Ugh.
 

I've been on Effexor XR for about a year now, and I was just surfing the 'net one day and came across some information about this particular anti-depressant.

http://www.petitiononline.com/effexor/petition.html

http://www.rxlist.com/rxboard/effexor.pl

http://home.pacbell.net/hookup1/effexor.html

http://home.pacbell.net/hookup1/wyeth2.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/hookup1/effexor_story.html

After reading that, and several other websites. I was shocked, the psychiatrist never mentioned that any of these symptom/side-effects/addiction were possible. I decided to stop taking the medication (Effexor XR, 150MG 3x daily), I didn't think it would hurt, because the Effexor haven't really worked anyways, and I've been on tons of different antidepressants (Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Prozac, Zoloft, a few more that I can't remember, and none of them worked for me).

My first day without it, I felt fine, better than usual. The second day I felt fucking terrible, I had an excruciating headache, terrible body pains, trouble focusing my eyes, dizzyness, times where my body and/or muscles would just randomly twitch, and these really wierd sensations in my head, which kinda felt like little jolts of electricity shooting across my brain. Third day to present (Now day 7, same problems, I've been to the doctors office for some kind of painkiller for the pain, and I got me some nice barbiturates out of the visit that are supposed to help the pain, but don't. They just get me really high. ;)

My next appointment with my psychiatrist is later this month, not sure exactly, I'll have to call and check to make sure.

I've had some terrible fucking physical body aches and pains throughout my life (I have crohn's disease), but these withdrawals are fucking terrible (to give you an idea of how severe these withdrawals are, I was talking to a former heroin user, who also used to take Effexor [not at the same time], and he said that the withdrawals from Effexor are actually worse than the heroin withdrawals he had when he was in the process of quitting heroin), these are easily the most painful things I've ever experienced.

I was wondering if anyone here at the TFP, has had any (or knew anyone) who has had experiences with Effexor, or withdrawals from Effexor.

I was on Effexor-XR and my ears rung like crazy so i promptly stopped.

I wouldn't be going back to that same Psychiatrist. If he's not completely informing you of things he could really get you screwed up. My Dad had a bad Doc one time that had him on more than 3 different drugs for his depression and suicidal tendencies. It ended up giving him soo much trouble and fucked him up bad. Now that he's off ALL the meds he's in so much better shape than before. He actually has less trouble with depression than when they were fucking around with the chemicals in his brain.

Find yourself a Psychiatrist that's going to be upfront with you.

You went through Serotonin Syndrome- The sudden withdraw from a serotonin uptake inhibitor like Effexor. You went through a bad time but it could have been worse.

This shows you the dangers of altering your meds without consulting with your doctor. If you were doing fine on the medication why did you stop it? Surf the web on any medication- even tylenol, and you'll find hundreds of descriptions of horrendous side effects. Your doctor has the experience of actually prescribing these drugs on many people and has a much better handle on the actual frequency of listed side effects than any web site.

There is a right way and a wrong way to stop this class of medications. The best course of action would have been to bring your concerns to your doc to discuss them and find a mutually agreeable course of action

I agree with gonadman. I am finally getting off of Paxil, which I have been taking for 5 years or so, but probably 2 years too long (I have conquered my depression/anxiety). But I discussed it with my doc and he said to go off slowly. Cut it in half for about 3 months and we will see how you are doing and if you are good to then cut down even more.

But I did try it by myself once a year ago, cold turkey, and the next day was fine, but the day after that, and for several days going forward until I got back on, I was totally pissy, unfocused, short-tempered, unable to sleep, etc.

The doc may not be a bad doc. He could be, but he may not have told you those things because not all people react the same way to the same drugs and in his evaluation of you, he may have decided that those side effects would not be a problem in your case. There are many other reasons why a doctor won't tell you everything.

I mean if you think about it, when you go to let's say, the mechanic, he doesn't give you a play by play of what he did and why, and neither do doctors need to explain everything to a patient. They are their to treat you, albeit, certain info is good to know, but he may not have thought that that particular info was relevant.

Or it could be he is a quack or getting kickbacks from Effexor reps.