Day 55 Thanks for your letters...
Yes, withdrawal is HELL...And, it was enough to make ME want to start taking EFFEXOR again too. But I stood my ground and I threw out all my pills one day so there was no way I would surrender to them. It's as if we are their slaves isn't it?
My hope is that everyone can get to that point of never going back ...You will certainly thank yourself for it many times!
I have not updated my journal recently but I tried to keep up with all the letters I have received. I am falling behind once again though, so thought I would do this update for those who have written: (and you should see how many people write to me each day and ask this same question...."HOW MUCH LONGER DOES THIS GO ON??")
As for how long it lasts and how I am doing?... Well, I still have an occasional zap or two, but the really rough stuff is over and those awful dreams have settled down so now they only happen about once every week or 10 days...I would say that overall I am pretty much back to "normal" .
I do still cry, for no real reason at times, but even those little jags have started to subside and are less frequent than they were a few weeks ago.
I am hearing from some former users who say they are better after only a few days or weeks off EFFEXOR, while others tend to take up to 6 months to really feel whole again. Everyone's body is different so everyone will have their own timeline I suppose. I am still concerned about the LONG TERM EFFECTS OF THIS AND ALL THE OTHER AD DRUGS and am still working on my book. Any insight any of you wish to provide will be very beneficial to the project. Please drop me a line.
My excuse for not keeping up is that I have been pre-occupied with our upcoming move (this weekend), and am also suffering from a re-occurring sciatic nerve problem I have had for over 4 years.
The original nerve damage came about when I was walking along beside a young teen (who had been hit by a car so was a paraplegic), confined to a wheelchair. His wheelchair was one of those top of the line jobs, brand new with all the attachments. His left wheel left the sidewalk as we were walking along and caught itself in that little space between the sidewalk and the lawn. As he began to tip over sideways, I grabbed for the chair out of instinct. What I didn't know when I grabbed onto that chair was that it weighed over 500 lbs., (that still seems amazing to me).
At the point of my pulling on the chair though, I heard ripping and popping in my lower back, neck, shoulder and right arm. I knew I had done some serious damage. Someone happened by just then and saw the dilemma we were in so stopped to help. Even the two of us had a hard time pulling on that chair, trying to upright it, but finally with the help of the driver, (he used the forward and reverse levers to rock himself loose), it spun itself free he was able to drive it forward out of the hole.
Anyway, to end all my rambling here, I have suffered off and on with both shoulder and arm problems and the back/leg problem which is so bad at times I can barely walk. I am so hesitant to take any drugs since I am worried about their SIDE EFFECTS, that I usually just suffer through the 2 weeks or so of inconvenience and then I am fine again.
This time it has been a bit different. The pain has lasted over a month, I am living on Aleve and yet, I can still barely pull myself out of bed in the mornings and can't stand for very long at all.
Even through all this, (which, by the way, is still much easier than getting off the EFFEXOR was for me), I have somehow managed to find us a new home and now I'm trying to pack for our move this weekend.
I do apologize to everyone who has written and has not received a reply from me. I am still here and I STILL CARE!! I know what each of you is going through and I am still working hard on my research and I need to have everyone of you write to me and let me know HOW the withdrawal and the side effects have effected YOUR LIVES!
Take Care and keep me posted as to how your days go...REMEMBER...YOU CAN DO THIS AND MANY HAVE!!!
All my best,
~deb~
beach-lover@verizon.net
read and sign the EFFEXOR PETITION
Yes, withdrawal is HELL...And, it was enough to make ME want to start taking EFFEXOR again too. But I stood my ground and I threw out all my pills one day so there was no way I would surrender to them. It's as if we are their slaves isn't it?
My hope is that everyone can get to that point of never going back ...You will certainly thank yourself for it many times!
I have not updated my journal recently but I tried to keep up with all the letters I have received. I am falling behind once again though, so thought I would do this update for those who have written: (and you should see how many people write to me each day and ask this same question...."HOW MUCH LONGER DOES THIS GO ON??")
As for how long it lasts and how I am doing?... Well, I still have an occasional zap or two, but the really rough stuff is over and those awful dreams have settled down so now they only happen about once every week or 10 days...I would say that overall I am pretty much back to "normal" .
I do still cry, for no real reason at times, but even those little jags have started to subside and are less frequent than they were a few weeks ago.
I am hearing from some former users who say they are better after only a few days or weeks off EFFEXOR, while others tend to take up to 6 months to really feel whole again. Everyone's body is different so everyone will have their own timeline I suppose. I am still concerned about the LONG TERM EFFECTS OF THIS AND ALL THE OTHER AD DRUGS and am still working on my book. Any insight any of you wish to provide will be very beneficial to the project. Please drop me a line.
My excuse for not keeping up is that I have been pre-occupied with our upcoming move (this weekend), and am also suffering from a re-occurring sciatic nerve problem I have had for over 4 years.
The original nerve damage came about when I was walking along beside a young teen (who had been hit by a car so was a paraplegic), confined to a wheelchair. His wheelchair was one of those top of the line jobs, brand new with all the attachments. His left wheel left the sidewalk as we were walking along and caught itself in that little space between the sidewalk and the lawn. As he began to tip over sideways, I grabbed for the chair out of instinct. What I didn't know when I grabbed onto that chair was that it weighed over 500 lbs., (that still seems amazing to me).
At the point of my pulling on the chair though, I heard ripping and popping in my lower back, neck, shoulder and right arm. I knew I had done some serious damage. Someone happened by just then and saw the dilemma we were in so stopped to help. Even the two of us had a hard time pulling on that chair, trying to upright it, but finally with the help of the driver, (he used the forward and reverse levers to rock himself loose), it spun itself free he was able to drive it forward out of the hole.
Anyway, to end all my rambling here, I have suffered off and on with both shoulder and arm problems and the back/leg problem which is so bad at times I can barely walk. I am so hesitant to take any drugs since I am worried about their SIDE EFFECTS, that I usually just suffer through the 2 weeks or so of inconvenience and then I am fine again.
This time it has been a bit different. The pain has lasted over a month, I am living on Aleve and yet, I can still barely pull myself out of bed in the mornings and can't stand for very long at all.
Even through all this, (which, by the way, is still much easier than getting off the EFFEXOR was for me), I have somehow managed to find us a new home and now I'm trying to pack for our move this weekend.
I do apologize to everyone who has written and has not received a reply from me. I am still here and I STILL CARE!! I know what each of you is going through and I am still working hard on my research and I need to have everyone of you write to me and let me know HOW the withdrawal and the side effects have effected YOUR LIVES!
Take Care and keep me posted as to how your days go...REMEMBER...YOU CAN DO THIS AND MANY HAVE!!!
All my best,
~deb~
beach-lover@verizon.net
read and sign the EFFEXOR PETITION
posted by deb | 9:43 AM
4 Comments:
Wow, I really applaud you for sharing all of this with us! I just started effexor two days ago. I came across your blog while researching the drug on the internet after I started to feel side effects that my dr. hadn't told me about. I too am creating a blog that chronicles my experience taking effexor from day one. effexorgirl.blog-city.com
Good luck to you and thanks so much for sharing your story!
I want to thank everyone who is out there posting comments about this stuff. I have been on effexor for just over a year. I had gained 30 pounds and the depression from weight gain was worse than before the medication. My Dr. tried weaning me off it a few months ago & the withdrawal symptoms were the worst. I got extremely depressed so my Dr. put me back on a higher dose went from 75 to 150. Now after a weigh in last week I have gained another 5 pounds & decided to stop cold turkey & other than a headace I havent had anything. Effexor did help me not cope with the stress and anxiety I was feeling. It kind of makes you numb. Now I am trying to deal with the fast balls life throws at me without the help of medication. I think the Dr's just think they can give you a pill and that will make everything okay. Thank you for writing about your experiences & keep them coming. It helps those of us on it & off it to know we aren't the only ones feeling this way.
I will keep you in my prayers. Please pray for me ( just tell God the prayer is for a music lover in north Texas) who is going through hell getting off of this awful stuff. I will never pollute my body with this junk or anything like it again. I just hope there are no lasting effects.
Love and prayers from someone who cares.
Thank you for this blog! It made me realise that I'm not going crazy! Effexor has ruined my self-confidence, my ability to think and made my depression worse than it ever was. I'm five days off the 37.5 mg and am hoping and praying it's going to get better!! Thanks for allowing me to see that I'm not alone.
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