Re: Effexor Withdrawls

Posted by Jessica G on 03/09/06 at 05:16 AM

I was on effexor for 7 years. As a child, i had intense panic attacks at a time when no one really knew what panic attacks were. It was very uncommon for children and still is as far as I know. 3 months ago I went completely off of effexor because my panic attacks were minimal and i had received a great deal of counselling. I thought, hey, I don\'t need this anymore and I never went on it with the intention of staying on it forever. Slowly but surely my panic increased and increased until I couldn\'t function. In the mornings, I\'d wake up with a huge rush that washed over my body and I had to just run. Over time though I came to realize that running.....walking....just that fight or flight feeling wasn\'t doing anything because once I stayed in one spot for too long I had to go somewhere else or do something else to keep my mind off of the doom. I couldn\'t stay on top of it. Anytime I would try to talk myself out of it, I\'d lose my focus and be panicked again. It\'s constant for me. Not Just one panic and then I\'m fine for a bit and then another one. Feels like they\'re getting worse as time progresses. I\'m really upset about the fact that I wasn\'t aware of the possiblities of dependency. The thought of having to remain on drugs for the rest of my life is very discouraging to me. But, after going through 3 months of what I\'d have to describe as hell, I don\'t even care anymore. I just want my life back. I think I\'m going to have to bite the bullet and go back on either Effexor or another drug. I had lots of other symptoms too, but they were mostly anxiety related. Cold sweats, stomach problems, sleeplessness, mood swings, emotional outbursts. If anything though, learning how to manage my emotions is as equally important. It can never hurt to stand up to the anxiety and accept the truth that emotions are not meant to run your life. Drugs alone help, but your emotions can really mess with you if you don\'t know what to do with them.