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Effexor XR, there and back again...has this happened to you too?
Hello everyone!
I was first started on anti-depressants over five years ago because stress, anxiety and major depression were starting to ruin my life.
I was also prescribed Clonazepam to deal with panic attacks and I did not have to take it everyday.
They first tried me on Zoloft but it seemed to have no positive effect and was making me feel pretty lousy overall.
Then I was on Lexapro up until about almost a year ago, and that was going very well for me.
But they wanted to see what had the best effect so they even tried me on Effexor XR, I just switched overnight and actually was okay except for a few minor side-effects.
I then had the crazy idea, after five years I decided maybe I should quit this stuff all-toghether?
I had been on the Effexor for several months at this point, and felt okay for the most part but didn't want to be dependant on this type of stuff for the rest of my life.
I was worried about what the long term effects might be.
So little by little I lowered my dosage by taking apart the capsules and taking out a few of the little white balls, just a few at a time everyday.
The big mistake was not going to a doctor and doing this the correct way in the first place, I should not have been doing this on my own, but that's a mistake I am living with right at this moment.
Anyways, i had read about other people who quit it and had little to no problem doing so.
I figured, if they can do it, so can I and I did, for a short time.
I went through the withdrawal effects, dizzyness, light-headed, brain-shivers and insomnia.
Those effects gradually decreased over several months and then I felt good, like my normal self again.
But that only lasted for about two weeks and then all of a sudden I was hit all at once, like being hit by a mack-truck.
I was becoming very depressed again, worse than even before I took any type of anti-depressants.
I was/am crying all the time, feeling deeply depressed, not eating as much as I used to and my insomnia became even worse.
I also have pain in the right side of my chest and it feels tight and like a balled up knot, which I understand is related to anxiety.
Speaking of anxiety, I could not stand being off of the medicine and had no choice but to start taking it again.
But the thing is, I still feel like I have bottomed out and then some.
I have been taking it again for a few weeks now and I still feel depressed, panic, high amounts of anxiety, despair and my mind seems to be racing.
I keep having thoughts about death and people dying, thinking I am just going to die and I feel really sad about everything.
The only thing that calms me down is the Klonopin, and I don't want to take that everyday and become a spaced-out zombie.
Although that might be a better state than the one I am right now.
I actually feel like I am in the middle of a never-ending anxiety/panic attack.
When I can actually sleep, I wake up and there are those feelings again.
Also when I can sleep, I tend to oversleep by several hours.
I feel afraid, alone, helpless and sometimes hopeless.
I have no idea how long this is going to last and it's really starting to drive me crazy.
I have no intentions of hurting myself, I just want this emotional roller coaster to end.
When I go back to my doctor I am going to ask to be put back on Lexapro, unless anyone knows of something that works better?
I don't even really feel like myself half the time and things that I used to do for fun, I just don't care anymore.
I honestly feel like I was just dropped into a black pit and I cannot get out, that's how horrible this is for me.
I feel so much worse than before I quit it, and I am stuck in this major depressive episode.
How do I even know if the Lexapro will help me if I go back to that?
I am just really freaked out about all of this and during the holiday season, this has made things nearly un-manageable, but I know I cannot be the only one to have gone through this.
Even as I write this I feel a sense of dread, anxiety and panic, for no reason that I know of.
Did quitting the Effexor the way I did, and the re-start taking it screw with my mind?
And if so, can this be reversed?
I have been like this for almost a month now and I can't stand it anymore, I am willing to try and medicine that will make this stop.
Also, as might be usual with this sort of thing, my sex drive is pretty much totally gone, and I feel afraid to even sit in a room by myself, which I never had a problem with before.
Alot of these things I am experiencing are things that I never dealt with before, or at least not at this magnitude.
I have tried St.John's Wort twice in my life, once before I ever started on anti-depressants and another time before I re-started the Effexor.
both times it did not help me and I could only take it for about a week because it caused me to have really bad headaches for some reason.
It is a comfort to know I can come here and talk with other people, but it's hard to distract myself from these thoughts in my head that loop over and over again.
I just want to know if anyone else has gone through this or a similar situation and if possible, explain to me how you got out of it.
As it so happens, both sides of my family have a history of major depression, lucky me.
Most of my relatives take care of their problems by drinking and smoking, which I don't want to do.
Anywho, thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read this, I appreciate it.
I am open to any reasonable advice.
I was first started on anti-depressants over five years ago because stress, anxiety and major depression were starting to ruin my life.
I was also prescribed Clonazepam to deal with panic attacks and I did not have to take it everyday.
They first tried me on Zoloft but it seemed to have no positive effect and was making me feel pretty lousy overall.
Then I was on Lexapro up until about almost a year ago, and that was going very well for me.
But they wanted to see what had the best effect so they even tried me on Effexor XR, I just switched overnight and actually was okay except for a few minor side-effects.
I then had the crazy idea, after five years I decided maybe I should quit this stuff all-toghether?
I had been on the Effexor for several months at this point, and felt okay for the most part but didn't want to be dependant on this type of stuff for the rest of my life.
I was worried about what the long term effects might be.
So little by little I lowered my dosage by taking apart the capsules and taking out a few of the little white balls, just a few at a time everyday.
The big mistake was not going to a doctor and doing this the correct way in the first place, I should not have been doing this on my own, but that's a mistake I am living with right at this moment.
Anyways, i had read about other people who quit it and had little to no problem doing so.
I figured, if they can do it, so can I and I did, for a short time.
I went through the withdrawal effects, dizzyness, light-headed, brain-shivers and insomnia.
Those effects gradually decreased over several months and then I felt good, like my normal self again.
But that only lasted for about two weeks and then all of a sudden I was hit all at once, like being hit by a mack-truck.
I was becoming very depressed again, worse than even before I took any type of anti-depressants.
I was/am crying all the time, feeling deeply depressed, not eating as much as I used to and my insomnia became even worse.
I also have pain in the right side of my chest and it feels tight and like a balled up knot, which I understand is related to anxiety.
Speaking of anxiety, I could not stand being off of the medicine and had no choice but to start taking it again.
But the thing is, I still feel like I have bottomed out and then some.
I have been taking it again for a few weeks now and I still feel depressed, panic, high amounts of anxiety, despair and my mind seems to be racing.
I keep having thoughts about death and people dying, thinking I am just going to die and I feel really sad about everything.
The only thing that calms me down is the Klonopin, and I don't want to take that everyday and become a spaced-out zombie.
Although that might be a better state than the one I am right now.
I actually feel like I am in the middle of a never-ending anxiety/panic attack.
When I can actually sleep, I wake up and there are those feelings again.
Also when I can sleep, I tend to oversleep by several hours.
I feel afraid, alone, helpless and sometimes hopeless.
I have no idea how long this is going to last and it's really starting to drive me crazy.
I have no intentions of hurting myself, I just want this emotional roller coaster to end.
When I go back to my doctor I am going to ask to be put back on Lexapro, unless anyone knows of something that works better?
I don't even really feel like myself half the time and things that I used to do for fun, I just don't care anymore.
I honestly feel like I was just dropped into a black pit and I cannot get out, that's how horrible this is for me.
I feel so much worse than before I quit it, and I am stuck in this major depressive episode.
How do I even know if the Lexapro will help me if I go back to that?
I am just really freaked out about all of this and during the holiday season, this has made things nearly un-manageable, but I know I cannot be the only one to have gone through this.
Even as I write this I feel a sense of dread, anxiety and panic, for no reason that I know of.
Did quitting the Effexor the way I did, and the re-start taking it screw with my mind?
And if so, can this be reversed?
I have been like this for almost a month now and I can't stand it anymore, I am willing to try and medicine that will make this stop.
Also, as might be usual with this sort of thing, my sex drive is pretty much totally gone, and I feel afraid to even sit in a room by myself, which I never had a problem with before.
Alot of these things I am experiencing are things that I never dealt with before, or at least not at this magnitude.
I have tried St.John's Wort twice in my life, once before I ever started on anti-depressants and another time before I re-started the Effexor.
both times it did not help me and I could only take it for about a week because it caused me to have really bad headaches for some reason.
It is a comfort to know I can come here and talk with other people, but it's hard to distract myself from these thoughts in my head that loop over and over again.
I just want to know if anyone else has gone through this or a similar situation and if possible, explain to me how you got out of it.
As it so happens, both sides of my family have a history of major depression, lucky me.
Most of my relatives take care of their problems by drinking and smoking, which I don't want to do.
Anywho, thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read this, I appreciate it.
I am open to any reasonable advice.
What is preferable, a living hell vs taking a pill once a day? Youre nort Psychiatrist nor an expert on psychotropic meds, go see someone. Its common for people with mental illness to quit their meds. Antidepressants simply restore normal chemical/neurological function. Like using insulin for diabetes. A diabetic quitting insulin with the same argument you have would be considered insane? Out of touch with reality, yes. Take care and get back on meds, make an appointment. Hang in there. Louise
Thanks for the info, I will be sure to look up that book.
That does sound amazing for a NASA scientist to be talking about spiritual healing, I didn't think they believed in that, but they are human too it seems.
I know what you mean about the crisis-line thing, I tried an online version of the same thing except you have a live chat.
I was very limited as to what I could talk about, I couldn't even talk about meds or anything, just ways to help reduce my anxiety, but not the cause of it.
It was not very helpful because the things we talked about were things I already learned a long time ago, basic stuff from when I was still a teen.
I mean, I will take any helpful advice I can get, but why would someone bother to have a live chat with someone and it's like they are reading from the idiot's guide to depression?
I have been feeling this way since I was a child, and I never used to know what was wrong with me, and as you can imagine my teenage years were a sort of hell, but now I am getting better at being able to cope and manage this.
This site, MedHelp, has been a great help and is one of the few outlets I have to talk about these things with anyone because like you said about isolation, that's part of my problem too.
Okay, so I will go look up that book and thanks for the kind words and advice, I appreciate it.
That does sound amazing for a NASA scientist to be talking about spiritual healing, I didn't think they believed in that, but they are human too it seems.
I know what you mean about the crisis-line thing, I tried an online version of the same thing except you have a live chat.
I was very limited as to what I could talk about, I couldn't even talk about meds or anything, just ways to help reduce my anxiety, but not the cause of it.
It was not very helpful because the things we talked about were things I already learned a long time ago, basic stuff from when I was still a teen.
I mean, I will take any helpful advice I can get, but why would someone bother to have a live chat with someone and it's like they are reading from the idiot's guide to depression?
I have been feeling this way since I was a child, and I never used to know what was wrong with me, and as you can imagine my teenage years were a sort of hell, but now I am getting better at being able to cope and manage this.
This site, MedHelp, has been a great help and is one of the few outlets I have to talk about these things with anyone because like you said about isolation, that's part of my problem too.
Okay, so I will go look up that book and thanks for the kind words and advice, I appreciate it.
You definitely sound like a survivor. It's sad that you've been feeling this way for an extended period at such a young age. I was 28 when my depression took a turn for the worse. One of the things that helped me was a book called "The Bondage Breaker," written by an engineer who was once with the NASA space program. He's one of the pioneers in the growing field of effective new innovative approaches to things like chronic depression. He has even documented physical healings due to his positive steps of personal inventory. When a rocket scientist says he has documented physical healings due to emotional/spiritual healing, that gets my attention.
Sometimes there can be something we're doing that, without realizing it, makes the depression worse.
One thing you're doing well is being able to take the time to write about it-- It's been a while since I've been in counseling, but I think this works because it brings other people into our suffering so that we're not alone with it. The worst thing that can happen with depression is isolation. For years I was not able to describe to people what I was experiencing like a crisis line. "What's your emergency sir?" "I dunno...just don't feel right, you know?" "This is an emergency phone service sir." "yeah?" "Well, maybe if I took that phone and...." "Our service is not here for you to rant...." "Stop using that language sir..."
The things you always wanted to say to phone counselors but couldn't.
Sometimes there can be something we're doing that, without realizing it, makes the depression worse.
One thing you're doing well is being able to take the time to write about it-- It's been a while since I've been in counseling, but I think this works because it brings other people into our suffering so that we're not alone with it. The worst thing that can happen with depression is isolation. For years I was not able to describe to people what I was experiencing like a crisis line. "What's your emergency sir?" "I dunno...just don't feel right, you know?" "This is an emergency phone service sir." "yeah?" "Well, maybe if I took that phone and...." "Our service is not here for you to rant...." "Stop using that language sir..."
The things you always wanted to say to phone counselors but couldn't.
Wow, I am very sorry to hear that you had to go through such a terrible ordeal.
Are you doing better now?
I sort of have an update for myself, I am no longer taking Effexor at all either.
For the past week or so I have gotten back onto Lexapro, and I also take only 0.5mg's of Klonopin for the anxiety.
I feel so much better now than when I first came here, but I am still feeling low from time to time, that is normal for me anyways.
But back to you, has the Zoloft helped you at all?
It's true that Effexor may work for some, but coming off of it, it was a total living nightmare.
That's sounds terrible that so many things happened to you at once, with your father passing on and then your daughter lashing out at you, and on top of that you lost your job.
I might have done the same thing and just hit the road for a while to get my mind clear.
When I quit the Effexor I thought I had really lost my mind, and there was no way back.
Even when I was taking it all over again, I still felt horrible.
But now I can say for sure that there is hope and that you just have to weather the storm.
Well I hope you are feeling some relief now, with the new medication.
I know it is kinda sad that some of us need to rely on meds to get by, but if it helps, why not?
I feel alot better now and I wish the same for you too!
Take care.
=)
Are you doing better now?
I sort of have an update for myself, I am no longer taking Effexor at all either.
For the past week or so I have gotten back onto Lexapro, and I also take only 0.5mg's of Klonopin for the anxiety.
I feel so much better now than when I first came here, but I am still feeling low from time to time, that is normal for me anyways.
But back to you, has the Zoloft helped you at all?
It's true that Effexor may work for some, but coming off of it, it was a total living nightmare.
That's sounds terrible that so many things happened to you at once, with your father passing on and then your daughter lashing out at you, and on top of that you lost your job.
I might have done the same thing and just hit the road for a while to get my mind clear.
When I quit the Effexor I thought I had really lost my mind, and there was no way back.
Even when I was taking it all over again, I still felt horrible.
But now I can say for sure that there is hope and that you just have to weather the storm.
Well I hope you are feeling some relief now, with the new medication.
I know it is kinda sad that some of us need to rely on meds to get by, but if it helps, why not?
I feel alot better now and I wish the same for you too!
Take care.
=)
I am "new" to this depression thing. Well by saying that I really mean that i have suffered with it on and off for 18years but 3 years ago when my Dad died, I lost the job I loved due to down sizing and my teenage daughter decided she hated me and the world I could not pick myself up from the down. My doctor put me on Effexor and the dose was continually increased up to 300mg a day with it still not working well!
I did the same thing and slowly over 4-5 months worked my way off them without the help of my doctor and was fine for about 4 weeks THEN OMG the depression hit me 100 fold!! I just snapped one day and packed some stuff in my car and left and that is were is slept till my sister convinced me to go to a clinic. They have stated me on Zoloft 50mg a day so hope this helps! BUT as for Effexor it was the worst thing that ever happened to me with the withdrawls and the side effects. Everyone including the doctors I spoke to say it is not a great one but for a select few it works well! Just don't try to come off IT!!!!!!!!!!
I did the same thing and slowly over 4-5 months worked my way off them without the help of my doctor and was fine for about 4 weeks THEN OMG the depression hit me 100 fold!! I just snapped one day and packed some stuff in my car and left and that is were is slept till my sister convinced me to go to a clinic. They have stated me on Zoloft 50mg a day so hope this helps! BUT as for Effexor it was the worst thing that ever happened to me with the withdrawls and the side effects. Everyone including the doctors I spoke to say it is not a great one but for a select few it works well! Just don't try to come off IT!!!!!!!!!!
I take 75mg, and it's the capsule so I can't take any less at this point without taking it apart and getting rid of the little white pellets inside.
The regular tablets are better I think cause you can break them in halves or quarters if need be.
I only drink on occasions like holidays and celebrations, but I will not take my meds at the same time, and I don't anything smoke either.
I have heard that anyone who has been on Effexor for over a month is pretty much addicted, but that is just what I heard and I cannot stand by that.
Exercise is good cause it gets rid of some of the adrenaline from anxiety and also releases endorphins, which is a natural stress-reducer, but I am sure you were already aware of all that.
If you truly set your mind to it and want to quit the meds, I think anyone can.
I just don't think Effexor is best for me personally, I would rather be on something less addictive.
But I have been getting better, even if some days I feel the anxiety creeping up on me, it's been decreasing little by little.
I used to take Effexor twice a day and now I only take it once, every other day instead of every single day.
So far that has been working out well enough for me.
I hope you can find something that works for you too.
Take care!
=)
The regular tablets are better I think cause you can break them in halves or quarters if need be.
I only drink on occasions like holidays and celebrations, but I will not take my meds at the same time, and I don't anything smoke either.
I have heard that anyone who has been on Effexor for over a month is pretty much addicted, but that is just what I heard and I cannot stand by that.
Exercise is good cause it gets rid of some of the adrenaline from anxiety and also releases endorphins, which is a natural stress-reducer, but I am sure you were already aware of all that.
If you truly set your mind to it and want to quit the meds, I think anyone can.
I just don't think Effexor is best for me personally, I would rather be on something less addictive.
But I have been getting better, even if some days I feel the anxiety creeping up on me, it's been decreasing little by little.
I used to take Effexor twice a day and now I only take it once, every other day instead of every single day.
So far that has been working out well enough for me.
I hope you can find something that works for you too.
Take care!
=)
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Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
back on the medication because you had been off then quite a while. I am in a support
group and there is a lady like you there, the withdrawals mimic depression anxiety. Your brain does like sudden changes and going back on them has exaggerated the
withdrawals you are not going mad and you won't go mad !! I have been off effexor seven months now physical symptoms are subsiding but ive got the loneliness, fear, in the morning is the worst you will find that. If I get the anxiety I say to myself i'm not going there and tell myself it's withdrawals it really helps.
Effexor is a horrible drug to come off if I'd known that I would never have gone on them
I was on them eight years. I am on a beta blocker propananol 40 mg's and clonidine 100 mg's to help with the withdrawals. Your panic will be palpitations when you are on these tablets they shut down adrenaline and then when you come off them your body
over produces adrenaline.
In time they will go next time do it very gradually you could ask Cita my support group how to come down they are on the web.
Take care
Love
Lorraine xx