hrcdrc inquired:
I’ve been on Effexor for anxiety/depression for 4 years and want to stop taking it and yes, I heard all the horror stories of withdrawal of coming off antidepressants, so I was wondering if there was a way to get around that. There are pending lawsuits over Effexor right now. I’m so p*ssed off for being stuck on this med cause it’s polluting my body and I’m so afraid that overtime this toxic antidepressant will damage my health. I started at 150mg in 2004; my dosage was raised to 225mg in 2006 cause of some mental breakdown I had and other stressful sh*t going on in college which I rather not go into detail about; then about a month after graduating college which was June 2008, I stepped back down to 150mg mainly for money reasons and started taking fish oil suppliments. I’ve been very fortunate not to have serious withdrawal while stepping down last month, however, I have been feeling more overwhelmed than usual with finding my first full time job (my current job isn’t permanent) and other crazy stuff happening right now; and also I’m more easily bothered by things that I normally just ignore, and coincidentally, these feelings have been going on since I stepped back down to the 150mg. Last month, I call my doc to get her input on this; she says it can be a slight relapse from decreasing the dose and flat out insists that I go back on 225mg and I thought that was really rude opinion; absolute bullcrap. I tell her no cause I’m trying to save money and hang up the phone. I’m still on 150mg today and my heightened anxiety/depression doesn’t interfere with my job, but my personal life with family and friends might be a different story. The relationship with my doctor that prescribes the Effexor hasn’t been good and she doesn’t want to wean me off the drug at this time. I’m switching doctors soon. When I was scheduled to see her last week, someone at work asked me to cover their shift on that day; and I said yes. So I then canceled my doctor’s appointment and tried to rescheduled. In a polite way I told my doctor, “Screw this, work is more important than you right now.” I feel like I’m a weak person for having to take it. I am very tempted to try to taper off Effexor on my own, but I’m so scared of getting sick and withdrawal. I was wondering if anyone on antidepressants has had much luck coming off of them and how they dealt with it. Thanks.
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