success ☼ MrAnxious: 3 months off Effexor XR (6 years on)

[MrAnxious]

MrAnxious

I hope you get some help today, and no this is NOT the rest of your life, you can and will get back to some kind of normality, it just won't be overnight, but you will get there. It's just really hard to see right now. You could be right and zoloft just isn't right for you at all, I was remembering that years ago I was switched for a while to remeron and it was a disaster for me, I couldn't stay a wake, I did manage to go to work etc but I was struggling so hard to function properly, I think I then switched back to zoloft and got some normality back, well whatever "normality" is on these drugs as I still hated the side effects, but I was able to function much much better, so maybe you will find the right switch to stabilize yourself today.

strawberry

 

 

Thank you strawberry, your approach is soothing and comforting in this time of uncertainty, their are way too many things going on and I feel so out of control. Your words ease that anxiety. When I talked to the doctor today I told her the side effects I was having and she said that Zoloft was definitely not helping as my condition got worse over a month's time then when I saw her last and that makes sense,everyday I was feeling worse than better.

 

So we both agreed that Ssri's are not working for me( she is a really nice doctor and actually listens), compared to my last one. His philosophy was don't ask don't tell and never did follow up with me, she says to me the goal is to get me feeling better and then eventually off medication so I like that.

 

I did some researching yesterday and came up with BusPar it's a anti-anxiety medication and has little to no side effects and isn't dangerous or as addictive as a Benzo which is great and she also agreed it would be a new route for us and it's easy to come off. I am taking 10mg for the first week and then go up in dose from there.

 

* I am hoping that my brain is able to heal from the Effexor/Zoloft w/d in the mean time, and than this will help me with my anxiety and 6 months from now or a year whenever I stabilize then I can slowly come off this stuff and in the mean time I can work on any issues and get some talk therapy.

 

For me I believe the heavy anxiety is from tapering too quickly off the Effexor and overtime this will lessen( I HOPE).

 

 

So the Pharmacy said it was fine to discontinue the Zoloft and start the BusPar up at just 5mg tonight because I never took my Zoloft today just yesterday. I really hope that doesn't slam me or hit me hard and the Buspar makes up for some of the side effects, won't know until I try. But wierdly enough I do feel a little calmer, but that's probably placebo right now.

 

 

***** So off the Ssri train and on Buspar. ( I pray and hope this will work ) need all your support friends too ! Will keep you updated. Tommorow I will be taking 2 (5)mg , eventually it's 3 (15mg) a day, and then meet in 5 weeks and tell her my progress if so.

 

 

Also she is doing a blood test for B12, Vit D, cholesterol etc, and I got a Ultra sound for my shoulder which is good cause it's causing me alot of pain.

 

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....okay , have a nice day folks

 

 

**** And please no negative comments, I have made this decision and need support !

 

 

Buspirone, also known by its trade name Buspar, is a non-benzodiazepine medication that is indicated for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. It's thought to work through its binding and activation of a certain type of serotonin receptor in the brain -- specifically the 5HT1A receptor -- and it's through this activity that buspirone is thought to have its anti-anxiety effects.

 

 

So in a way it works for depression too

[peggy]

Mr A,

I am happy that your doctor appears to be listening and responding to you. I hope Buspar works -when do you go back to see her?

[strawberry17]

No negative comments here, it's nice to hear you feeling calmer, I hope the buspar works for you as well, I think you're right and you're problems stem from coming off the Effexor too fast.

[MrAnxious]

Mr A,

I am happy that your doctor appears to be listening and responding to you. I hope Buspar works -when do you go back to see her?

 

 

Thanks Peggy, she will see me on Oct 25th for my physical and it takes two weeks for effect of Buspar so she might get a idea. Then 5 weeks for yesterday to check up again.

 

" It's amazing how much better I feel Just being off the Zoloft for over 24 hours now, it's strange no brain zaps, no dizziness no nausea or morning anxiety...One day off Zoloft make that much of a difference? Maybe it's because I was only on a month of it at a semi lose dose (50mg) I can't imagine the half tablet 5mg of Buspar is already working as it takes 2 weeks to build up and be effective if it's going to work.

 

I always knew that it was more Anxiety I wanted to deal with, the depression probably comes from the fast taper of effexor, just curious though where I will get the " energy and motivation from" apparently buspar sucks the serotonin out of the nerve so would that help if I have depression symptoms ???

 

Because this is not a Ssri , does that mean I could heal in the meantime from the Effexor w/d ?

 

 

* Just a few questions I appreciate the your feedback

[MrAnxious]

No negative comments here, it's nice to hear you feeling calmer, I hope the buspar works for you as well, I think you're right and you're problems stem from coming off the Effexor too fast.

 

Thanks strawberry ,

 

I do have a alot of questions , if you read the reply I sent to Peggy maybe you can add in on it ? The doctor did say something that concerned me.

 

" It's pretty safe to assume that you don't tolerate Ssri's " Another route we can go is " I am not saying your nuts either" would be to go on a anti psychotic"....this concerned me... she made sure she emphasized " I know your not nuts" a couple times...not sure what to think there..

[strawberry17]

I wish I could answer your questions but I don't think I can, because we are all different in how we respond, obviously the zoloft wasn't working out for you. I think now you've made a decision to with the buspar (which I know nothing about, I've only experienced SSRI's)you need to stick with that for a while and see how it pans out. You may still have the withdrawal from the effexor to deal with but maybe the buspar will mitigate that?

[Barbarannamated]

Mr. A,

 

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better.

 

I see that your doctor has your dosage escalating rapidly (double dose tomorrow?). Considering your sensitivity and different chemicals still effecting you right now, a slower titration might be wise..? Most of these drugs are dosed far too high.

 

Hopefully others will weigh in on this.

[peggy]

Hi Mr A,

It is great news that you are feeling better.

I don't have a lot of knowledge about Buspar, so can't really help there - but i do know that it is used to treat anxiety - usually alongside a SSRI.

 

Your anxiety on the Zoloft was most probably exacerbated by the effexor withdrawals, i am happy to hear that you are feeling less anxiety already.

 

Regarding your energy and motivation question....I think you will find that both will return once your nervous system settles down, I am not sure that it is so directly related to serotonin per se - these drugs effect many systems behind the scenes that we are not completely aware of.

 

But, I would be hesitant to take an antipsychotic - she is right, you aren't nuts, but adding an antipsychotic would be to really dampen everything down. Don't worry about that right now - enjoy the relief from the anxiety and take one day at a time.

[MrAnxious]

Mr. A,

 

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better.

 

I see that your doctor has your dosage escalating rapidly (double dose tomorrow?). Considering your sensitivity and different chemicals still effecting you right now, a slower titration might be wise..? Most of these drugs are dosed far too high.

 

Hopefully others will weigh in on this.

 

 

Sorry I do 10mg right now and 15mg next week , still a very low dose , goes up to 60mg if it's effective

[MrAnxious]

I wish I could answer your questions but I don't think I can, because we are all different in how we respond, obviously the zoloft wasn't working out for you. I think now you've made a decision to with the buspar (which I know nothing about, I've only experienced SSRI's)you need to stick with that for a while and see how it pans out. You may still have the withdrawal from the effexor to deal with but maybe the buspar will mitigate that?

 

 

Yep for sure and I hope so !!!

[MrAnxious]

Hi Mr A,

It is great news that you are feeling better.

I don't have a lot of knowledge about Buspar, so can't really help there - but i do know that it is used to treat anxiety - usually alongside a SSRI.

 

Your anxiety on the Zoloft was most probably exacerbated by the effexor withdrawals, i am happy to hear that you are feeling less anxiety already.

 

Regarding your energy and motivation question....I think you will find that both will return once your nervous system settles down, I am not sure that it is so directly related to serotonin per se - these drugs effect many systems behind the scenes that we are not completely aware of.

 

But, I would be hesitant to take an antipsychotic - she is right, you aren't nuts, but adding an antipsychotic would be to really dampen everything down. Don't worry about that right now - enjoy the relief from the anxiety and take one day at a time.

 

 

Thanks Peggy yah I will give this it's chance to run it's course if not I am going on nothing and just riding it out, not falling into this multi med trap, zoloft was only a month so shouldn't really affect me, effexor is my main concern and I am hoping Buspar will atleast mask the symptoms of effexor w/d until it plays out and then taper off buspar, who know's eh, trial and error !

 

 

thanks for your reply,

[MrAnxious]

So far Day 2 of Buspar...woke up with a killer headache today, it's gone down...alot more calmer with less thinking which is a positive for sure.

[peggy]

great news Mr A!!

 

Here's to a great Sunday!

[MrAnxious]

great news Mr A!!

 

Here's to a great Sunday!

 

 

 

How are you doing Peggy????

[peggy]

Thanks for asking Mr A, I am doing well thanks, going slowly with a 10% reduction every 3-4 weeks at the moment.

[MrAnxious]

Thanks for asking Mr A, I am doing well thanks, going slowly with a 10% reduction every 3-4 weeks at the moment.

 

a

 

Great to hear , how much do you have left? how long has your taper been? and has it been fairly easy reducing?

[MrAnxious]

Well didn't want to get out of bed today, slept until 330 AM ! I felt so depressed, nausea, anxiety and sickness. I figure this is the Zoloft that has been out of my system for 6 days now, have been dizzy today too.

 

 

Going to up my Buspar from 10mg to 15mg tommorow as it's Day 7. See how that goes, why is it that once I am out of bed and after I eat and it's after 5pm that I feel a bit better?

 

The morning sickness has been unbearable as of late, today was the worst, i thought it was getting better... only time will tell i guess...

 

I know I was only on Zoloft 25mg for 2 weeks and 50mg for 2 weeks...but to go straight off that , it's like cold turkey but i was on for a month. If all this fails I really don't know what I am going to do,

 

 

Get back to you in another week !

[MrAnxious]

Been feeling quite dizzy as of late, is that just the Zoloft running out of me? or is that from the Buspar? I was in my meeting for social assistance and I felt more anxious, dizzy etc... and this continued the past couple days.

[dalsaan]

Given your medication history, I think its impossible to tell what are withdrawal effects and what are adverse effects from changes to medication.

[MrAnxious]

Given your medication history, I think its impossible to tell what are withdrawal effects and what are adverse effects from changes to medication.

 

 

 

Well I have only been on Effexor for 6 years and Zoloft for a month ? I wouldn't say that's much of a history compared to some people, i really think it's still the effexor and now the zoloft, so I really have to just hang in there and suck it up and hope that magically one day i'll have energy, motivation and a will to get things done and feel half way decent

[Barbarannamated]

 

Given your medication history, I think its impossible to tell what are withdrawal effects and what are adverse effects from changes to medication.

 

Well I have only been on Effexor for 6 years and Zoloft for a month ? I wouldn't say that's much of a history compared to some people,

 

I believe Dalsaan was referring to teasing out what is due to Effexor withdrawal, Zoloft use or Buspar startup within a short time period.

[dalsaan]

That is what I was referring to. All the changes would make it very difficult to distinguish between adverse reactions and withdrawal

[Altostrata]

I agree with dalsaan.

 

Given your medication history, I think its impossible to tell what are withdrawal effects and what are adverse effects from changes to medication.

 

This is the problem with withdrawal syndrome -- it throws your nervous system into a chaotic state where no one can tell what a medication will do.

 

Withdrawal syndrome is not relapse of depression or anxiety, and you can't treat it as depression or anxiety. Any drugs or supplements supposed to treat depression or anxiety may have that effect in people whose nervous systems are stable, but will have unpredictable and often bad effects in people who have withdrawal syndrome.

 

It's possible you can't tolerate SSRIs, MrA, and it's also possible your nervous system is too hypersensitive for you to take other psychiatric medications as well.

 

I hope Buspar helps.

[MrAnxious]

Yah,

 

 

I am just tired of this all, mentally and physically exhausted. It's ruined my life. I am sure it's all withdrawl still but what can I do to make it better now? Has it ruined me for life? Not sure what to think about Buspar yet, it's calmed my nerves a bit, but i am feeling dizzy that feeling i had when i came on effexor, maybe it's cause i am off zoloft. Maybe your right that any meds won't work.....

 

I am angry, frustrated, just tired, no motivation to do anything, can't even go to get my hair cut, or take a shower, everything seems like a big effort, like why is it even possible to live like this. I really feel awful for everyone that goes through this (hugs to everyone here) and not here. They say all this stuff makes you stronger in the end etc, but im really starting to not believe that, as I haven't seen any progress.

 

If Buspar doesn't work, well then I am gonna look at disability but this doctor now seems set on trying a anti psychotic which i really don't want to do, so im thinking she won't go the disability route either....

 

thanks for your responses.

[Altostrata]

On what basis does this doctor think an antipsychotic is what you need, MrA?

 

What kind of a doctor is this?

[MrAnxious]

On what basis does this doctor think an antipsychotic is what you need, MrA?

 

What kind of a doctor is this?

 

 

 

She says well it looks like you don't tolerate ssri's , so i know you aren't nuts but you should consider an Anti-psychotic....i am just like okay...but thinking hell no...

 

 

What are my other options though Alto? the anxiety get's so bad..

[peggy]

I know i am not Alto, but please don't start any more drugs. There is just no guarantee that they will help you and they are more likely to cause further problems.

 

From what i have learned, nothing helps withdrawal syndrome but time. Your nervous system is not the same as it was before you went on effexor the first time. The doctors don't really know what to do with people in w/d, so they opt for their standard - drugs - if one doesn't work we will try another. Meanwhile you are getting worse.

 

Your life isn't over, you will get better.

[MrAnxious]

I know i am not Alto, but please don't start any more drugs. There is just no guarantee that they will help you and they are more likely to cause further problems.

 

From what i have learned, nothing helps withdrawal syndrome but time. Your nervous system is not the same as it was before you went on effexor the first time. The doctors don't really know what to do with people in w/d, so they opt for their standard - drugs - if one doesn't work we will try another. Meanwhile you are getting worse.

 

Your life isn't over, you will get better.

 

 

thank peggy, that really does make sense and Alto would tell me the same thing, it's the right advice for sure. But how do I deal with having no motivation or that drive from inside, the effexor really gave me that edge at one point , really gave me that extra boost i needed. I seemed drained mentally and what do i do about the anxiety it's like debilitating.

 

 

Like somehow I have to be able to function...

[Karma]

Hi MrA

 

Isn't the Buspar helping with the anxiety ... at all? I was most hopeful that it would give you some relief when you decided to go down that path.

 

Right now your job is to be kind to yourself, to take care of yourself and to put one foot in front of the other. You are young and there is time to recover. You just have to give yourself time to heal. As you heal you may notice the motivation returning, but it won't be an overwhelming drive to jump in the shower and run out and be productive ... in my experience, it shows up as having just enough motivation to take a shower today ... and I claim that as progress. It will show up as just enough energy to go run an errand ... and you can claim that as progress.

 

You have put yourself through quite a bit ... off Effexor, back on Effexor, switched to Zoloft, off Zoloft, on Buspar ... it is like treating your CNS like a pinball machine. Now you have to stick with your current plan and give yourself time to heal. (My best recommendation is not to make any other change in medication right now).

 

Are your parents back, yet? Perhaps some additional emotional support from your Dad will help you just hang in there. Because right now, you just have to hang in there.

 

Love and light,

Karma

[Skyler]

You have put yourself through quite a bit ... off Effexor, back on Effexor, switched to Zoloft, off Zoloft, on Buspar ... it is like treating your CNS like a pinball machine. Now you have to stick with your current plan and give yourself time to heal. (My best recommendation is not to make any other change in medication right now).

 

Well said Karma. Martin, I wish you strength to hold the course. It's hard but layering yet more drugs on top will only mire you deeper. To the best of my knowledge, antipsychotics work by turning down all your feelings, and there is no guarantee they will have a mitigating effect on the withdrawal anxiety you feel. Ask your doc she agrees with my description?.. and consider you still have to reset the receptors damaged by Effexor regardless. Do you want to have everything you experience blunted?

 

Sometimes not giving in to ourselves, as difficult as this may be, is best. I am really sorry things are so very difficult for now. You were already dealing with enough anxiety and did not need more. Your parents will be back soon?

[strawberry17]

Yup Karma put it all so well.

[Altostrata]

I have never heard of an antipsychotic helping withdrawal syndrome, or improving motivation.

 

Does your doctor understand you have withdrawal syndrome?

 

She is grasping at straws. She figures column A doesn't help, now it's pick one from column B.

 

Absolutely do not accept a stimulant from the ADHD drugs in column C.

 

You need to find inner strength to deal with withdrawal syndrome. More medications are not going to put Humpty Dumpty together again. It will take time for you to heal.

 

It's a terrible feeling to realize you're out of options, but you need to face this. We've all been through it. Hang in there.

[MrAnxious]

Well said Karma and schuyler and Alto and strawberry and people that support me on here, I really don't know where i'd be without you on this wild journey.

 

So far my anxiety is down 10% atleast, I think at the moment the mind racing has stopped which is nice, not much pressure at the moment, but you are so right about giving it time and not taking anymore more meds, if this one doesn't work I really just need to take a break and do a risk/damage assessment.

 

I pray to the lord everynight that he will make it all work out and that I will find my way and purpose here on this earth.

 

 

Just want to thank everyone and wish everyone all the best in everything they do, you are really nice people in here. I hope we all get better

 

 

I will be giving you a update after the 3 week mark, and yes my parents come home i believe Nov 1st.

 

 

Take Care for now !

[peggy]

If your anxiety is down 10%, that is great!

Just keep taking it day by day - some days may be better, others not so good, but so long as you are slowly making upward progress. It would still be good for you to do some cognitive work to do what you can to reduce anxiety.

[MrAnxious]

Okay - QUESTION - important, Tim Hortons just called and needs a Baker from 4-12pm full-time. I am in the process of social assistance and will get money sooner and be covered for medical, I am really not sure if I am ready to work, tried this once with walmart on midnights and it was a big stressor and flop, maybe this would be different because it's afternoons? I don't have a vehicle right now, so would have to wait for parents Nov 1st,.

 

 

It's a tough call, I personally think I need the rest with my arm being hurt and all and the anxiety still,

[xDebbiejo]

Hi MrAnious

 

So sorry that you are suffering.

 

Maybe the job could help? If you're not sure, you could always just try and leave if you cannot cope.

 

Again I'm really sorry for the way you are feeling and hope you find relief soon

 

Debbie x