aviator2018: 14 Years on Antidepressants. 4 months since cold turkey from Effexor

[aviator2018]

On 04/11/2017 at 5:29 PM, bubble said:

This is very familiar. It's very frustrating and painful to try to explain to our loved ones what we are going through. They just don't have any frame of reference to understand it.

 

In my case after such a long time and so many cold turkeys and reinstatements before I found this site they just let me be and trust I'll pull out again. I don't talk much about it and feel very lonely. But if I try to explain something I feel even lonlier. That's why I spend so much time here.

 

I had irritability and anger issues during my stabilisation phase to such an extent that I even started a thread on that symptom. A lot of people could relate.

 

I will go through your thread tomorrow to get a better sense of your situation. If you felt better after updosing but losing windows and just getting worse updosing a bit more could help. But give yourself a few days to see what happens with this wave. We are just so careful with updosing because some people have a bad reaction.

 

Don't be hard on yourself for losing it with your family. You are hurting and on some level they understand. Treat yourself with gentle care and kindness like you were a dear friend or a family member. Very often we find it easier to treat others who are in pain and distress with kindness and compassion. Extending that to ourselves is a very powerful remedy.

Hi Bubble,

 

Thank you very much for your valuable information and support. I was such a mess yesterday that I couldn't thank you😊 

 

Your words really lifted my mood. I was doing better than yesterday. 

 

Thank you once again 😊

[aviator2018]

Hi All,

 

I have been on 20 mg of Effexor. Initially I CTed but then reinstated to a small dose of 20 mg. I have been observing gradual improvement in my mood and energy. I have few windows here and there but still I get off track sometimes and I had one last wave on last weekend which was one of the worst I have experienced.

 

Since its been three month I have been on 20 mg. I would highly appreciate your opinion on whether I should cut my dose or give it some more time.

 

Also when do you exactly decide it's a time to cut the dose? For me anxiety has subsided to manageable.

 

Thanks

[Petunia]

Hi aviator2018,

This kind of question needs to be asked on your own introduction thread because it relates to your personal situation. Wait until  your symptoms have reduced and been stable for at least a month, then you could try a 10% reduction. For general reinstatement information see here:  About reinstatement

 

and Tips for tapering off Effexor (venlafaxine)

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Emonda
name update

[aviator2018]

On 11/9/2017 at 1:45 PM, Petunia said:

Hi

aviator2018,

This kind of question needs to be asked on your own introduction thread because it relates to your personal situation. Wait until  your symptoms have reduced and been stable for at least a month, then you could try a 10% reduction. For general reinstatement information see here:  About reinstatement

 

and Tips for tapering off Effexor (venlafaxine)

 

Hi Petunia,

 

Thank you for your reply 😊. Very much appreciated

 

For the question that I have posted here,  since this is the only thread that I created and have been posting since. Please correct me if there is any othet specific introduction thread.

 

Thanks

Edited November 22, 2023 by Emonda
name update

[aviator2018]

Hi,

 

I wanted to update on my progress. I have been following this website since my last post but didn't had much to say.

 

I am still very depressed. Fatigued all the time. My concentration is still very bad and I am having hard time doing simple task.

 

I haven't reduced my dosage from 20mg since I joined this forum last year.

 

This has been getting tough without any improvement.

 

 

[ChessieCat]

It may be caused by the drug.  You could try a small reduction of 5% or less.  If things don't worsen then you know that it is okay to keep tapering.

 

I suggest you read Your Drug May Be Your Problem by Peter Breggin.

[aviator2018]

11 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

It may be caused by the drug.  You could try a small reduction of 5% or less.  If things don't worsen then you know that it is okay to keep tapering.

 

I suggest you read Your Drug May Be Your Problem by Peter Breggin.

 

Thank you ChessieCat for your advise. I will taper my drug and see how it goes.

 

[ChessieCat]

The new topic your created about head burning has been moved to an existing topic which you can find here.  There are several other members who mention the same symptom.

 

 

[aviator2018]

Hi All,

 

I have been thinking for updating for a while on my progress.

 

Since re-I stating on August 21st after quitting effexor cold turkey in April I had been complete mess till March 2018. I had severe anhedonia, anxiety and depression. All I could do was to go to work and then afterwards lay in bed. I hardly talked to anyone or socialized. 

 

Mid March after a severe wave my appetite started to return. I started feeling hungry in years. My energy started to improve bit by bit. I have been experiencing waves and window througout. It has been a month and half and it's first time in my life that I go through the day without taking nap. I have started going to gym and I work out for one hour. 

 

My motivation is slightly improving and all of sudden I am feeling less anxious about thing which caused my anxiety in first place. 

 

I wasn't sure whether I have made enough improvement ( one always doubt their progress as it seems unreal) but my wife notice considerable change.

 

I have started reading a book and read about 10 pages a day at max. Although I don't absorb enough information. My main challenge is burning sensation in head and mental fog. I hope to see some improvement there as well.

 

I hope this will give some of you a little reason to hang in there.

 

[aviator2018]

On 11/6/2017 at 3:36 AM, aviator2018 said:

Hi All,

 

I wanted to add some information. Throughout my 14 years on Antidepressants I have never been to therapy accept once. I was told that I am looking at life from a very narrow perspective.

 

The start of my anxiety and depression was due to be very concerned about my academic and career. But as I would dread transitioning to colleges. I would think how would I be able to do that. I would panic in the class but fortunately my symptom got better after first semester in each college. I have remuneration thought about academic, career and always worrying about that. I managed to go Engineering, then Masters and not I am working for a good company. My job is making me anxious as it doest serve my full potential but thinking of changing job put me in dowbspiral and I am stuck in this vicious cycle. Also I work from home so I have been able to go through these withdrawals which would not be possible otherwise.

 

From my past experiences I had severe anxiety but I was better once I was comfortable and I was able to excel in studies.

 

However I never felt fatigue before, would sleep 12 hours and study in the other 10 hours and flexible schedule because in university one can come back and sleep right away without being bound to the schedule like work.

 

I wanna excell and progress that helped my anxiety before but now I am at dead end. Because my job pay very well. It's flexible work hour but I don't seem to grow. I understand I can do anything to enhance my skill but in depression one need to pushed from the comfort zone. I can't risk that since I am married now and need a constant income. 

 

I used to have great motivation but now that is down the drain. 

I had reinstated 50 beads and now at 20 beads. It's been more than a year and I had just tapered 30 beads along the way

Edited November 22, 2023 by Emonda
name update

[ChessieCat]

Please update your drug signature.  Thank you.  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature