Please help me... About Effexor withdrawals?!
Question: I went off of Effexor completely, after tapering off, of course, in February 2008. It's been almost two months now. It's been incredibly horrific, but some things have gotten better, while some things have not changed or have gotten worse. My main worry is that I seem to have become mentally retarded. My dreams are to become an author and pursue a higher education, but now I am having trouble forming coherent sentences, and not only can I not comprehend books I would usually have no problem breezing through, but I can't even pay attention to them. This happened when I went off the Effexor. Is this going to go away and when? Is this permanent? Am I going to be reduced to a complete idiot for the rest of my life? I can't even write my books or even a Yahoo question now. It's pathetic. Please only answer if you have been through this, know of any articles referring to this, or have had family or a close friend experience this.
Answers: I went off of Effexor completely, after tapering off, of course, in February 2008. It's been almost two months now. It's been incredibly horrific, but some things have gotten better, while some things have not changed or have gotten worse. My main worry is that I seem to have become mentally retarded. My dreams are to become an author and pursue a higher education, but now I am having trouble forming coherent sentences, and not only can I not comprehend books I would usually have no problem breezing through, but I can't even pay attention to them. This happened when I went off the Effexor. Is this going to go away and when? Is this permanent? Am I going to be reduced to a complete idiot for the rest of my life? I can't even write my books or even a Yahoo question now. It's pathetic. Please only answer if you have been through this, know of any articles referring to this, or have had family or a close friend experience this.
Yes, this is more common than you might imagine. Particularly the verbal discombobulations and eyesight/written word incompatabilities.
The good news is that at only 2 months off, your body's just starting to sort itself out from the chaos - this may take time, but time seems to bring about improvements.
Watch out for the post-drug waves of withdrawal that ex-users may report - read around and it may stike you how unusual it is that lots of people seem to hit a particularly rough patch post-drug at round about the three month point. There may be one or two more in the first year, but they generally seem to dissipate over the long-term. If you can recognise them, it can make them easier to deal with.
Let's see, any of this sound familiar: mixing up words, repeating sentences, memory up the tubes, concentration down the drain, eyes not comprehending the written word properly, being 'blanked' or 'blunted', sentences dancing about on the pages, brain 'locking up' or 'freezing out', headaches left right and centre, balance and fine motor control dented, having to write things down all the time because otherwise they'll leak out of your skull, mathematical struggles, creativity zilched, waves of fatigue (perhaps linked to trying to concentrate too hard?), hitting the wrong keys while typing, losing the ability to spell properly, problems with using a dictionary because the letter order is too confusing to comprehend, word 'blanks' where your brain and mouth seem terminally disconected, word 'burbles' where verbal rubbish flows forth from the mouth without proper control, mix-ups with colours & times, personality on AWOL...?
All I can say is 'hang on in there' - because time seems to be the healer. Trying to write a post could take me three hours and leave me on the floor with a headache so painful I had to crawl to the bathroom; trying to read a book would put me to sleep, because I couldn't understand what the words were supposed to mean and concentrating too hard switched me off at the mains, I would write down the characters' names on a sheet of paper because without a crib sheet it was hopeless - would you believe I had to write down the Harry Potter characters and the plot-lines as I was starting the LAST book, because despite the previous books I still couldn't hang onto the basics, heck, it took me an hour, a page of scrawled notes, and two semi-dozes to get past the complexities of the opening 5-6 pages; trying to follow a conversation was awful, when there was a background of noise I couldn't understand the sounds that were coming out of people's mouths and I had to concentrate on their lips to try and figure out what these sounds were supposed to mean, but the concentrating either brought on a headache or started to switch me 'off' again...
If you want to read of more anecdotal experience (i.e. the wringers that real people have been through) then simply google around and you'll find them. For a quick start point, you could head over to 'Paxil Progress' and start working throgh some of their relevant threads - I've linked you to the 'protracted withdrawal' one, below.
You may find the 'tips' link of help - in ignorance & zombiedom I arrived at some of the conclusions listed here... wish I'd come across this in advance. For me the biggies were: don't push it, listen to your body and heed its warnings, cut down on external stimuli as far as possible, have a warm dark haven to be used when needed (bedroom, a sofa with a blanket over the top can work fine) and to heck with the proprieties, healthy diet as far as possible (you still got food cravings from the drug?) and staying away from artificial additives (people can be hypersensitive to them post-drug), gentle exercise if the body can tolerate it.
So although it may feel pretty horrendous now, the excellent news is that in recovery terms, what seems to help enormously is time - and you've got that on your side. Eight weeks in is very little, the healing may be slow, but time seems to haul along improvement in its wake...
My very best wishes.
My ex went cold turkey off Effexor and he had excrutiating headaches and other physical withdrawal and his mental functioning was impaired too. He had trouble remembering things and also had the same problem as you with forming sentences and thinking of the correct word to use. Doctors are well aware of the need to properly "step down" their patients on drugs such as Effexor and if yours isn't, then you truly do need to find a new doctor. It's been almost 3 years since my ex went off Effexor and though he's improved quite a bit, he never really has been the same. It would not surprise me to learn in the future that Effexor and similiar drugs are dangerous and can cause permanent damage when withdrawn incorrectly. I wish I had more encouraging words for you but that has been my ex's experience. Good luck.
It can take a while for the chemicals in your brain to start working properly after stopping anti-depression medication.
When I came off Venlafaxine (Effexor) i suffered heart palpitations and tingling in my face for about 3weeks, and couldn't sleep properly or concentrate fr about a month.
I promise that, if you are like me, it does sort itself off, you just have to be patient. If you don't feel right after another couple f weeks see your doctor if you like, but if you are not satisfied with his response, ask for a second opinion- you're entitled to one.
xx