(originally posted in 2010)
Recently, I was having a look at a forum in which people’s experiences of trying to come off Effexor were detailed.
Over 6,000 posts for goodness sake! I have a very personal interest in the subject and even I didn’t have the time or the inclination to read through all of them. But there is a very similar theme running through all of them – the horrific withdrawal symptoms, not being warned about said symptoms upon being prescribed them, and the outrage at what this drug, although often successful in treating depression, can do to people if they either run out of it, or try to come off it. Even people who haven’t gone cold turkey, but have merely had their doses reduced, have been adversely affected. There are very strong emotions expressed, with many saying what a disgrace it is that people are not warned about the withdrawal symptoms, and how the pharmaceutical company in question should be held accountable. In essence, people, including myself, have been turned into ‘drug addicts’ because being without the drug causes such suffering – far worse in many cases than the depression which causes people to be prescribed it in the first place.
Many people are prescribed Effexor for post-natal depression. This was the case with me five years ago. I’d have preferred not to have had to take it, but since it had gotten to the stage where I was having suicidal thoughts, my ex (who was a clinical nurse manager trained in psychiatry amongst other disciplines) kind of figured I should really see a doctor (not that I really needed to be told I needed help!).
Anyway, the Effexor worked, and worked very well. Plus, I’d guess, with my hormones getting back to normal and circumstances getting better, perhaps I would have felt better in time anyway, but right then I needed to be ‘together’ for my family, and couldn’t afford to ‘wait and see’.
Do I need it now? I’m not sure. All is okay as long as circumstances don’t cause me to run out of it or forget to take it (which admittedly doesn't happen often). I thought I was imagining the symptoms the first time I experienced them, that it was ‘panic’ or psychosomatic. But yet I knew I wasn’t, that they were all too real. Researching online has also proven that they are no figment of my imagination. In fact, as bad as they are for me, I actually have gotten off lightly. I don’t get withdrawal symptoms unless I’ve been without them for several hours, and I can still (just about) function unless circumstances mean I have to be without them for longer than a day, which happened around 3 times – some get them much sooner than that, and much worse.
Is it reasonable to stay on a drug indefinitely, whether or not you still need it, because the withdrawal symptoms are too horrible to want to go through? Because you know what you feel like after even only 3 days of being without them? Because you’re afraid that being without them for longer may result in goodness knows what? Because you feel so ill and ‘out of it’ that you’re not even fit to drive? Because one time when you did (stupidly) drive feeling like that, you felt so agitated that you could have quite happily driven your car into a wall? Because you feel so nauseous, dizzy, irritable, and frightened?
Remember, these symptoms have been experienced by people who’ve even just reduced their dose (in consultation with medical professionals); it’s not just running out or going ‘cold-turkey’ which does it. There seems to be no easy way to do it. So basically I won't be doing it anytime soon, if ever. I'm on the lowest therapeutic dose. Why fix what (kind of) isn't broken, go through the horrible withdrawal symptoms, and find out that maybe I did need to stay on them after all. But each to their own. It’s so angering though, reading all those posts, and experiencing the symptoms, and I’d strongly urge anyone who it has been suggested to that they take Effexor, that they really research the drug and see if there are any other alternatives, before taking it.
