Jd1boyz
04-05-09, 23:33
I would like to describe my experiences on this drug and the struggle with anxiety and depression so you do not make my mistake.
It started in high school when i was diagnosed with depression/anxiety cause my hands were tingly. That was pretty much my only symptom. Then my Psychiatrist put me on anti-depression medications. I started with Zoloft but did not really do anything cause i pretty much had no problems to begin with. I believe the doctor just wanted another patient so he can make more money. After I told him there was no difference he puts me on Effexor XR starting at 75 mg/day. It was about the time I was a senior in high school that he eventually worked me up to 300 mg/day. Before taking this medication I was number 12 in my class of 800+ and was in great shape playing football and baseball.
I felt good and everything and I didnt even notice that the Effexor made me feel numb to my emotions. I started just not caring anymore. I quit playing sports and pretty much just gave up. I felt all my ambitions drain from me. I ended up dropping over 100 people in my graduating class. I went from rank 12 to about 120. I starting being zombie like not caring etc.. Ate all the time gained 100 pounds and starting feeling just pretty lazy all the time. It took me 6 years to finally realize that being on Effexor was bad.
The entire time I was on this drug I never felt joy, love, happiness, sadness, or anything. After going through 4 different colleges and flunking out of everything I ever tried since being on this drug. I decided enough is enough. It actually took me a little bit to pinpoint that my problem was my being on Effexor. I asked the doctor to go down on dosage so i did. I still felt like a zombie and complete laziness with no ambitions whats so ever. He even took me down to the lowest possible dosage and I told him i felt no anxiety, depression, but still felt almost no emotion. He told me to stay on the drug cause it was working as intended. I tried getting off the drug multiple times. I tried tappering and cold turkey. They were both exactly the same. During my first attempt I had all the bad stuff you dont wanna experience during withdrawl. Symptoms ranging from Brain shocks to dizziness, naseua, insomnia, waking up every hour in the night etc... the list goes on. The withdrawl was a million times worse then anything i have experienced. Regardless of how I did it.
But today is the longest I have ever been off the medication (1 week). So far I am experiencing much milder symptoms. There are several reasons why this is. Despite the fact I did it cold turkey. It has been one week and my symptoms are not nearly as bad as they were the first 5 times i tried going off this drug. I attribute this to my radical change in life style. Right when i went cold turkey I went on a low fat diet with extremely healthy foods eating 4-5 small meals a day. And I started strenuous exersize routines. Because of the Effexor I reached a weight of 300 pounds about 2 weeks ago. I have lost 40 pounds since then and the pounds are flying off even still. Mainly because I finally am experiencing ambition due to the fact of not being on effexor anymore. When going off it after being on the medication for so long all the emotions that I havent felt in soo long are all flooding in. And I am releasing my emotions in a healthy way. I actually never felt anxiety in my entire life not even before i went on this medication nor did i really suffer from depression. Not until Effexor. Effexor was the cause for my depression and anxiety. (Wish i never went to the pschyiatrist in the first place).
Currently I am well on my way to a complete rehabilitation of my life. I have a full time job which I am happy working 90 hours a week. Its my first job in 8 years. I am making plenty of cash to go back to school cause of my past flunk outs i get no more federal loans. But thankfully through my hard work and the loans from my bank (Chase) I am going back to school. Since I took my SAT's before i ever went on the drug i made a 1440 on it and even though i graduated 120th in my class it was still top quarter so I was excepted into texas A & M which is where I will be attending and paying my way through. I am going to be a doctor.
In summation, I strongly advise anyone even thinking of going on this drug to try something else. It is just not worth it in the long run. I lost 6 years of my life which I wont get back. To those of you who want to get off and are having troubles its not easy and you all who have tried knows it. I suggest trying my method of healthy eating habits and regular exercise. It really does help the withdrawl symptoms (but there will still be significant symptoms just not as bad). Its currently 1 week and I will prolly update how i am going in the following weeks to come.
It started in high school when i was diagnosed with depression/anxiety cause my hands were tingly. That was pretty much my only symptom. Then my Psychiatrist put me on anti-depression medications. I started with Zoloft but did not really do anything cause i pretty much had no problems to begin with. I believe the doctor just wanted another patient so he can make more money. After I told him there was no difference he puts me on Effexor XR starting at 75 mg/day. It was about the time I was a senior in high school that he eventually worked me up to 300 mg/day. Before taking this medication I was number 12 in my class of 800+ and was in great shape playing football and baseball.
I felt good and everything and I didnt even notice that the Effexor made me feel numb to my emotions. I started just not caring anymore. I quit playing sports and pretty much just gave up. I felt all my ambitions drain from me. I ended up dropping over 100 people in my graduating class. I went from rank 12 to about 120. I starting being zombie like not caring etc.. Ate all the time gained 100 pounds and starting feeling just pretty lazy all the time. It took me 6 years to finally realize that being on Effexor was bad.
The entire time I was on this drug I never felt joy, love, happiness, sadness, or anything. After going through 4 different colleges and flunking out of everything I ever tried since being on this drug. I decided enough is enough. It actually took me a little bit to pinpoint that my problem was my being on Effexor. I asked the doctor to go down on dosage so i did. I still felt like a zombie and complete laziness with no ambitions whats so ever. He even took me down to the lowest possible dosage and I told him i felt no anxiety, depression, but still felt almost no emotion. He told me to stay on the drug cause it was working as intended. I tried getting off the drug multiple times. I tried tappering and cold turkey. They were both exactly the same. During my first attempt I had all the bad stuff you dont wanna experience during withdrawl. Symptoms ranging from Brain shocks to dizziness, naseua, insomnia, waking up every hour in the night etc... the list goes on. The withdrawl was a million times worse then anything i have experienced. Regardless of how I did it.
But today is the longest I have ever been off the medication (1 week). So far I am experiencing much milder symptoms. There are several reasons why this is. Despite the fact I did it cold turkey. It has been one week and my symptoms are not nearly as bad as they were the first 5 times i tried going off this drug. I attribute this to my radical change in life style. Right when i went cold turkey I went on a low fat diet with extremely healthy foods eating 4-5 small meals a day. And I started strenuous exersize routines. Because of the Effexor I reached a weight of 300 pounds about 2 weeks ago. I have lost 40 pounds since then and the pounds are flying off even still. Mainly because I finally am experiencing ambition due to the fact of not being on effexor anymore. When going off it after being on the medication for so long all the emotions that I havent felt in soo long are all flooding in. And I am releasing my emotions in a healthy way. I actually never felt anxiety in my entire life not even before i went on this medication nor did i really suffer from depression. Not until Effexor. Effexor was the cause for my depression and anxiety. (Wish i never went to the pschyiatrist in the first place).
Currently I am well on my way to a complete rehabilitation of my life. I have a full time job which I am happy working 90 hours a week. Its my first job in 8 years. I am making plenty of cash to go back to school cause of my past flunk outs i get no more federal loans. But thankfully through my hard work and the loans from my bank (Chase) I am going back to school. Since I took my SAT's before i ever went on the drug i made a 1440 on it and even though i graduated 120th in my class it was still top quarter so I was excepted into texas A & M which is where I will be attending and paying my way through. I am going to be a doctor.
In summation, I strongly advise anyone even thinking of going on this drug to try something else. It is just not worth it in the long run. I lost 6 years of my life which I wont get back. To those of you who want to get off and are having troubles its not easy and you all who have tried knows it. I suggest trying my method of healthy eating habits and regular exercise. It really does help the withdrawl symptoms (but there will still be significant symptoms just not as bad). Its currently 1 week and I will prolly update how i am going in the following weeks to come.