Psycho-Babble Withdrawal | about withdrawal from medication | Framed
This thread | Show all | Post follow-up | Start new thread | List of forums | Search | FAQ

Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? YES!

Posted by renecoston on May 1, 2006, at 5:44:21 [reposted on May 1, 2006, at 17:42:25 | original URL]

In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? YES! » LisaH817, posted by effexorsux on April 30, 2006, at 18:29:38

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Paxil withdrawel is about the same as Effexor!!! I hope you are prepared for a long withdrawel - I went through the same EXACT symptoms you did while I withdrew from Paxil, and I also now have an idea of where my GERD came from! I am only 35, have been off Paxil for less than a year now, and have had severe GERD since I weaned off Paxil! I take 40mgs of Protonix daily for it and it still doesn't go away totally. I have not been diagnosed with anything, however, as I do not have insurance at this time to have the tests done. I did have the CT scan and stuff which showed nothing..........

> I was on 300 mg of Effexor XR for two and a half years. When my doc told me I would need to be on it the rest of my life, I got upset and decided to wean myself off of it, since I didn't feel it was doing anything for me. I weaned myself off over a 3 1/2 month period before finally going cold turkey. That was June of 2005. Within 24 hours of going off Effexor completely, I experienced severe "brain freezes", chills, inability to complete a coherent sentence, and fell into a zombie-like state. I also experienced severe gastrointestinal problems and had GERD for the first time in my life (literally overnight!). I was diagnosed with acute gastritis. Once that was healed, I still experienced severe GI problems. Over a period of five months I had an upper endoscopy, colonoscopy, barium pass-through, two CT scans, several EKG's, and spent two days in the hospital for a heart assessment. I came out 100% clean from all of these tests. I was diagnosed with esophageal spasms. After having visited a Pshychopharmocologist on the recommendation of my GI doctor, I was told that what I had been experiencing (with 95% certainty) was severe withdrawal from the Effexor. I was told that the normal time to wean oneself off of Effexor is generally six months. Since I had only weaned myself for a period of 3 1/2 months, my nervous system was basically "out of whack" and causing my esophageal spasms and corresponding colon spasms. I was put on a small dosage of Paxil to get my nervous system back in order and to overcome the withdrawal symptoms of Effexor. It has been four months, and I can finally say that the symptoms are FINALLY subsiding. I have been told that I would still have the symptoms for up to another three months, and then need to stay on Paxil for up to another year of maintenance. Had I known any of this, I would never have started this horrifc medication. I don't look forward to having to wean myself off Paxil in a year, but will surely follow the strict advice of my Psychopharmocologist. Thank God I had found someone who was upfront about the serious side-effects of Effexor XR, even though he was careful to not say that this was 100% of my problem (Don't want to get the pharmaceutical industry in an uproar). I hope I can help a few sufferers who are trying to get off of this drug from hell.


Share
Tweet  

Thread

 

Post a new follow-up

Your message only Include above post


Notify the administrators

They will then review this post with the posting guidelines in mind.

To contact them about something other than this post, please use this form instead.

 

Start a new thread

 
Google
dr-bob.org www
Search options and examples
[amazon] for
in

This thread | Show all | Post follow-up | Start new thread | FAQ
Psycho-Babble Withdrawal | Framed

poster:renecoston thread:457503
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060412/msgs/638892.html