Re: Effexor Withdrawal = Depression and Anxiety!!

Posted by Patricia on 12/30/04 at 10:18 PM

I was, up until 2 weeks ago, promoting effexor as the cure all for every ailment in the book. Relationship problems? Try effexor to maintain that perpetually sunny diposition we all strive to maintain.Too tense, anxious, violatile at work? Try Effexor! Depressed? Try effexor! But recently I decided I had to get off it becasue I am allergic to it, and have been for the 2 years I\'ve been on it. I\'m on only a 75 mg dose, but broke out in hives 2-3 times a day, just like I did with Paxil several years ago. It\'s only when the hives started to become infected that I started thinking, I should really try something else. And since my practice is always slow around Xmas, I figured, what better time to go----- COLD TURKEY ! (OK, OK, I\'m a lawyer, not a doctor, cut me a little slack for my obvious stupidity). Well, I had the full panoply of side effects, including insomnia, vomiting, dizziness, zaps, profuse sweating,nausea, etc. Now I would caution ANYONE who is just beginning this medicine to think twice about continuing on it. It seems like you are making a Faustian deal with your body---make me calm, happy, normal for as long as this drug is available to me and I will ignore the fact that some day it WON\"T be available to me, or the side effects if I miss a day or two. I traded the best health insurance inthe Western USA for a sub par one in order to get the coverage which would pay for my Effexor. I scratched my body raw with hives ignoring the fact I was allergiv c to it. This stuff is pretty expensive if you\'re paying for it out of pocket. Bottom-line: Don\'t do it. This stuff is NASTY to get off of.

Replies	Posted By	#	Date & Time
Re: Re: Effexor Withdrawal = Depression and Anxiety!!	rene	0	12/31/04 01:19 AM