Effexor XR and doctors

It breaks my heart to hear all the pain we've gone through coming off this drug. Not everybody will be the same. It took me two weeks before i could even go to work after quitting. I took Effexor for 8 months and can't imagine being on it for multiple years. It did work for me,actually to well, and i acted like a 18 year old.(wife didn't approve of that) I've been diagnosed Bi-polar and now on meds that actually work well!
I was lucky in that i own the company and could come and go as i please. I followed the withdrawal thread, so i was prepared for the pain. I created a spread sheet for 2 weeks for every feeling i felt while coming off of it. I put it a scale of 0-100 for every feeling. i must admit it was the darkest part of my life, and yes, my beautiful wife had the common sense to lock all my guns and keep the keys. I wish all the best to anyone coming down from this drug. If anybody is interested, you can e-mail me at ****** and i can send the spreadsheet to you in excel or PDF format. This helped me understand the pattern that i've been going through the past years. It also helps the new doc see how i feel. Just put in the subject "send me a pdf" or "send me a xls" and i will send you the file, no questions asked. I wish we could attach files on this thread. Any doctors interested are also welcome to e-mail me.

I was first diagnosed with depression when i was 18 years old. For 9 years i was on all different types of medication but for a majority of the time i was on Effexor xr. I remember when i missed a dose, just feeling so bad i would just want to go to bed but when i took the next dose it wouldn't take long to get back to normal. My memory has been shocking. So bad that i have trouble remembering what happened when my children were babies. I don't know if this is because of the meds or the depression. My father committed suicide during the time i was on effexor and i just could not grieve. I felt that when i cried i was just forcing it. I just didn't feel many emotions at all. My life took a turn after that and i had so much going on that i either didn't have any trouble coming off it or i just don't remember what it was like.
At the start of this year my life was very full and happy and i was so busy until one day i just felt as though i was going to die. For a week i sat in the emergency department at the hospital certain i was going to die and leave my three children without a mother. I was finally diagnosed with a panic disorder. I didn't care what they did i just wanted them to make it stop.(the way i was feeling) I was put lexapro but had a bad reaction to that so they put me back on effexor xr. I can only say thank god! I have been on it now for almost six months and i have decided to come off it again as i feel my life is back in control. The main side effects i have had this time on this medication have been, a definite decrease in sexual function, deep sleep, vivid dreams and my pupils are dilating differently. I have over the last week decreased my dose from 75mls a day to 37.5. I really don't remember going through all these side effects last time. I was on a much higher dose before too. I have had the worst migraines, i am so tired, my eyes sting, i have what i guess others have described as shocks. When i move my head or blink my eyes it feels like i get a shock in my head. I feel like i am looking through a tunnel sometimes too. Although i had this same feeling when i was first put back on the meds. Yes it is tough coming off it this time but i still don't regret taking it in the first place. Without it i may still be feeling the worst feelings i have ever felt in my life and i wouldn't wish it on anyone. The effects i am getting now are not even a glimpse of what i went through before i started.

I have been weaning off for about a month now. I was on 75mg a day for about two years. I have learned you can pull apart your capsules and lower your dose that way. I think I have about two more doses. I am going through withdrawals right now, but It is not as intense as when I tried cold turkey. Mostly I feel like I have a really bad hangover. Brain zaps, shakes, weakness. I think it is bull @#%$ that doctors can hand this stuff out like candy without letting people know what they are in for. I am grateful because it did help through a time I needed it, but this is horrible. To all of you going through this, hang in there. There has to be a light at the end of the tunnel.