shelbytrev: Long term Effexor use side effects?

[shelbytrev]

I was on Prozac for about 3-4 years then Effexor for 9. Then they took me off Effexor in two weeks go go onto Zoloft. Couldn't handle the Zoloft after two weeks. Tried Celexa for about a week. Couldn't handle that. Then they tried me on Prozac and I told myself to give that at least a month but still I didn't like the Prozac either. I went on and off all these in a span of two months. While trying to switch meds they had me on some benzos. Which I didn't take a lot of. But they did help because my anxiety and sleep was so bad. I tried to explain to my psych that the level of anxiety I feel now compared to before I went on the drugs is terrible. I couldn't even stay to watch batman vs superman. It gave me all the weird feelings and I was literally getting scared like a 5 year old. I get these ups and downs all day of intense fearful feelings. Like rushes. And I talk myself out of them. I got freaked out by some lady at the store who had really dark eye makeup on. Or when I come home after being gone all day I get scared feelings in my house. It's like I'm a kid watching a horror movie. Very strange. I'm assuming that's anxiety. Well now apparently I exhibit hypochondria and ocd according to my psych. Which I have had these things happening. Then I might have a somewhat decent day where I can manage to not pay so much attention to my "symptoms". But eventually like when I come on here I have had enough and really start thinking this is the new me and I'm going to need meds Forever. I read this book that a lady recovering from benzos wrote. She says they have discovered that antidepressants can cause the same withdrawal symptoms and are similar in the time span of protracted withdrawal. Her book gave me hope but even then I start doubting and saying to myself , well she was on benzos so even though she applies her book to many psych drugs maybe she's wrong. Ugh my thinking is so negative lately. Not sure if anyone has read or her if her. The book is recovery and renewal. Also I believe the Effexor tolerance started way before my "breakdown" as I call it. But only till a family member passed did it really come out.

[Altostrata]

That sounds very much like withdrawal syndrome, with symptoms coming in waves.

 

Why did this psychiatrist say you might have a bad reaction to Effexor? This doctor doesn't sound very knowledgeable about withdrawal.

 

I might try 5 beads and see how that works. Are your capsules still good or have they expired? You need to look at the notes on the bottle.

[shelbytrev]

Not expired. He said I might not react the same since I have been off for 5 months. Five beads could be enough to help me ?

[shelbytrev]

I'm assuming I will know if it makes me worse ?

[shelbytrev]

I just don't want it to make me manic. I felt like I went through a little manic phase while coming off. It may have just been extreme anxiety. I never did anything crazy.

[Fresh]

Yes shelbytrev. You may notice some effect within hours , maybe not.

You need to give it at least 4 days to reach a steady state in your blood stream before increasing.

 

If new symptoms start in the next 24 hours , it may be an adverse reaction and you should stop taking it.

Part of the idea of starting on such a tiny dose is to ensure you don't have a bad reaction

[shelbytrev]

Doesn't that imply that I really do need to be on medication? I'm a little confused

[Fresh]

It is meant only to imply that you are suffering from protracted withdrawal syndrome since stopping prozac in January.

The only way to stop withdrawal symptoms continuing to develop is by reinstating a small dose.

A drug withdrawal reaction bears no relation to whether you have a mental illness. They are separate conditions.

[shelbytrev]

So even though I was in tolerance while taking the Effexor coming off too fast could cause more problems ? I thought if the drug wasn't working anymore and I was having a bad time there was no point to me taking it. I couldn't sleep was having a very rough time and felt like I was in a different world. Now I feel a bit more back to reality but with different things happening to me. When the medication stops working is that just as traumatizing as when trying to come off but you are at the same dose? I thought I was having a nervous breakdown. Now it's like I got myself out of it but I'm still having all these other problems. It's hard to explain.

[Fresh]

Yes shelbytrev , the effect of withdrawing too fast can be worse than your worst ever day on them , and is like

groundhog day for month after month.

It's the same effect as going cold turkey

 

After around 15 (?) years , your brain doesn't know how to function without them. If they are removed too quickly , your whole central nervous system may go seriously haywire.

This is me 6 months after stopping cymbalta too quickly in 2013. It went on for another 5 months after this was taken. Please , don't risk it.

 

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiiqNTZsfDLAhXMoJQKHSkoAFEQtwIIGzAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4H-oYvsjA1A&usg=AFQjCNFPkFD-WdxClrw00njTUK2e1DBHOg&sig2=uVDTSLs1dqk8p5ESA9pXQw&bvm=bv.118443451,d.dGo

It's taken 2 years so far to recover.

[shelbytrev]

Because my mind is very suggestive right now I'm not going to watch I kinda read through your info and got an idea of what was going on. Are you saying this will happen to me in a couple months ?

[Fresh]

I'm saying that it's a possibility , yes.

[shelbytrev]

Ugh this is giving me anxiety did it happen overnight or did you have some kind of warning symptoms ?

[apace41]

Shelbytrev,

 

To clarify, Fresh is NOT saying this WILL happen to you. She's saying that the reason for trying the things that have been recommended is to avoid the chance that it will. Fresh' case was quite extreme and you should not add fear that it will occur to your already sensitized system.

 

And, worst case scenario, Fresh has come out the other side and is doing very well. Try to remain calm. It makes all the other things in w/d so much more tolerable.

 

Best,

 

Andy

[btdt]

Because my mind is very suggestive right now I'm not going to watch I kinda read through your info and got an idea of what was going on. Are you saying this will happen to me in a couple months ?

 

It is a good idea not to watch things that upset you and I know exactly what you mean by not being able to watch a movie or deal with a lady in scary make up... I know too how odd it sounds but believe me when I say the fear sure is real and I know it well this is how it is... and your described it well so I know exactly where are in this.  I have been there too and it is drug induced. 

 

What people here are trying to say to you is that this is a drug problem... being in tolerance when the drug is not working can be a mess and I was there too... I quit cold turkey as nothing I tried not other drugs ordered by a neurologist or other doctors worked for me it seemed after years of being on drugs... 18 years and 7 years on my last drug effexor my system gave out and had a tantrum when any drugs were taken.  Eventually even benzo type drugs I used occasionally caused the opposite affect.  It seemed I had no choice but to go cold turkey and hang on.  

 

At that point in time we did not know as much as we do now about withdrawal... since that time we have learned that taking a very very small bit of the drug your most use to which for you would be effexor... that this craziness stops or slows to a point of being tolerable. At some point a state of stability is reached and then a very slow and gradual taper once your stable. For others here it has worked it has stopped the craziness.  We did not know this when I was in need of the information what I did try was a low dose of effexor 37.5 which my body rejected like it had been poisoned... projectile vomit. Nothing would stay in or react like it was expected.  The benzo I tried a few months into cold turkey was lorazapam it caused the opposite of what was expected revved my system up and I paced a couple of days...

 

if I am reading your situation right a few things I put here are going to bug you... the benzo possibly going south the bad effects I had when trying to re instate effexor....how long wd can last when going cold turkey and re instating does not work....ect a lot of truths about this situation are scary but they are also real and need to be dealt with

 

over rule it best you can and take this thought home with you... this craziness is drug induced or associated you pick the term you like

 

It has stopped for others by taking a small amount - the amount you should try is a guess the best guesser we have is Alto she has made a suggestion of how much you should try.  If I were you and in the state you are in now I would do as she suggested... because I have been living thru cold turkey withdrawal and the fallout for 8 years and 4 months... it is we think more likely that if you keep going the way you are you will be my cell mate.. as lonely as I am I DON'T WANT YOU HERE.

 

This is your get out of jail free card..even if it does not feel like it .. the alternative is worse...  and I know how off the chart you are and I am sorry your there but I did not put you there I am trying to get you out of there...

 

I know this does not feel like an offer of health but it really is the only chance you have to get well faster.

 

it is not a sure thing it is a chance and after eight years if I could go back I would take the chance.

 

Cold turkey is not just extremely painful and intense it is also  (as somebody else said) ground hog day it goes on and on and F...ing on.....  and around and around. 

 

I hope to wake you up to this and at the same time not shock your system... I don't know that it is possible to tell you the truth and not shock your system... I did it as quietly and as truthfully as I could and I hope you listen and I hope it works.  

 

I wish you peace

[shelbytrev]

Should I try maybe 2 beads ? I'm the type of person who gets anxiety from taking a vitamin :/ so I know just taking the beads will cause me upset because I will do it to myself. How long do I wait If I am having a bad reaction , like worse anxiety ? Or the feelings come back that I was having while in the last few months of taking the full dose ?

[shelbytrev]

So reinstating just a few beads and then coming off slower had helped some people on here? All I see are the bad stories of people who have reinstated and had a bad reaction or ended up going on another drug at full dose because reinstating didn't work. So bare with me if I'm a little skeptical. And these beads are time released so couldn't not taking the full days time released make things more complicated ? Would one bead do something ? I'm so scared to mess up my nervous system even more. My worst fear is something causing me to lose it and not be able to care for my children. Could this happen by me reinstating ?

[Fresh]

Apace and btdt are spot on (it's been night time here , I was sleeping).

 

We only want you to find your way out of this situation in the most graceful way possible.

 

If you're nervous , try 2 beads. It probably won't do anything , but you'll see that you don't get a bad reaction.

You can take one bead also , but again , it's such a teeny tiny dose it's not likely to make any noticeable difference.

Reinstating has helped LOADS of people on here , and they stabilize at a dose which is a fraction of what is considered a "therapeutic dose"

by doctors , e.g. 5mg

[shelbytrev]

And then they were able to get off successfully ? Or somewhat successfully ? I don't think I will ever be symptom free and I will have to learn coping skill to live with my original anxiety. But I don't want to reinstate and then my brain tell me I need more and more again. I don't want to be on the drug that I should have only taken for a year anyways instead of 9:( even with all my horrible withdrawal I still see a little bit of me back deep down inside. It's just in tiny glimpses though. Should I take in the morning or at night? I'm guessing morning since it will probably cause me anxiety. Not that I haven't had that at night already lol. My system is so sensitive if I start reading too much like last night or stay up past my bedtime I can't sleep and my mind won't shut off. I was up till almost 4 am last night I also ate a lot of sugar yesterday which was a big no no

[shelbytrev]

Sorry to be such a pain. But this has been very traumatizing and I'm just trying to avoid feeling worse. I'm looking for more relief of mental symptoms. At this point I don't really have physical. Would that be possible with a couple beads?

[Fresh]

To be honest , the smallest reinstatment of Effexor that I'm personally aware of is 10 beads.

If you're able to read , see Intro's of Moonstoneblue and Franklander , both reinstated recently with tiny doses

and had significant symptom relief very quickly.

 

The idea is to stay on the smallest dose where your symptoms are tolerable. Then after a good couple of months stabilizing , you start to taper

off slowly. Since reinstating I've tapered from 50mg to 21 mg of pristiq , and am improving all the time.

[SquirrellyGirl]

For what it is worth, I reinstated at 37.5 mg after 10 mo of protracted wd and it fixed me right up. My case is not typical, though. I never had side effects going on that I can remember, and wd coming off was quite delayed. But no adverse effects from going back on, and I am down to 25.5 mg and doing well.

 

SG

[ChessieCat]

Hi Shelby,

 

When we take an antidepressant the brain changes because of the drug.  The brain has become used to getting that dose of drug regularly.  If the drug is taken away suddenly the brain cannot work how it is used to doing with the drug.  The brain starts struggling which is what causes the withdrawal symptoms.  The brain has become physiologically (not physically) dependent upon the drug.

 

It's a "bit like" a person who has been drinking a lot of caffeine drinks (which can be addictive and you physically crave more and more) and if they stop drinking caffeine they suffer withdrawal.  It would be better for them to slowly reduce their caffeine intake to reduce the effects of withdrawal.

 

In the same way it is better to reduce the antidepressant slowly.  This gives the brain most of the drug it is used to but because it isn't getting as much as before it needs to make adjustments.  If it is still getting almost all of the drug then the adjustments it needs to make are only small ones.  This is why holding to stabilise is very important after reducing a dose.  It gives the brain the chance to catch up.  Once it catches up then another small drop can be made and the process repeated.

 

The reason why you don't go back on the last dose you were taking is because you need to take into account that whilst you haven't been taking the drug your brain has been making adjustments.  That is why a small dose is recommended.  You can try a small amount and see how you feel.  It takes 4 days for the drug to reach full state in the blood.  You might find that after a week you may need to take a little bit more if the withdrawal symptoms are still unbearable.  The idea is to start with a little bit (just in case you have a bad reaction) and then wait and see if that works.  Some people's brains seem to adapt faster while others are slower.  Unfortunately we aren't able to predict the rate that a person's brain will adapt.

[btdt]

Try the one bead if that is what you would rather do but again I would do exactly what Alto said EXACTLY! 

 

Not everyone talking on here has been on E long as you and Mamma P may be a good one to ask question of this in a pm... if she is around just now.  Long term user did a few beads to get off. 

[shelbytrev]

Ugh I'm so scared to take the beads lol. I just don't understand how them being time released and not a steady stream in your system couldn't make things worse. Like ok here brain here's a little but I'm gonna take it right back away from you. And then my brain is more pissed off.

[shelbytrev]

I read mammap's experience. So she reinstated but didn't really sound like it helped her. She was miserable almost every post. If I'm gonna be miserable reinstating I might as well not. I'm kinda confused. I'm not trying to be negative but her experience was not very motivational. She never really returned to say she was feeling better.

[btdt]

yes that line of thinking makes sense but you have to consider now you brain is hypersensitive so a small amount of the drug will affect the body withdrawal symptoms ... enough so the body is not screaming I NEED EFFEXOR....  it will shut up... tho there may be some symptoms not the hell it could be.. or has been.  It is enough to apiece it that is the hope and it does work ... when it works it is the best case scenario... it is worth the chance.

 

The other side is it doesn't work and if it doesn't work your not really any worse off than you are now... but about the same place .. when I tried to go back on 37.5 my body completely rejected the drug... flat out rejected it. Had I known to go to a couple of beads it may have been enough to stop the hell... I did not know.

 

There is a good chance it will work if it does  you will know in a couple of days.  

[btdt]

I have been off Effexor for 5 months. I was on 37.5 on my last taper. If I reinstate do I just take a couple beads? Will that maybe help these terrible thoughts that keep entering my brain? I was sleeping so well and now had two nights of extreme panic and couldn't sleep. I need to see if this is caused by the drug. How many beads and what size of the beads should I take. My brain is so yuck I can't figure it out. I'm desperate now. I took a Xanax and that only relaxed my body not my brain so much.

 

This is a taste of wd... this is the sort of thing we are trying to slow down... I say a taste as for me wd was bad for me after 4 days of not sleeping a wink... I would take something and it was for months... seeing things getting psychotic ya that is withdrawal... it is so much more than that even I can't go there I won't go there cause I don't want to remember it. As bad as it has been wd can be worse... it really can. Not that everybody gets it that bad but some do I did... it can happen. 

 

The types of things you have had so far seem like how I started.. I know exactly how it feels. Not sure it is a real bad sign your going my old way... not sure it means anything but it may.  I don't know we have no study on this yet. 

 

IF this works hopefully you won't need the benzo which is  out of the frying pan and into the fire in my opinion... it will have to be tapered if you go long term on it to slow the wd symptoms.  I think it safer to go with the devil your body already knows but I am not a doctor it just seems to make sense that adding another drug will make this process longer and maybe worse in the long run.  Others may have some ideas about this too I am all ears... 

[SquirrellyGirl]

Ugh I'm so scared to take the beads lol. I just don't understand how them being time released and not a steady stream in your system couldn't make things worse. Like ok here brain here's a little but I'm gonna take it right back away from you. And then my brain is more pissed off.

You are misunderstanding the time release concept, which is to slowly release the drug over the time between doses. It should keep your brain happier. Immediate release shoots all at once which would lead to inter-dose wd if taken once a day, since normally Effexor ' s half life is something like 15 hours. That's why it is taken 2x a day

 

SG

[shelbytrev]

Just looking for some good stories of anyone who has successfully weaned off by reinstating a few beads of Effexor and then coming off. I have been off Effexor for 5 months. Prozac that I was on for a month for 3 months. I am thinking of reinstating to hopefully calm this extreme anxiety. But the people reinstating on here either end up going on back on the Effexor at full dose or still suffer even after reinstating. I do not want to end up back on Effexor or any other medications for good.

[nz11]

Just a gentle reminder only one intro per person. Sadly dem da rules.

 

Shelby you are in control here. You dont have to ri if you dont want to.

Do you think you are able to manage the wdl anxiety. You have done great for the past 5 months.

There are some great threads here on this. check out the claire weeks thread. 

At five months you are starting to accumulate some decent drug free days.

 

Things will get better in time.

[Altostrata]

shelby, I moved your post here.

 

We suggest reinstating some beads of Effexor because we have seen it work.

 

It's hard to tell how many beads will make a difference. If taking 3 beads is less frightening for you than taking 5 beads, I would try 3 beads.

 

We always suggest trying a little bit first to see if it helps. If you have a bad reaction, it will be less than if you took many beads.

 

Also, if you take too many beads, it could be too stimulating for your nervous system. So that is why we suggest a few beads.

 

Use search in the upper right of the page to find Intro topics where people are taking Effexor. Read a few of them and you will find many people have reinstated Effexor beads.

 

Yes, they do successfully taper off later.

[btdt]

Just looking for some good stories of anyone who has successfully weaned off by reinstating a few beads of Effexor and then coming off. I have been off Effexor for 5 months. Prozac that I was on for a month for 3 months. I am thinking of reinstating to hopefully calm this extreme anxiety. But the people reinstating on here either end up going on back on the Effexor at full dose or still suffer even after reinstating. I do not want to end up back on Effexor or any other medications for good.

"Prozac that I was on for a month for 3 months."

Was prozac your last drug... was it for a month or for 3 months... being off effexor 5 months and taking prozac for 3 of those months is not... being off drugs for 5 months .. 

please could you  straighten this out for me. 

[nz11]

well spotted fingers of Titanium, my oversight there i seemed to be focused on the ban thats pending!?! sure hope it gets reversed.

[shelbytrev]

was on Effexor 75mg for 9 years. Then when they were trying to switch me when those stopped they tried Zoloft. Took that for like 2 weeks. Then Celexa for 2 weeks. Then Prozac for about 5 weeks. So off the Prozac for almost 11 weeks. So that would put me off Effexor for almost 6 months give or take a week. In that time I have only taken 1 Valium and 1 Xanax. I was not on Prozac for 3 months.

[Fresh]

nz11 , is your post anything to do with shelby's situation?