do I just leave him alone let go and give him space like he wants.
does anyone have similair experiances or something to offer me.
Pleas help tara xxx

Hi Cindyd,
it's very common to have those withdrawals from antidepressants, especially Effexor. U should wean it off very slowly in case u can't bear the withdrawal symptoms. Some people do it in this way: take some of the powder out of the capsule, take it for a while (say, 5 days, it depends alot on individual), then again take a little away from the capsule until you have weaned urself off. How long have u been on Effexor? I've been on Effexor, but didn't get help from it and it wasn't a problem to wean off. Don't worry, do it _slowly_ so ur body can adjust better to the change. One day at a time.

Hi to all, but I wanted to post to Tara 6112. I can't tell you how much I feel for what you are going through. And it's because I put my husband through almost exactly the same thing for the two years that I was on Effexor. In a bizarre way, your post made me feel a little better about the last couple of years...I refer to them as 'the dark years'. My depression was due to a collection of life crises that just got to be too much for me. The Effexor did help me when I needed it to. But I also went through the same hell of getting off it that you hear everybody else describing here. I have now been off for 2 1/2 months - still dealing with anxiety, which, like Delaney, I had never experienced before trying to wean myself off this drug. But now that most of the physical symptoms of withdrawal are gone, I have been doing a lot of painful reflecting about the kind of person I was these last couple of years. It ain't pretty! I have come to suspect that maybe this demon drug had something to do with the person I became, but I also don't want to abdicate any personal responsibility. The only way I can make sense of it is that maybe the Effexor makes us so numb that we have to do some extreme things to feel - like drink, like imagine all sorts of faults with the ones we love so we can get good and angry. etc. I don't want to make excuses at all, but it is kind of hard to take responsibility for your behaviour when you are that numb. When I was in the middle of it all, I saw everybody else's distress - including my kids' - as an attempt to manipulate me and it just made me angry.

I also became a bit of a workaholic - I think keeping myself busy was also a way of coping with not feeling much of anything.

I have told my husband, I don't know how many times, how embarrassed and ashamed I am. And I thank God that he actually knew me well enough to know that I wasn't acting like myself. We did separate for six months in the middle of it all, but I found out that I couldn't manage without my best friend. That's when I started wondering what was going on and really examining what I was doing. My husband moved back in, but it took about a year for me to realize I needed to get off the Effexor. We are starting over and I am very glad he humg in there. Most wouldn't have - I was pretty foul and hurtful.

I can't tell you that your situation is the same, but I can tell you that you may be right in suspecting that the Effexor your husband is on might be playing a role in his behaviour. Maybe, rather than talking ('cause it so easily leads to arguing), write him a letter and tell him everything you are worried about. If it helps, show him the posts on this forum, including mine.

I don't know if things will work out for you, but I hope they do. I feel extraordinarily lucky that my husband stood by me through 'the dark years'. Without knowing all of the details, but knowing what this drug did to me, please believe that you probably haven't done nearly as much wrong as you think you have. Good luck with everything!
A

Thankyou so much Anney. It feels so good to have someone listen and talk to me. I hope that we can get through this more than anything else in the world but just to have him well and happy and himself again would be blessing enough for me. Its funny but I had not been at all religious since I was a kid but have started practicing and relying on my faith only in the last 2 years. Guess I am praying for a miracle that you have now shown me could happen. Thankyou again and thankyou everyone for sharing with me.

Hi everyone ...
I was wondering if anyone has tried or is taking St Johns Wort? I've been off effexor xr now for 8 days and have been thinking about SJW (Alot of people say its great but i'm very reluctant now with the terrible experience i've had coming off E). I'd appreciate any posts about this.

Thanks heaps,

Donna.

Just looking at the site again today. I was in such a state last night when I logged on that all I could say is thanks. I do think that this drug makes you numb especially to the people that count.It makes you focus on moving forward so much that you seem to want go so much that its without the few people that are real in your life.
I have even been to the doctors and had zoloft prescribed to me because I was so upset about my husband and trying to cope living through the nightmare. I filled the script but wouldnt take them. My husband wanted me to because I was so sad all the time but I knew it was because of the situation and I was scared to end up like him, and where would the kids be then.
The thing is, although it has often been like a nightmare to live with my husband and scary and all that other crap that goes with it. It has never once changed the way I have felt about him. I know he is there somewhere deep down inside, the real him is still there I can see it when his eyes are gentle. I don't care about what he says at me (the appearance thing did get me and hurt for a while longer) but really the verbal stuff I have learnt to just ignore and although I know things were constantly said and were often like kicks in the gut I would wipe them and have infact remembered incidences but i do not remember the conversations or abuse.
The worst thing is that when I was tired and we did have the once a month massive screaming crying match (he didnt cry dont think he can on the effexor he just yelled and looked like he wanted to punch me)then I would loose it and say hateful things. And that does truly worry me because they are the things that in this mind sett he holds onto and these have assisted in his leaving us.
The hardest thing as a partner is to understand what is truley going on in the other persons mind. With my husband it seems to be a constant shifting of the goal posts. One minute he feels one way about an issue then that feeling changes when the topic is mentioned again and so on. Or what is often an irrational perception of a situation or even a conversational sentance. Even my interactions with other people, he says he wanted me to socialise but made me feel like he wanted me isolated I think this is the hardest. Especially since I am happy to be isolated with only him and the kids but he would argue for me not to be.
We had one of the best relationships I have ever seen prior to this drug. Sure we argued and had differences of opinion but we all loved one another completely and we enjoyed ourlives together and ourselves. At the moment my husband believes that our relationship was crap and that you cant live like that. He doesn't fully realise what the drug has done nore will he believe that even when our house was at our lowest and his deamons were circling we were not living how many other families are day to day our house still had love even if he couldnt feel it or give it.
The kids really dont understand why he cant come home. My 6 year old said yesterday 'I didn't have dad for very long did I mum' I had to say no and hug him and cry. I told him dad loves him even though he is not here but I cant make any promises that he will come home. When he first left he told the kids that it was not their fault that we fought all the time and that he didnt love me anymore so we couldnt live together. But what do you say to kids that think that we hardly ever argued(once a month didnt impact on them)?
It is like all small things are made huge and the huge things he focusses on or throws away, like us.
I wouldnt care if we moved away from everything and everyone, and he came home never work again. I am happy to be the bread winner. If he would just quit that job(that is the cornerstone of his existance), quit the drug, relax and be a mr mum. Yes we would argue occassionally and we would never be rich or have everything but he wouldn't have any pressure and we would all have the most important things love and a life.
I just hope that he can get through this and live life on the other side of the darkness.

Hi Tara

I've just been reading your post and can sense the desparation you're obviously feeling - there truly is light at the end of the tunnel, don't loose the bit of hope you've so obviously got!

I completely agree with what Anney said to you - you need to communicate all these thoughts and feelings to your husband in a 'sane' manner (fighting won't achieve anything as you know) - the letter would be a really good way of doing it but to ensure that your partner can hear the emotion and not read something into your words that isn't there maybe a tape recording!!

I'd like to say one other thing to you - not the Zoloft! I certainly don't want to tell anybody NOT to take anti-d's if its absolutely essential, but please do your research first. When I was first prescribed anti-d's, Zoloft was my first port of call .. within 3 days of having taken them, I suffered my first ever ever ever anxiety attach - i rang the doctor immediately in a complete state who instructed me to stop taking them straight away and come and see him in a few days - then he prescribed E .. its a bit of a vicious circle really.

I don't know if you read my original post but if you do, you'll notice I swear by the professional expertise and advise that I received through a pyschologist and maybe this would be the ideal step for you to take next.

I went through my Employee Assistance Program at work and got in touch with a pysch that specialised in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and she was amazing ... I was very sceptical and put off going to a pysch for many many years (I attempted my first OD at 19, I'm 31 now and she was the first time i'd spoken to anyone). I went with the thought that i'd have to retrace my life, pour my heart out and pretty much have to relive it all ... how wrong I was! She simply taught me how to change the negative thought patterns to become a positive influence in my life...the brain is such a powerful tool and I guess like driving a car if we don't know how to drive it properly it can be very very destructive.

Please...look after yourself and speak to someone who is professionally trained to deal with exactly this.

I wish you all the very best and keep posting so we can continue to track where you're at!

x

This is my 4 day withou any E and it has been so hard. I go from being fine to being very sick. I need it to be gone. I started a detox program yesterday. Hoping it will take the bad out.

Ok, I don't mean and hope not to start any controversy but... I tried getting off effexor 2 times in the past and it was he;; and unsuccesful. I live in the Los Angeles area and in California it is legal to smoke, eat, grow Medical Cannibis aka Marijuana aka weed etc.. I had never been a 'stoner' so to speak so this isnt about that. I read a few posts on the newsgroups of people successfully getting off effexor with Medical Marijuana. So I asked my doctor, he had no problem with it but he didnt have a category 1 license or something, but I foumd a Doc who did and prescribed it for me. To make this long story short Between Medical Marijuana and a medication prescribed called 'SERAX' it was pretty much a smooth sail away from effexor...

I hope this may help someone, or maybe a doctor will read this and pass the info on..

Thanks.

Hi! I'm new here and am so happy to find that I'm not alone in this war against Effexor XR. I really hate to put the medication down because it literally saved my life but I have to agree that the withdrawl symptoms are HORRIBLE! I've been on the medication for 3 years and never went higher than 150mg and was on 37.5 for about 1 1/2 years. I suffered from severe post partum depression at the age of 31 after the birth of my daughter and only child. Prior to the birth of my daughter I had never been on any medication so that is why I feel I'm ready to try to live life again without it.
I hope my experience with the medication will help someone else suffering from the terrible withdrawl affects to feel that they are not alone.
I was advised by my doctor to just stop the 37.5 after I had weaned down from 150mg. After doing so , I suffered extreme dizzy spells even with my eyes closed. Just moving my eyes back and forth caused this sensation. I also felt sick to my stomach and had terrible headaches and sinus pressure. I also found that I had no patience with anyone and would lash out and scream at whomever was in my way. I'm usually a very passive person. Once I started the 37.5 again, I was symptom free.
To get to where I am today took some time but has offered much more relief than just stopping cold turkey. I began opening the capsules and would throw out 20 beads at a time for about 5 days. I then started throwing out 10 at a time until I was down to about 30 beads and then began counting out 5 at a time until I was down to 10 beads and then I stopped all together.
The headaches are not so severe but I've had some stomach discomfort. The withdrawl symptoms are MUCH less debilitating and are MUCH more tolerable. It was a pain in the a-- to count out the beads every night but is the only way I could stop taking this medicine.
Mentally, I feel some of my old anxious thoughts resurfacing and have been feeling a little panicky. Some days I feel like taking it again but keep telling myself that I have made it this far and to not turn back.

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