Effexor Withdrawal

Back in May, when I found out my teaching contract would not be renewed (in spite of being told I was "an amazing teacher" doing "incredible work with my students"), I had a bit of a breakdown.

I couldn't write about it at the time, as I was quite devastated. Also, I didn't want to lapse into unprofessionalism and publicly deride my former employer. Because I am an Aspie and consequently a WYSIWYG person (what-you-see-is-what-you-get), I found it too difficult to censor myself on my blog, so I simply avoided talking about it at all.

Well, I still don't think I should talk about the job specifics, but I can and will communicate about my pharmacological solutions.

First off, I should tell you a bit of background regarding the medications I take, as well as the disorders being treated. I have dysthymic depression + major depression (episodes) + generalized anxiety disorder.

Over the last 16 years, I have taken Luvox, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil, and Effexor. I took Effexor for the longest of these meds - about 12 years. Over the years, Effexor stopped being as effective for me, so I was on an ever-increasing dose.

In May I was taking the highest dose of Effexor supplemented with Wellbutrin, low-dose Elavil (for headaches), and Buspirone plus Remeron for anxiety.

Basically, I was quite medicated at that time. And I was becoming more agitated, more anxious, and more prone to feelings of rage. I believe my rage was understandable, considering the circumstances, but I still had to go to work and teach every day... I became less and less able to control my emotions.

I decided that my meds were exacerbating my moods and making me unstable, so I ultimately weaned myself off of almost everything... Except the lowest dose of Effexor.

I found out firsthand that Effexor can cause terrible withdrawal, where a person can get brutal side effects if they try to stop. I did experience this to a minor degree over the years, for instance if my prescription ran out before I got a new one filled. Note that SNRI and SSRI medication has been known to cause discontinuation syndrome, but a large portion of information about this syndrome is currently anecdotal.

But last May I was knocked down with the following symptoms a couple of days following my last dose, even though I slowly decreased my Effexor over a period of several weeks:

• muscle aches and pains
• 101 degree fever
• severe headaches interspersed with migraines
• insomnia
• restless legs (actually, whole-body restlessness)
• nausea
• stomach pain
  
• cramping and diarrhoea
• dizziness
• jumpiness
• euphoria, alternating with extreme panic and paranoia
  
• "brain zaps", aka "brain shivers", aka "brain shocks" - these were the absolute worst symptom. Brain zaps feel like jolts of electricity through my brain every time I moved my eyes. Brain zaps plagued me during the day and even at night, as I was falling asleep (they'd wake me up). Each zap lasts only a couple of seconds, but it leaves you disoriented and unbalanced for a few seconds or minutes afterward.
  

"Wait a second, Hyperlexian! Most of those symptoms sound like the flu or another virus! How do you know they can be attributed to Effexor withdrawal?" <--imaginary argumentative reader. Well, obviously I went back onto the lowest dose of Effexor, and all of my symptoms miraculously vanished within approximately 12 hours.

Looking back, I'd say that the benefits taking Effexor over the years has definitely outweighed the risks; it has kept me relatively happy and sane and "normal". But I'll be visiting my doctor soon to see if I can find ways to get completely off of Effexor. I read somewhere that a patient can switch to Paxil, which purportedly has fewer withdrawal problems, so maybe I'll try that.