Update

[efexorsam]

Hi, its been a while since I posted but I feel now is time for an update and I will keep on this site more for a while.

I went on ssri's aged 18 (in 2001) and was on effexor from 2002-2007 with a couple of quick withdrawals and some really messy times including a night in psychiatric hospital a few years ago.

Anyway, my news now is a bit more positive. I started back at university last September, and have been slowly coming down on prozac liquid. The last cut I did was 28 February 2008, and I've been on the same dose 1.8ml = 7.2mg since then. I have exams over the next few weeks, but I plan on making a cut on 29 May when my exams finish.

I've been off effexor now since March 2007, and although I think it still may be affecting me a bit, the worst of that is over now thank God.

I'm doing ok. Sure this is hard and everyday is a struggle but I am getting there. I found an ssri/benzo support group near me and I've found that very helpful, although as you know no one can do the work except yourself.

Anyway, still have bad symptoms, itching/chills along with nausea at times headaches, weird pains in the body. But-- recently I have days where I just can't get rid of my hunger. I try to eat well, and avoid sugar when I crave it.

Don't know how much longer I will be on this crap for, maybe another year, maybe 2, but still, I like the feeling of waking up from this terrible numb dream after so long. Now spring is here, I look at the flowers and think I've never seen one before. Another problem though is that at times things get so loud and I get so jumpy.

Still, despite most days being bad, I get times, sometimes minutes sometimes a bit longer when things don''t feel so bad.

Will keep writing.

Take care, and all the best.

Sam

[LCrawford67]

Thank you so much for the update, Sam! I'm happy you're doing well at school and you're feeling better from w/d.

Yes, the lingering w/d symptoms are very annoying, but it sounds like you're dealing with them very well.

Please, keep us posted on your progress and all the best to you!

[elisa]

Great that you're doing better Sam!! It's very wise to wait with the rest of the Prozac taper until you're finished with your exams.

Yes, please keep us updated on how you're doing!!

[efexorsam]

Don't get me wrong, it's still bloody hard. Most days I have to force myself out of the house, but when I'm out there, its not as bad as I imagine. Often being with people takes my mind off the symptoms, but still the anxiety etc can be overwhelming.

The only things that really help aside from diet and vitamins are exercise and meditation.

Sorry to hear that you're still suffering Elisa. That effexor is a horiffic drug. The first 3 months for me coming off that were insane, and the 3 months after that were little better. I'm almost certain that it is still affecting me albeit to a lesser extent now.

Also, would it be possible to change my name now that I'm off that stuff?

[efexorsam]

Bit of a bad day today. Mood swings, and extremely sensitive to everything. The weather is nice but I feel bad. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

[LCrawford67]

One day at a time, Sam.

[efexorsam]

Thanks, but as I'm sure you know a bad day can be debilitating. It's not the zaps so much today as the tinyest thing is like 10 times what it should be. I got really irritated with my friend with no good reason and felt like punching him. I didn't though

[LCrawford67]

Oh man...don't I know it. It's awful, isn't it? Especially when you have to be at work, or deal with people when it hits.

It's best I just keep to myself when I'm like that.

[elisa]

Originally Posted by efexorsam

Don't get me wrong, it's still bloody hard. Most days I have to force myself out of the house, but when I'm out there, its not as bad as I imagine. Often being with people takes my mind off the symptoms, but still the anxiety etc can be overwhelming.

The only things that really help aside from diet and vitamins are exercise and meditation.

Sorry to hear that you're still suffering Elisa. That effexor is a horiffic drug. The first 3 months for me coming off that were insane, and the 3 months after that were little better. I'm almost certain that it is still affecting me albeit to a lesser extent now.

Also, would it be possible to change my name now that I'm off that stuff?

Yes, I know it can be bloody hard. You're doing the right thing by going out - if you can - and being in touch with people distracts you from the withdrawal symptoms, depending on the severity.

Yup, Effexor withdrawal is hell - insane - no words can be found to describe it. I'm glad though that you're doing a bit better.

I sincerely hope that you will get better soon Sam!!

BTW: you can PM a moderator to ask for a "name change". They'll take care of it.

[eileen]

Hi Sam, it's great to hear from you again. Congratulations on being in college and good luck with your exams. I love your attitude even though I know it's hard. I too, find it better when I can get out, keep my self busy and talk to people. I wish you continued success.
Eileen

[efexorsam]

Thanks Eileen

[efexorsam]

I had two exams in the last week. The first one was Monday, and the second one Wednesday, although I thought it was Friday, but on Monday, someone asked me how I felt like for Wednesday. Wednesday?? So I had about 24 hours to revise for the exam, 12 of which were spent sleeping and I reckon overall reading time worked out at about 4 hours.

Wednesday morning I felt horrendous. I thought I'm going to call in sick, and what's worse I overslept. I thought do I really want to be doing this. Then I thought if I call in sick I would only have to retake, so did it anyway. It went badly, and because I was so unprepared, I only had some information to answer the first question. The second was on human free will and divine omniscience, so hopefully God gave me some inspiration for that. It was probably one of the worst exams I've ever done, but still I did it and did my best given the circumstances.

I'm surprised that after nearly 3 months the symptoms haven't really settled as yet, but I'm going to make a cut on 29 May the day after my final exam.

People obviously can't understand why I would make mistakes like think the exam was Friday when it was advertised as Monday, but then again they would have a similar problem if they were trying to get off an ssri.....

I'm looking forward to the summer, and a break from university, and need a part time job as my financial situation is not good. I'm only going to look for something part time though.

[LCrawford67]

I'm betting you did better on the exam than you thought. You'll have to keep us posted on the grade

[efexorsam]

Hi, so I made a cut 23rd February, and by 29th May thought it was time for another. Went from 1.8ml prozac (7.2mg) to 1.6ml (6.4mg). No real change for a day or two and then about a week of feeling bad.

Anyway, because I've not made many cuts this year, I decided to drop to 1.4 ml (5.6mg) today. I think it is the right decision. I'm feeling reasonably ok, so while I feel like this, I thought I would cut.

I will go back to studying in September, and want to make a couple of more cuts before then. As I said I think I may still be on this stuff for another year or more, but at least the dose is fairly low now.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

[LCrawford67]

You can't taper too slow, Sam! You're doing what's comfortable for you and that's all that matters.

Enjoy the summer and hopefully, you'll be more than ready for school again in September.

[efexorsam]

The weather has been good here the last few days, gone a bit cooler now though. Do you think the cut I made has been too quick or is it ok to make small cuts every 2 weeks or so?

[efexorsam]

Also is my signature too long?

[LCrawford67]

Originally Posted by efexorsam

The weather has been good here the last few days, gone a bit cooler now though. Do you think the cut I made has been too quick or is it ok to make small cuts every 2 weeks or so?

I think you should listen to your body and do what you feel comfortable with. I don't know a lot about Prozac, so I can't tell you how much is too much. But, you may want to wait at least three weeks between cuts.

Originally Posted by efexorsam

Also is my signature too long?

Not at all!

[efexorsam]

Great, I will see how I feel in 3 weeks. I'm glad that my signature isn't too long-- it puts things in a bit of perspective and others can see my situation in a better context.

[efexorsam]

I got my exam results yesterday. I'm happy because I passed them all, and I was expecting to have to re-take at least one. I probably shouldn't complain, but I still feel quite bad a lot of the time. There's nothing I haven't already experienced, but just feel exhausted with everything. I really need to get a job to give me some money over the next couple of months, but I just don't know if I can do it because of the w/d. Just don't know what to do. Maybe I could do something part time, and have to remind myself that people can't see how bad I'm feeling.

It was a bad day today, where everyone seemed rude and generally nasty people, but I know in my heart that this is not true, it just seems this way because of this damn chemical thing going on in my brain.

I still plan on making a cut next week, exactly a month after my last one, but still when you are going through a bad patch it is so easy to forget when things don't seem so bad. Just exhausted with everything, but know sleeping more than 8 hours does nothing to help. Have to keep getting out there, because the last thing I want is to fall back into not going out because it seems so hard, but then that makes it hard just to get out at all.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better!!