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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by tracyunverzagt on July 4, 2006, at 23:51:42
I am four days effexor free. I weaned myself off, and am in pure hell.
Can ANYONE tell me how long this might last?
I can't think, I can't feel, my eyes are making noise when they move, I have diarhea, cramps, physical pain everywhere. I can't sleep, but I am so completely exhausted. I alternate between sobbing,laughing, screaming,fearing....I lose my train of thought, have muddled brains, my body jerks and spasms. My normally spotless house resembles a war torn zone, my family hasn't had a decently prepared meal... I don't want to leave my house, am completely dizzy and disoriented. I crave sugar and salt, am afraid of everything, suspicious of everyone, move like a turtle on acid, amd feel like I died and got ran over by a train two or three times for good measure.
Please, someone tell me this will not kill me, and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel..my husband is preparing the noose as I write..
Posted by heaven help me on July 5, 2006, at 11:11:20
In reply to I am in withdrawal HELL from Effexor...HELP, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 4, 2006, at 23:51:42
Hi,
I have never weaned off Effexor but I have weaned off over 12 drugs in the last 3 years. And MANY of them felt just as you described. I AM SO SORRY. It IS hell. I think it is likely to pass and not likely to kill you. Hang on. With some of my weans and mild benzo like Lorazepam helped take the edge of for me. Also, and I know it is different for everyone, my faith that God is in control helped. I would just try to focus on the truth that He is sovereign. Not alwyas easy.
I will be praying that you get through this fast!
blessings
mary
Posted by tracyunverzagt on July 5, 2006, at 18:06:27
In reply to Re: I am in withdrawal HELL from Effexor...HELP, posted by heaven help me on July 5, 2006, at 11:11:20
I am praying, yeah, otherwise I would be dead..
I just had no idea this would all be so terrible, I cannot believe from a drug that helps so much, you get this..
If I had known how it would be going off, I never would have started...
Posted by elsie_girl on July 5, 2006, at 21:18:31
In reply to Re: I am in withdrawal HELL from Effexor...HELP, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 5, 2006, at 18:06:27
You need to get yourself to your doctor and get some help with withdrawal. I have been through this myself the last month and know where you are at. You probably need to withdraw slowly - Efexor is one of the worse drugs to get off. You need to taper off and many I have heard use other drugs in conjunction with this to help them. Don't do this alone or you will go crazy. I urge you to seek medical advice immediately to get the help you need. Will pray for you and hope to hear back from you - good luck.
Elsie_girl :)
> I am praying, yeah, otherwise I would be dead..
> I just had no idea this would all be so terrible, I cannot believe from a drug that helps so much, you get this..
> If I had known how it would be going off, I never would have started...
Posted by Phillipa on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:28
In reply to Withdrawl HELL from Effexor, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 4, 2006, at 21:57:24
Post this on the withdrawal board. Love Phillipa
Posted by lymom3 on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:28
In reply to Withdrawl HELL from Effexor, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 4, 2006, at 21:57:24
I can so completely relate to what you are going through. Effexor was far and away the worst drug to come off of ever. I had many of the same things that you are going through. For me, it lasted about 2 weeks and I was ok again. I know that everyone is different but that'w what it took for me. Good luck to you and just keep in your mind that it's only temporary. Be good to yourself as much as you can.
Posted by willyee on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:28
In reply to Withdrawl HELL from Effexor, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 4, 2006, at 21:57:24
> I am four days effexor free. I weaned myself off, and am in pure hell.
> Can ANYONE tell me how long this might last?
> I can't think, I can't feel, my eyes are making noise when they move, I have diarhea, cramps, physical pain everywhere. I can't sleep, but I am so completely exhausted. I alternate between sobbing,laughing, screaming,fearing....I lose my train of thought, have muddled brains, my body jerks and spasms. My normally spotless house resembles a war torn zone, my family hasn't had a decently prepared meal... I don't want to leave my house, am completely dizzy and disoriented. I crave sugar and salt, am afraid of everything, suspicious of everyone, move like a turtle on acid, amd feel like I died and got ran over by a train two or three times for good measure.
> Please, someone tell me this will not kill me, and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel..my husband is preparing the noose as I write..
Effexor was the first drug i was ever on,including recreational,of course at that time,age 19,now 27.....i did not believe i was on a drug rather safe medicine.Anyway after feeling like a sock found under a bed years later,i finaly choose to get off effexor,after numerous numerous pleas in the form of phone messages to my p-doc he finaly answered and simply said.........ok stop it.
Back then ssris were deemed totaly safe with no withdrawal syndromes,including effexor which isnt exactly a ssri.
ANyway the following weeks were a true living night mare,i remeber a few things,one pacing a friends room in a circle not knowing why,luckly she was a great girl,and lol paced with me,prob should have appreciated her more now in hindsight.Second i remeber just grabbing a stack of magazines and ripping the pages out,as i did not no how to release this unexplainable energy.Extreme agitation.
I remeber feeling my mind turn to a blank grey page as i sat with a friend in a car one day as she took me to a water front to try and help,i saw no beach,no night sky,just blank.
I remeber going to a deserted school track and running on a saturday morning.
And i remeber finaly a day i came home,no one was home and i just felt nothing,i wont comment on the exact actions i almost took but im sure u get the idea,this is not something i ever think of,im just not that person,but again i wasnt me i was a grey deadenad version.....i remeber what stopped me was my beautiful BOXER sitting there staring at me,my dog for 11 years then i felt a shiver of me,and i dropped and balled all over her,poor dog looked at me like i was insance which i was at the time,she was soaked with my tears.
The story has a happy ending,it did subside obviously,although i have my suscpinsions on long term effects this one drug had of all the many i took,but the nightmare of direct withdrawal did subside,and a even higher plus is it do so with me not having the faintest clue about any drugs,..W/D resources etc,things u have at ur disposal as we speak.
So hopefully this is some glimmer,i remeber it took me approx 3 weeks to feel my self again,or what would be myself.Again this is cold turkey,no support of experianced people,no idea of what was even happening,so hopefully urs can be faster.
Minor things i remeberd doiing that i can just pass along were........
Found something i can focus my mind on,that would in a way force it,which was a video game.......sound silly yess.but i dont normaly play video games,but getting deep into one gave my brain somewhat of a focus other than the agony.
Tell close people of course,let them know constantly that this is gonna pass but ur going through a period,and ask for there support so some responsabilites might be lifted temporarly.
Sometimes dont fight it,go in a room by urself and ride it out,if u feel like pacing,put on music and do it,clean if u feel u need a day in bed,do so,and try in small increments to get up,but dont push,its not will power here,ur up aganist more than u can over will.Remeber u know at least one person who rode it out,a 19 year old totaly clueless kid,with many tears and fear i rode it,and it DID subside,i only wish i had klonopin then which i had not,i wasnt introduced to benzos at this point in the game.
Well remebering what it was,i wish u luck,and someone on here might smirck now.....but i will put u in my prayers.
Posted by bassman on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:28
In reply to Withdrawl HELL from Effexor, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 4, 2006, at 21:57:24
You might get more help on the Withdrawal Board, since I've noticed a lot of people are having the same problem-withdrawing from Effexor. Best of luck-sounds like the withdrawal was very abrupt-but seek opinions of those who have "been there".
Posted by Emme on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:28
In reply to Withdrawl HELL from Effexor, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 4, 2006, at 21:57:24
Was your taper gradual enough? What was your lowest dose before stopping? You may need to go back on a low dose and continue to taper with increasingly tiny fragments of a tablet. Some doctors use prozac temporarily to help with discontinuation symptoms.
Posted by tracyunverzagt on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:29
In reply to Re: Withdrawl HELL from Effexor » tracyunverzagt, posted by Emme on July 5, 2006, at 9:27:23
> Was your taper gradual enough? What was your lowest dose before stopping? You may need to go back on a low dose and continue to taper with increasingly tiny fragments of a tablet. Some doctors use prozac temporarily to help with discontinuation symptoms.
Yeah, I think i tapered right. I had originally been taking 350mg, and over three months, I would go down by 75 mg. at a time, and when I got to 75, I stayed on that for 3 weeks, went to half of that for two weeks, and then half of a half for a week, then stopped, I was at like 17 mgs.
I am afraid to take something to help with the symptoms, because I don't want to trade one for the other. I have been on antidepressants since I was 20 and am now 42, you name it, I tried it. The effexor worked for the three years, but I was feeling like a zombie, no ambition, no energy, NO sex drive, which hurt my husband. Now I am wondering if it's worth trying to go off of...I never ever had effects like this from anything else. What a failure it makes me.
Posted by Emme on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:29
In reply to Re: Withdrawl HELL from Effexor, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 5, 2006, at 13:03:30
> Yeah, I think i tapered right. I had originally been taking 350mg, and over three months, I would go down by 75 mg. at a time, and when I got to 75, I stayed on that for 3 weeks, went to half of that for two weeks, and then half of a half for a week, then stopped, I was at like 17 mgs.
It sounds like a good taper, but it might not be slow enough for your body. Try a smaller amount. Nibble at a little piece. I was taking mere crumbs when tapering off. Also, if you used Prozac to help you get off, you wouldn't have a negative trade-off. It would be temporary and prozac's long half life means it tends not to produce discontinuation symptoms.
> Now I am wondering if it's worth trying to go off of.
I think there's room for you to modify your taper strategy before you give up on going off of it.
> What a failure it makes me.
It doesn't make you a failure. It makes you someone who is having a hard time stopping Effexor, which is not uncommon. Good luck.
emme
Posted by tracyunverzagt on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:29
In reply to Re: Withdrawl HELL from Effexor » tracyunverzagt, posted by Emme on July 5, 2006, at 13:24:23
You can't begin to know how great you are to write me about this, I so appreciate it..
THe only thing is that i am more than 5 days free now, and i am scared to death that if I even take a "nibble" and see that I feel better, that I will go back, and right now I have started to scale the mountain of withdrawal, and don't want to fail..Man, if I had known what it would be like going off, I would have NEVER started it. When I first found this site three years ago, I was already taking my doseage, and asked my doctor about the withdrawal problems. He told me that it wasn't a concern, because he said I should expect to be on it my whole life.
I am on thyroid meds, blood pressure meds, so many pills, and I am so tired of it.
I am going to do gastric bypass in a few months, and want to be free of drugs by then.
I just all of the sudden don't see the end in sight, or the light at the end of the tunnel, all I see is dark, and I want to just slide into it and sleep forever...anyone else feel that way???
Posted by bassman on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:29
In reply to Re: Withdrawl HELL from Effexor, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 5, 2006, at 15:08:56
Probably most of the people that post on this site...
Posted by tracyunverzagt on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:29
In reply to Calling the Redirection Police, posted by bassman on July 5, 2006, at 9:26:19
> You might get more help on the Withdrawal Board, since I've noticed a lot of people are having the same problem-withdrawing from Effexor. Best of luck-sounds like the withdrawal was very abrupt-but seek opinions of those who have "been there".
Hi, I did put this on the withdrawal board,but no one has responded.....I NEED HELP!!!
Posted by bassman on July 5, 2006, at 22:39:29
In reply to Re: Calling the Redirection Police, posted by tracyunverzagt on July 5, 2006, at 18:07:58
Oooooh...I know that feeling. I hope you got some help here. You certainly convinced me tha I'll never take Effexor!
Posted by heaven help me on July 8, 2006, at 11:18:38
In reply to Re: Calling the Redirection Police, posted by bassman on July 5, 2006, at 18:16:24
Tracy, It's the 7th. Any better yet?
blessings
mary
PS: I think ANYONE who weans off a med is BRAVE!
Posted by heaven help me on July 8, 2006, at 11:20:28
In reply to Re: Withdrawl HELL from Effexor » tracyunverzagt, posted by Emme on July 5, 2006, at 9:27:23
Tracy, It's the 7th. Any better yet? I posted above but under redirect. Oops.
blessings
mary
PS: like I said, ANYONE who goes through ANY withdrawl is BRAVE!!!!!
Posted by buzzy on July 22, 2006, at 0:38:29
In reply to Re: Withdrawl HELL from Effexor » Emme, posted by heaven help me on July 8, 2006, at 11:20:28
THANK GOD ALLAH BUDDA ZUESS THE GREAT SPIRIT AND THE nORDIC BIG GUY WHOSE NAME I CANT THINK OF CAUSE MY MIND IS MUSH, for this site. Am going through withdrawls from XR and thought I was going nuts.The body shocks/buzzys/rushes from my heels up my legs, up my spine over the top of my brain and out my ears, with a side order of Vertigo had me thinkin' I had some neurologic disorder left over from the XR. Nice of my G.P. and my psychai to inform me of this hell before I took this sh#$%@@$$^&%^t. All your withdrawl hells are making me feel much better THANK YOU ALL SINCERELY Buzzy
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