Posted by Bob on December 11, 2001, at 13:57:26
In reply to verrrry interrrresting...., posted by cmcdougall on December 11, 2001, at 10:01:07
Carly:
I experienced Effexor withdrawal in '95... when nobody realized how nasty it was. I too had been on it for about 18 months. I had previously experienced a nasty withdrawal from Anafranil, so I knew what was going on. However, I never could have guessed how protractive and severe it would be. I literally took months (3-6?) to get completely off the med, and at the end I was practically taking little tiny wisps of the stuff. I stop trying to convince the doctors.
Recently, I went to Hopkins for a consultation about my problems, and I mentioned what I had to do to get off Effexor. They said they knew that there was withdrawal, but thought that "months" was unnecessarily long. The fact is, you can never know unless you've been through it.
The doctors still don't understand the physical toll of the meds, and I think it will be a long time coming. Think about it: if you went to med school and they "taught" you everything about how these meds make you feel (both therapeutically and side-effects), would you understand? I've taken them, and sometimes I'm at a loss for words. How will they ever understand?
On the other hand, we have to work with the tools available to us.
poster:Bob
thread:86535
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011202/msgs/86572.html