Posted by Jiggitykid on January 24, 2005, at 7:36:09
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawl - I did it, so can you » medhed, posted by David55 on January 23, 2005, at 22:28:23
Yes, "stuff," does return to normal :-). My husband is very happy that I quit taking effexor. I stopped cold-turkey about a year ago because I knew that weaning would not work for me. I don't have the patience and I also would have been more likely to, "just take a little more," so that I would feel better. The nightmare of withdrawal was so bad, I couldn't imagine extending it. A year ago, there weren't as many experiences shared here as there have been now, so the tips were not as numerous. I'm so grateful for this board so that others who are experiencing this hell have somewhere to go to get support and to find out how to deal with it from folks who have, truly, been there, done that.
The irritability, unless it is a legit part of your personality ;-), will go away. It took several months for my emotions to settle down. The effexor has an insidious grasp on your body and brain, and it takes a long while for your system to get back to normal. I'm frankly glad I didn't know how long the recovery would take; that forced me to take it day-to-day and not put a time limit or time expectation on it. I suppose that's just the way I am. I suggest that, even though there are general time frames posted, everyone coming off of this stuff remembers that each person is an individual and recovery times are personal.
> Martin - your withdrawal symptoms are very similar to the ones I experienced. I was especially interested to hear of your loss of libido and its return after stopping Effexor. I completely lost my libido and anything resembling a normal orgasm several years ago while on Effexor. I even weaned myself from Effexor a year or two ago to see if it would return. When it didn't, I blamed the lack of libido on a lower back problem I also have (L5-S1 spondylolisthesis) and went back on Effexor. This time I went cold-turkey off Effexor because I was fed up with feeling tired all the time and being in a bit of a fog mentally. I've been off Effexor for 31 days now and am generally delighted with the turn-around in my life. The icing on the cake is that my libido seems to be making a gradual comeback. I'm very hopeful at this point. I'm guessing that I didn't give my body enough time the first time I stopped taking Effexor. The side-effects of this drug are really insidious. I'm just glad I'm off.
>
> Don't worry about not being able to kick it cold-turkey. There's no shame in that. It's better to stay safe and sane and get off Effexor more slowly than to hurt yourself or others in the process.
>
> The one lingering withdrawal effect I have is that I'm still awfully irritable and impatient. Otherwise, life is good.
>
> Best wishes to you and everyone else trying to deal with their Effexor "addiction".
poster:Jiggitykid
thread:12459
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050124/msgs/446668.html