[CeLaVie]

I was on Effexor for 8 years. Too long....I never took more than 75mg than 4 months ago I asked my doctor to lower the dosage to 37.5mg. I decided to stop because I began to have some other heath issues, pain in my thighs when I would get up from sitting position. I was curious to see if it was Effexor side-effect doing that, since no other test they did on me, showed why I had those issues. Nor anyone know of such side effects. It turned out I was right about that. As for now the pain in my thighs is almost gone!!

I never considered myself as depressed person and when I asked my doctor for The Effexor I was much more stressed out and panicky than depressed. I was going through some life crises and I needed something to calm me down. Probably the Effexor was the wrong choice. Nevertheless, that is what I took and took it without a second thought until now. As I said I went from 75mg to half the dosage and than 2 months ago I went cold turkey. Oh my God.....I had no idea what I was getting myself into, or what I got myself into 8 years ago!! First 10 days I was dealing with physical withdrawal effects. They were plain scary! That terrible zapping in my head (like Star Wars movie), very serious nausea, dizzynes , insomnia and lost appetite. I thought that was bad until HUGE depression took over me. I feel, (and this is 2 months after quitting the pills), like every bad decision I ever made in my life comes to haunt me now. I feel TERRIBLE and no matter what I try to do or say to myself it just wont go away. I am haunted by the guilt of the things that happened almost 30 years ago. I have no self esteem and I am beginning to think that I deserve to feel this way for all the wrongs I have done. Right now I can not see my doctor (she is ill and might be back to work only next month) but I know I need help and badly. If I have to take some other pills I will, even though I'd rather not, but I can not go on feeling like this. I am afraid the longer I wait the worst it will get and it surely looks that way.

Maybe someone out there went through the similar faze and have an idea on what to do....It would be so good to know that I am not alone. I am 62 years old woman, I live alone and otherwise in pretty good health. Thank you for reading my story.

My opinion (and it's only that) is that a medication that affects serotonin would help your withdrawal symptoms. Doctors often use Prozac to help ease people through withdrawal from Effexor. You take the Prozac until you feel stable then you taper off it.

Another option would be to go back on the Effexor (maybe the 37.5 mg if that will calm down your side effects) and then withdraw from that slowly.

Or...you could switch to 30 mg Cymbalta/duloxetine. It's in the same family as Effexor (SNRI) and it is also prescribed for chronic pain like fibromyalgia and certain types of nerve pain. I would vote for this choice.

I have taken both Effexor and Cymbalta and greatly prefer the Cymbalta. When I went through lowering my Cymbalta dose last year, I used Vistaril/hydroxyine to help the anxiety that I experienced. I took 5 months to cut my dose in half. It wasn't too bad - just very slow.

I know that your intention was to stop an antidepressant altogether, but it sounds like your mood has gone to a very dark place. If you don't take any psych medication, your brain will likely repair itself, but it can take several months or even a year or two for this to happen. (I went through this once myself after withdrawal from another med, and it was a full year before I really felt like myself again.)

Does your doctor have someone else substituting for her while she's away?

I hope what I've written has provided some ideas about possibilities that could help.

It sounds like you've already gone through severe withdrawals. I'm sorry to hear that you had to endure that. It's frightening and unpleasant.

If you need talk support, this forum is very good for that.

[vital]

Originally Posted by CeLaVie

I was on Effexor for 8 years. Too long....I never took more than 75mg than 4 months ago I asked my doctor to lower the dosage to 37.5mg. I decided to stop because I began to have some other heath issues, pain in my thighs when I would get up from sitting position. I was curious to see if it was Effexor side-effect doing that, since no other test they did on me, showed why I had those issues. Nor anyone know of such side effects. It turned out I was right about that. As for now the pain in my thighs is almost gone!!

I never considered myself as depressed person and when I asked my doctor for The Effexor I was much more stressed out and panicky than depressed. I was going through some life crises and I needed something to calm me down. Probably the Effexor was the wrong choice. Nevertheless, that is what I took and took it without a second thought until now. As I said I went from 75mg to half the dosage and than 2 months ago I went cold turkey. Oh my God.....I had no idea what I was getting myself into, or what I got myself into 8 years ago!! First 10 days I was dealing with physical withdrawal effects. They were plain scary! That terrible zapping in my head (like Star Wars movie), very serious nausea, dizzynes , insomnia and lost appetite. I thought that was bad until HUGE depression took over me. I feel, (and this is 2 months after quitting the pills), like every bad decision I ever made in my life comes to haunt me now. I feel TERRIBLE and no matter what I try to do or say to myself it just wont go away. I am haunted by the guilt of the things that happened almost 30 years ago. I have no self esteem and I am beginning to think that I deserve to feel this way for all the wrongs I have done. Right now I can not see my doctor (she is ill and might be back to work only next month) but I know I need help and badly. If I have to take some other pills I will, even though I'd rather not, but I can not go on feeling like this. I am afraid the longer I wait the worst it will get and it surely looks that way.

Maybe someone out there went through the similar faze and have an idea on what to do....It would be so good to know that I am not alone. I am 62 years old woman, I live alone and otherwise in pretty good health. Thank you for reading my story.

Hi CeLaVie,

I'd suggest calling your Dr.'s office and ask about seeing whoever is covering for your usual doc while she is ill. There probably is someone who is covering for her since these things do happen.

Here's a withdrawal resource that I know about where you might find some useful information:

Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal - Mad In America

- vital

[CeLaVie]

Thank you jo_thorne for the ideas and your kindness. Right now I do not see the end of this mess in my head but I will keep in mind what you said and go see my doctor as soon as I can. And yes I do NEED all the support I can get. Again thank you!

[CeLaVie]

Thank you -vital ....I will ask for help on Monday because this is not the way to live.

[Melinae]

You tapered and quit too fast. It needs to be done incrementally. Take a look here: Psychiatric drug withdrawal and protracted withdrawal syndrome round-up ? Beyond Meds

[francisR]

CeLaVie

I do know about being on the medication too long. I was on one for over 20 years and a doctor said that it had lost its effect long ago. It could well be that the pain you experienced was a side effect. That is if it could not be related to rheumatism of any kind.

It could be that the efexor was not the right meds for you at all. For stress sometimes a tranquilizer like Xanax would function much better, especially when keeping it For really stressful situations only so that then you get the maximum benefit which you wouldn't if you took it all of the time. Going cold turkey can horrendous as it was for you. I did it one time and had exactly the same experience. The last time I went off meds. I did it by gradual withdrawal.
I am sorry you are suffering so much with the depression. For that you do need a really good antidepressant which the doctor or psychiatrist would prescribe. As well as that you need good therapy. CBT or acceptance and commitment therapy, which I use and you can Google, all of that would be quite effective. Also, the Internet. If you Google it will give you quite good information on managing depression and feelings of guilt.
With regard to decisions you now consider bad it is important that you realize you've made the best decisions you could at the time. And you have to let that go. And realize that it is the past and the present and the future could be so much better, especially when depression is under control and the quality of life has improved.

With regard to self-esteem and self-worth. It is important to realize that just like anyone else. You are good at most things and perhaps not so good at a few which is the same for any other inhabitant of this planet. So of course you are worthy! And realize also that you have kept Going despite all of these really difficult things which takes great courage, perseverance and true grit and you should feel good about that!

About anything wrong, we have done. If you are a believer you can ask God for forgiveness and then for the strength to forgive yourself. Also.

It is unfortunate that your doctor will not be back to work for a while, so perhaps seeing another one to get immediate help would be best. And I am sure your doctor will understand as she would not want you to suffer. I am 72. Take care. I really hope and pray that everything will get much better for you soon. God bless and best wishes from your friend Francis

[CeLaVie]

Thank you francisR, you can not imagine how good it feels to read your post. It is grate to know there are people out there that are kind and willing to take a few minutes of their time to encourage a perfect stranger. I hear you francisR and it makes a lot of sense what you say. Something has to be done because living like this is not living.

[CeLaVie]

Thank you for the link, I'll check it out.

[francisR]

Hi CeLaVie

Yes, that is exactly how I felt use ago when I first started to seriously deal with depression. I simply could not go on living that way. This made me so fed up with depression that I decided to fight it with everything I had even if it killed me in the process.
With that sort of determination and perseverance. It is the driver you need to get the proper medication through trial and error, if necessary. Then you need the therapy. A CBT therapist or an acceptance and commitment therapy therapist would do the job for you and you can get one by googling them for your area.
The thing is that many people before us were very bad with depression and decided to put everything into getting it under control with perseverance and determination and so considerably improved their quality of life, which is something you can do also. I really do hope and pray that you manage to get a firm grip on depression. And a really great quality of life. Take care. Thanks for your very kind words. I hope and pray you have a really great day. God bless and best wishes from your friend Francis

[oliviaolivia]

I have been using Effexor for 15 years - 225 mg a day - I know that within 5-6 hours of a missed dose I get the 'brain zaps' or 'sprinkler' as I call it - horrible nausea and head ache - and the only thing that helps is to take the missed dose and sleep - that seems to reset me - I cannot imagine the awfulness of having to go through that for an extended period of time.. absolutely terrible!