DOSE:

Pharms - Venlafaxine

BODY WEIGHT:

190 lb

In 2004 I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder and prescribed Effexor. This is a plea to anyone who is in any way ever going to take this drug to please be careful.
The withdraw effects that I had:

Shocks- I mean the most annoying, painful, debilitating experience ever. It would start at my head and shoot through my entire body and out of my fingers and toes. I told the Dr. about this multiple times and they (multiple different dr's) said that I was making this symptom up. This was by far the most lingering of the symptoms that I still feel today after 3 years without it. THEY DO GET BETTER JUST GIVE IT TIME.

Disoriented- This lasted for about 1 week after coming off. Cant move, cant walk, cant talk, cant focus my eyes, cant wake up, cant go to sleep, FUCKING SICK SHIT.

Dull/Not 'myself'- Yeah I wasnt depressed, but I wasnt anything else either. Zombie is the word that comes to mind first.

I feel that this drug is the reason for the loss of contact with my family, near loss of my wife, and a week in a mental institution.

Weaning myself does not make it any better. I tried to quit at least 5 times. 3 of which I tried weaning and going to different drugs (Zoloft, Welbutrin, Devacote, Risperdal, Prozac, Seroquel all of which had their own little quirks but nothing like Effexor). None worked. The way that I finally quit was to just let my boss know that I wasnt coming in for a week and laid in bed screaming at the top of my lungs until I could move again.

Cannabis helped me. It seemed to be the only thing that made it more subtle and bearable until my body could actually rid itself of this poison.

It is now 2007 and I am completely free of all pharm. drugs. I smoke cannabis on a daily basis to help with the bipolar ups and downs. It keeps me at baseline far better than all of the other drugs that Dr.'s gave me. I still feel the shocks about twice a month. I have just gotten used to them now.

Be careful everyone. I would never want anyone to go through anything like this because a Dr. thinks that it is what they need. Everyone is different, and I do believe that some of these drugs help some people. Judge for yourself, do your research, and stay as natural as possible. God gave us ways to heal ourselves naturally, and I know that I didnt pick Effexor from the ground.

Exp Year: 2004	ExpID: 60232
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 6, 2007	Views: 13,800
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Pharms - Venlafaxine (191) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Various (28)