Posted by Mireille on July 24, 2002, at 13:12:04
Hi, everyone...
Been a while since I posted. I'm in the process of gradually going off Effexor, thanks much in part to the testimonies of people that I've read on this site. I do not want any drug in my body that has not been tested long enough but that is put out on the market in a (typically American) attempt to sell, sell, sell the drug, never mind what its effects are...
Anyway, that said, I will say that Effexor helped me well enough while i was on it. As per the discussions on withdrawal on this site, the withdrawal symptoms are awful, and for me even when quitting under a physician's care and doing it properly. My physician, as well as many others I've had, does not know a lot about this drug nor its long-term effects. This scares me, but I realize that doctors do not have the time to study every drug carefully, or to know the details of everything they perscribe (should they? That's another debate...)and therefore I'm going to try and talk with a psychiatrist, hopefully with better luck. This site has been enormously informative - thank you all so much - and it should definitely serve as a testimony to the fact that no one knows enough about this drug, not really, not enough for all of us to be as dependent as we are on it (the similarities to heroin withdrawal seem to me to be very accurate, which is very, very scary). Although I wouldn't judge anyone who chose to stay on it - the alternative can be much worse, as we all know.
While withdrawing, as many of you may know, your mind goes through horrible cycles of deep depression, and at these times I said to my husband that I did not doubt that the drug companies put things in these drugs similar to what the tobacco companies put in cigarettes - something to make us all hyper-addicted to the drug - abnormally so! - and make it difficult if not impossible to live without. Ok, that was probably some withdrawal paranoia talking, but...I went off Effexor once before for three months, but to no avail. My symptoms and depression were severe even after the drug had left my system, to a degree that I'd never experienced, even at my lowest points before taking any meds. I had to go back on them to be able to function. Sure, maybe it's just me and my own messed up chemical system, but I am skeptical of something that's on the market before enough tests have been performed - PremPro being a perfect recent example of this market-driven phenomenon! (However I just realized in re-registering on the site that it is a research site - research is a good thing - but wouldn't that make us guinea pigs??)
Anyway, that's my 2 cents. On the more practical side - does anyone have any remedies for the withdrawal symptoms? I have sleepiness/grogginess during the day, restlessnes at night, nausea that comes and goes, paranoia, irritability and anxiety in waves...I've read something about Benadryl on here, I think? Someone suggested I try Vitamin B or Kava kava - anyone know? My doctor just told me to grin and bear it but I'm trying to finish out the last three weeks I have on my job and it's rather tough when you want to bite everyone's head off if they look at you the wrong way! :)
Any help on that end would be greatly appreciated. And thank you all for keeping this site up. It's so nice to know we are not alone!
Mireille __________________________________________________
poster:Mireille
thread:113537
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020718/msgs/113537.html