Coleen's Effexor Recovery

[Coleen]

Hello all. It has been a little over a year that I have been Effexor free( after being on it for 18 years). At this point, I feel okay- not as bad as I feared. I don't know if depression is a genetic predisposition or circumstances in my childhood and life( or a bit of both), but struggling with it isn't as daunting as I was afraid it might be; certainly not as bad as it was when I began taking drugs for it.

Unfortunately, i didn't wean properly; I jumped from 18 mg to nothing, thinking I could handle it. I would strongly urge anyone to wean down to one granule if you can to avoid the severity of the withdrawal. 

The first six months were very difficult...I was very irritable and very sad- hopeless feeling most of the time. The physical symptoms were fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache and the robotic sound of my eyeballs moving. Even now, though rarely, I can hear my eyeballs moving; this usually happens when I am over tired. I know that my brain has had to rewire itself, so I understand that all this is normal for withdrawal. I admit to at some points,wanting to go back to it because for me the best feeling I ever had was the first month or so on the drug- feeling happy beyond belief and feeling balanced. I would love to feel that way all the time, but the drug loses its efficacy after a time and makes me feel pretty much as I do now- low depression, with occasional feelings of happiness( or what I call normal).

At this point in my life, I have embraced meditation and mindfulness, and it has helped immensely. I hope you all are doing well and are able to get away from the drugs that ensnare us into that feeling of non being( at least, that was my experience....I was beginning to feel like a robot). Its a long road, but I really believe it is worth every agonizing moment. For me, at the end, what I am left with is purely "me"....and it's a better place to start healing.

[Pzen]

Thank you for sharing Coleen.

 

How are things now?

 

Hugs

[chicken]

Great news. Colleen. Thanks for sharing. We need more success stories.

[johnson]

Great news.

[alex]

Hey Coleen, yes, recovery does happen;I'm happy for you.

BTW, you have to change tour signature,because it says you still are on Effexor, and that is not the case.

 

Hugs, A.

[Altostrata]

Coleen, thank you so much for coming back to share that good news with us. I'm very happy for you.

 

I've closed your Intro topic http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1983-about-me-coleen/, which you started April 1, 2012 in the midst of Effexor withdrawal,  as a gesture towards this new chapter in your life.

 

Please post here and let us know how you're doing!

[alwayslookup]

wow thank you this was very encouraging to read.....as a partial efexor surviver myself this gives me hope 

[PurpleZ]

I love the idea of getting off AD's but what are you doing about being depressed?  It's chronic with me.  It just doesn't go away.  Thanks.

[Hopeinahpwr]

Coleen,

Thank you for your success story, it gives many of us hope! I am praying for you.

Ben

[Irvingkirsch]

Hello all. It has been a little over a year that I have been Effexor free( after being on it for 18 years). At this point, I feel okay- not as bad as I feared. I don't know if depression is a genetic predisposition or circumstances in my childhood and life( or a bit of both), but struggling with it isn't as daunting as I was afraid it might be; certainly not as bad as it was when I began taking drugs for it.

Unfortunately, i didn't wean properly; I jumped from 18 mg to nothing, thinking I could handle it. I would strongly urge anyone to wean down to one granule if you can to avoid the severity of the withdrawal. 

The first six months were very difficult...I was very irritable and very sad- hopeless feeling most of the time. The physical symptoms were fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache and the robotic sound of my eyeballs moving. Even now, though rarely, I can hear my eyeballs moving; this usually happens when I am over tired. I know that my brain has had to rewire itself, so I understand that all this is normal for withdrawal. I admit to at some points,wanting to go back to it because for me the best feeling I ever had was the first month or so on the drug- feeling happy beyond belief and feeling balanced. I would love to feel that way all the time, but the drug loses its efficacy after a time and makes me feel pretty much as I do now- low depression, with occasional feelings of happiness( or what I call normal).

At this point in my life, I have embraced meditation and mindfulness, and it has helped immensely. I hope you all are doing well and are able to get away from the drugs that ensnare us into that feeling of non being( at least, that was my experience....I was beginning to feel like a robot). Its a long road, but I really believe it is worth every agonizing moment. For me, at the end, what I am left with is purely "me"....and it's a better place to start healing.

 

Hi, I'm glad to hear you are doing better. Is it posssible that the fatigue you were feeling was a result of insufficient sleep? I've had horrible fatigue as a result of not being able to get enough sleep, but I don't seee too many people talk about that here. Instead people complain about the fatigue and I'm wondering if they just don't realize that sleeping 5 hours a night is not normal.

[Prozac20]

How long did it take for the fatigue to subside ?

[Tootsieroll]

 

Hello all. It has been a little over a year that I have been Effexor free( after being on it for 18 years). At this point, I feel okay- not as bad as I feared. I don't know if depression is a genetic predisposition or circumstances in my childhood and life( or a bit of both), but struggling with it isn't as daunting as I was afraid it might be; certainly not as bad as it was when I began taking drugs for it.

Unfortunately, i didn't wean properly; I jumped from 18 mg to nothing, thinking I could handle it. I would strongly urge anyone to wean down to one granule if you can to avoid the severity of the withdrawal.

The first six months were very difficult...I was very irritable and very sad- hopeless feeling most of the time. The physical symptoms were fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache and the robotic sound of my eyeballs moving. Even now, though rarely, I can hear my eyeballs moving; this usually happens when I am over tired. I know that my brain has had to rewire itself, so I understand that all this is normal for withdrawal. I admit to at some points,wanting to go back to it because for me the best feeling I ever had was the first month or so on the drug- feeling happy beyond belief and feeling balanced. I would love to feel that way all the time, but the drug loses its efficacy after a time and makes me feel pretty much as I do now- low depression, with occasional feelings of happiness( or what I call normal).

At this point in my life, I have embraced meditation and mindfulness, and it has helped immensely. I hope you all are doing well and are able to get away from the drugs that ensnare us into that feeling of non being( at least, that was my experience....I was beginning to feel like a robot). Its a long road, but I really believe it is worth every agonizing moment. For me, at the end, what I am left with is purely "me"....and it's a better place to start healing.

Hi, I'm glad to hear you are doing better. Is it posssible that the fatigue you were feeling was a result of insufficient sleep? I've had horrible fatigue as a result of not being able to get enough sleep, but I don't seee too many people talk about that here. Instead people complain about the fatigue and I'm wondering if they just don't realize that sleeping 5 hours a night is not normal.

I second this. When i get enough sleep my brain fog isn't as bad. As sleep improves, so does everything else. This includes going to bed at the appropriate hours.

[Irvingkirsch]

 

 

Hello all. It has been a little over a year that I have been Effexor free( after being on it for 18 years). At this point, I feel okay- not as bad as I feared. I don't know if depression is a genetic predisposition or circumstances in my childhood and life( or a bit of both), but struggling with it isn't as daunting as I was afraid it might be; certainly not as bad as it was when I began taking drugs for it.

Unfortunately, i didn't wean properly; I jumped from 18 mg to nothing, thinking I could handle it. I would strongly urge anyone to wean down to one granule if you can to avoid the severity of the withdrawal.

The first six months were very difficult...I was very irritable and very sad- hopeless feeling most of the time. The physical symptoms were fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache and the robotic sound of my eyeballs moving. Even now, though rarely, I can hear my eyeballs moving; this usually happens when I am over tired. I know that my brain has had to rewire itself, so I understand that all this is normal for withdrawal. I admit to at some points,wanting to go back to it because for me the best feeling I ever had was the first month or so on the drug- feeling happy beyond belief and feeling balanced. I would love to feel that way all the time, but the drug loses its efficacy after a time and makes me feel pretty much as I do now- low depression, with occasional feelings of happiness( or what I call normal).

At this point in my life, I have embraced meditation and mindfulness, and it has helped immensely. I hope you all are doing well and are able to get away from the drugs that ensnare us into that feeling of non being( at least, that was my experience....I was beginning to feel like a robot). Its a long road, but I really believe it is worth every agonizing moment. For me, at the end, what I am left with is purely "me"....and it's a better place to start healing.

Hi, I'm glad to hear you are doing better. Is it posssible that the fatigue you were feeling was a result of insufficient sleep? I've had horrible fatigue as a result of not being able to get enough sleep, but I don't seee too many people talk about that here. Instead people complain about the fatigue and I'm wondering if they just don't realize that sleeping 5 hours a night is not normal.

I second this. When i get enough sleep my brain fog isn't as bad. As sleep improves, so does everything else. This includes going to bed at the appropriate hours.

 

 

Hi Tootsie Roll,

 

How long did it take after you got off all antidepressants did it take for your insomnia to get better?

[Tootsieroll]

I'm 28 months out but I did have a benzo withdrawal right after I jumped off Celexa and that prolonged my recovery.  At this current moment, I still have insomnia and I have to try extra hard to get to bed.  I do this mantra when i try to sleep "My body is not my mind, and my mind is not my body" and I imagine my mind completely separate from my body.  So even though I feel heart palps as I lie there, my mind drifts off and this helps me sleep.  Good news is that each day that goes by, this situation improves and I no longer need an aid to get to sleep.  If I have an important apptment to get to the next morning, the most I'll ever take is maybe a tiny bite of melatonin.  Other than that, my sleep is deep enough to give me the energy needed for the next day.  I know insomnia is frustrating but be assured that it does get better.

[blazesboylan]

Well Done Coleen. It is good to know that it is possible to wean off Effexor. I am on the same road myself.

 

[Irvingkirsch]

I'm 28 months out but I did have a benzo withdrawal right after I jumped off Celexa and that prolonged my recovery.  At this current moment, I still have insomnia and I have to try extra hard to get to bed.  I do this mantra when i try to sleep "My body is not my mind, and my mind is not my body" and I imagine my mind completely separate from my body.  So even though I feel heart palps as I lie there, my mind drifts off and this helps me sleep.  Good news is that each day that goes by, this situation improves and I no longer need an aid to get to sleep.  If I have an important apptment to get to the next morning, the most I'll ever take is maybe a tiny bite of melatonin.  Other than that, my sleep is deep enough to give me the energy needed for the next day.  I know insomnia is frustrating but be assured that it does get better.

 

Glad you are doing so much better. How long did it take you before you got to a point where you were getting enough sleep to have the energy needed for the next day?

[Tootsieroll]

 

I'm 28 months out but I did have a benzo withdrawal right after I jumped off Celexa and that prolonged my recovery. At this current moment, I still have insomnia and I have to try extra hard to get to bed. I do this mantra when i try to sleep "My body is not my mind, and my mind is not my body" and I imagine my mind completely separate from my body. So even though I feel heart palps as I lie there, my mind drifts off and this helps me sleep. Good news is that each day that goes by, this situation improves and I no longer need an aid to get to sleep. If I have an important apptment to get to the next morning, the most I'll ever take is maybe a tiny bite of melatonin. Other than that, my sleep is deep enough to give me the energy needed for the next day. I know insomnia is frustrating but be assured that it does get better.

Glad you are doing so much better. How long did it take you before you got to a point where you were getting enough sleep to have the energy needed for the next day?

I'd have to say around 20 months was a turning point. My sleep before that was extremely broken and I would be so lethargic that I would forget things that had just happened. For example, I would eat dinner and forget I had eaten dinner and eat dinner again. I eat really small meals so I cant judge by fullness. Sometimes it's tough to function in such a haze.

[Irvingkirsch]

 

 

I'm 28 months out but I did have a benzo withdrawal right after I jumped off Celexa and that prolonged my recovery. At this current moment, I still have insomnia and I have to try extra hard to get to bed. I do this mantra when i try to sleep "My body is not my mind, and my mind is not my body" and I imagine my mind completely separate from my body. So even though I feel heart palps as I lie there, my mind drifts off and this helps me sleep. Good news is that each day that goes by, this situation improves and I no longer need an aid to get to sleep. If I have an important apptment to get to the next morning, the most I'll ever take is maybe a tiny bite of melatonin. Other than that, my sleep is deep enough to give me the energy needed for the next day. I know insomnia is frustrating but be assured that it does get better.

Glad you are doing so much better. How long did it take you before you got to a point where you were getting enough sleep to have the energy needed for the next day?

I'd have to say around 20 months was a turning point. My sleep before that was extremely broken and I would be so lethargic that I would forget things that had just happened. For example, I would eat dinner and forget I had eaten dinner and eat dinner again. I eat really small meals so I cant judge by fullness. Sometimes it's tough to function in such a haze.

 

 

Thanks for responding Tootsie Roll. I guess recovery from insomnia is possible although it doesn't feel like it sometimes.

[dowdaller]

I am 8 months off Effexor I am getting it tough, thanks for posting your story ,it gives me heart.

[ChessieCat]

Hi there,

 

The staff at SA are wondering how you are.  We'd love to hear how you are doing now.   Would you mind dropping by and giving an update?

 

Thanks.

CC