I need info on Effexor Withdrawals
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| Mon, 11-17-2003 - 10:38pm |
Well...to make a long story short, this past week was my first week without ANY Effexor and I suffered the most HORRIBLE withdrawals of my life. I stumbled like a drunk -- had no coordination... severe dizziness... nausea, vomiting, panic attacks, crying all the time, extreme rage over stupid things... shakes... etc... we are talking horrible withdrawals. I went to see my doctor and he put me on Prozac (20 mg. day) and told me to give it a full month to kick in.
I am still feeling horrible withdrawals though. So my question is this -- has anyone here experienced the same situation and if so, what did you do? Should I still take one Effexor like every 4 days until the prozac takes full effect??? Or will the prozac kick in soon enough to combat these horrible withdrawals? My doctor is a family practicioner and not really that knowledgeable about anti-dep. meds.
I know that there isn't a psychiatrist in the world who would give me free advice if I called to ask them. So.... I am stuck. Any input would be great because I can't live like this.

Are you by any chance eligible for welfare and Medical Assistance (Medicaid)?
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CL-ladybug987
I'm not sure I can be of much help, except that I'm on Effexor and when I forget to take it, I get all groggy and weird..I can't imagine the withdrawal you were going through...And I hate insurance companies..Grr...Hang in there!
Jenn
Thanks for responding though. I appreciate it. I'll just have to endure the withdrawals somehow and know that I will come out on the other side having learned a HUGE lesson.
So going through withdrawal without a doctor's advice is not, in my opinion, a good idea...though I understand the financial situation you are in. But the problem with going off the medication is not just the withdrawal...I would be concerned about a recurrence of the depression. For me, this sometimes happened a few weeks after I went off the meds...and I ended up becoming suicidal several times.
I don't know how else you could find the money for meds...is there not any friend or family member who could help you? But it seems like, if the meds were working for you, you need to do anything in your power to stay on them...some doctors will even give a lot of samples to tide you over (I'm not sure if you mentioned this in your post).
Thinking of you,
Rose