To Finish Off

Well to finish off this whole project . . . . .

After I stopped I went through a week of hell. It was worse than then I was titrating downwards. If anyone is ever coming off Effexor and they want to plan it somewhat I would suggest that you plan to have a full week off for when you go down to 0. I must say that I was under the impression that the titrating downwards part of the regime would be the worst but I was wrong.

Now all I worry about is a relapse of a viral infection of some kind but I have a great feeling of content knowing that I am off Effexor but also recognising the benefits I got from the drug while I was on it.

Day 36 – is this it?

Day 35 – none
Day 36 – none

Looks like I broke the camel’s back. It’s been almost a week now since my last dose and I am feeling pretty ok.
I am still quite spaced and irritable but any feeling of malaise is gone away which is a huge plus because it means I can function again.
What’s really pleasing is that other than having to “take to the bed” once I have been fine in that regard and sleep well and am not tired during the day.

Oh please, oh please let this be it. Let it just be an onwards and upwards ramp back to normality!!!!!!!

Day 34 – I dunno anymore

Day 32 – none
Day 33 – none
Day 34 – none

Almost took some last night as I was feeling a bit shook but had a bit of a nap instead and although I am completely out of it (6 on a scale of 1 to 5) I am hoping that there may be an upturn in my fortunes within the next few days.

It has been a rotten week in general. I never appreciated how messing around with hormone levels in the body could bring a man to his knees.
Onwards and upwards (and the hope that any signs of mania are fleeting!!!)

I did realise that I could summarise a lot of what I went through in the first few weeks into condensed posts. Would make it easier for anyone passing through.

Day 31 – not quite so clear

Day 29 updated – 18mg – evening
Day 30 – clear
Day 31 – 18mg evening

As you can see I have run into a bit of trouble when I finally stopped taking the pills. I was in bit on Day 29 and that evening I had to take half a pill just to stop the hell I was going through. I was completely out of touch with reality and in danger of falling over at any stage. I am currently as irritable as hell.

I have decided to introduce a new step into the tapering and that will be half a tablet every two days. One and a half days seems to be the limit at the moment before I started getting spaced out, irritable and a bit tired. I’ll see how I get on with the new regime for a few days before I decide on the next step

Day 29 – messed up

Day 27 – 17.5mg Morning
Day 28 – clear
Day 29 – clear

Hard to say how I am as I was out last night so this may be hangover related. It’s half six in the evening and my head is fried – just completely fried. I don’t know whether I am coming or going. . . . it is quite harsh. Looking forward to tomorrow as that should give me a better idea of how I am having completely come off effexor.

Day 26 – Ouch

Day 24 – 17.5mg Evening
Day 25 – 17.5mg Evening
Day 26 – 17.5mg Afternoon

Ouch . . . is all I can say. Went to bed two nights ago with a feeling of general malaise and a few aches and pains. Woke up in a complete daze in which I spent most of the day. Really really uncomfortable. I had to go to bed twice during the day as everytime I turned around suddenly I felt like dropping to the ground. . . . it was if when I turned, my brain kept turning! Not the best state to be in with an exam the next day and a thesis to be submitted in a week.

This was as bad as it has been and it is obviously (to me anyway) related to the drop to 1/4 of the original dose. I woke up yesterday feeling not too bad but not 100% alert either which thankfully wasn’t a problem for the exam however yesterday evening I took a turn again and had to go to bed. My head was completely messed up (a solid, continuous 4 out of 5 in terms of being spaced).

Today I have decided to take my dose a little earlier, just to ease the rate at which the drug is leaving my body. I’ll see how I am in 2 days time before deciding to stop altogether.

If I were to start again knowing what I know now, I would have started two weeks earlier as it would have meant the troublesome symptoms over the last week or so would have occurred at a time when I wasn’t so busy.

Day 23 – Five days to go!!!!!!

Day 23 – 17.5mg evening

I can’t believe that in about 5 days time I will be off the Effexor. Each time I drop a dose it does take a few days to adjust but I am glad I seem to have avoided all the catastrophic problems others seem to have. I have to say I have no problem with the concepts of taking medication to cure a problem, whereas a lot of the people who complain about the withdrawal symptoms of effexor seem to be part of the “my body can heal itself” brigade.

The three weeks to date have been a bit of an adventure. You are always on edge that any little blip in your sense of wellbeing – such as feeling nauseous or dizzy or spaced out – is just the precursor to a major relapse and the re-emergence of the pain I used to experience.

Day 22 : Up and down and around

Day 18 – 35mg evening
Day 19 – 35mg evening
Day 20 – 35mg evening
Day 21 – 17.5mg evening
Day 22 – 17.5mg evening

Quick fill in : Days 18 and 19 were spent with a pretty bad headache that may or may not have been related to a bottle of wine. I had no hangover on Saturday, yet around 4pm I got a pretty severe headache which lasted for 4 or 5 hours. Both days were spent in quite a daze as well. I am happy to sat that Day 20 was a lot better and I decided to take the final step and drop to 17.5mg per day. I will stay on 17.5mg a day for about a week before stopping taking the Effexor altogether.

I can’t really comment on how I feel at the moment as I have a horribly sore tooth which kept me up last night. I feel like putting a bit of string on it like in those old movies but a few blasts of chlorhexidine (an antibacterial mouthwash) seems to be doing it’s job.

Day 17 – where in God’s name am I?????

Day 15 – 35mg evening
Day 16 – 35mg evening
Day 17 – 35mg evening

As the title suggests I have been quite spaced out for the last 3 or 4 days. My concentration levels vanish without notice and come again with even less notice.
I have probably reached 4 on my patented space-o-meter (5 being the worst) but it has only been for a half an hour at a time. To counteract that I have had no real feeling of malaise of any kind for the last few days. It is my 9th day on 35mg and I have noticed an improvement in one area. For the first few days I would get very spaced out after about 20 hours . . . .obviously my body was looking for another dose . . but now I can go the full 24 hours without noticing that I am due a dose. I think based on this, that it would be worth waiting until day 20 to drop down to ~18mg a day (the final stage in the withdrawal)

A look back – the initial weeks

The initial weeks on effexor were a nightmare. I had been told that I would not feel benefit for a few weeks (in all it took months to settle).

I was on 35mg a day for the first week and then went up to 75mg a day where I stayed. That first day I suffered from severe nausea which came on wave after wave after wave. I dreaded every time I had to take a pill due to the nausea it caused. It was a complete shock to me as I had never had to take medication which caused this much discomfort in my life! The nausea element of it lasted weeks on end. Other side effects paled into insignificance compared to the nausea so I can’t really list them here as I don’t remember them.

What I do remember though is the relief that something was happening that might give me my life back.

Of course reading the patient information leaflet didn’t help with all that talk about possible suicidal tendencies.