Hi everybody, I am a 51 yo secretary, working for a medical group for the last 3 years. Prior to that, I worked in a mental health clinic for 15 years.
I was on Effexor XR 75 mgs one a day for about 2 months, then 150 mgs one a day for another two months. Today is my 5th day without Effexor, athat means withdrawal crap.
No, \"my\" doctors did not prescribe Effexor to me. My endocrinologist did. He said, \"Why not make your life a little better by taking something completely safe.\" And I was ready to feel better after a few years of total lack of energy, feeling down, etc. (Since turning 45, I had: hysterectomy, oopherectomy, ovarian cancer, thyroidectomy).
Did Effexor make me feel better? Maybe, I am not sure... I tend to think that my better mood is due to certain life circumstances.
I never suspected that the withdrawal is so crappy. After going thrugh 3 weeks of lowering the dose and then stopping, I thought it should be \"all good\", but it\'s not.
Lessons learned: 1) my enormous admiration for all mentally ill who are on meds all their lives 2) there will be no \"low\" in my life that will make me take such crap as Effexor 3) I WILL make myself feel good I think that there is no way of knowing what kind of symptoms you will experience. There is a lot of information on the internet if you search for \"Effexor crappy withdrawal\". And it talks about its chemical make up which causes the symptoms to appear even if a person takes it for a very short period of time. Good luck.