Saved My Life, But Difficult to Quit
Venlafaxine (Effexor)
Citation: Happy Mondays. "Saved My Life, But Difficult to Quit: An Experience with Venlafaxine (Effexor) (exp40457)". Erowid.org. May 20, 2008. erowid.org/exp/40457
DOSE: |
Pharms - Venlafaxine | (daily) |
BODY WEIGHT: | 200 lb |
Then, after 4 1/2 years of taking Effexor almost daily I lost my job. I quickly found out I could no longer afford the medicine without health insurance, so I involuntarily quit taking it by staggering my doses until I was completely out of the stuff. The withdrawl symptoms are horrible. I had experienced a hint of these symptoms a few times when my meds had run out and I had no refill, but this was the first time I didn't have an opportunity to get a prescription at all. The only thing I can liken it to is taking massive doses of depakote when you don't need it in the first place. Anyway, here are the withdrawl symptom I experienced:
*Crying for no reason - deep deep sadness
*Debilitating dizziness - I could not leave the house for 5 days. I couldn't walk for 2 days and had to crawl around the house when I had the energy to get out of bed or off the floor
*Panic attacks
*Terrible stomach aches
*Drenching night sweats
After about a week I came around and I found to my astonishment that the depression the Effexor was prescribed for was virtually gone. I could still sense a low-grade level of depression (which is still there all the time), but not nearly as bad as before I took Effexor or during the withdrawl symtoms. It is now almost 2 years later and I can honestly say that this is the scariest drug I have ever encountered because of the real addiction it causes. Sadly, my memory of the those years isn't the best either and I believe the drug has something to with that, although this is just conjecture. Having said all that, it did help my depression and may be the reason I'm no longer clinically depressed.
Exp Year: 2003 | ExpID: 40457 |
Gender: Male | |
Age at time of experience: Not Given | |
Published: May 20, 2008 | Views: 15,975 |
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Pharms - Venlafaxine (191) : Health Problems (27), Addiction & Habituation (10), Health Benefits (32), Depression (15), Hangover / Days After (46), Retrospective / Summary (11), Not Applicable (38) |
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