Effexor and urge

I was on a 225mg daily dose of Effexor for about two weeks before I started to ween myself off because it was doing nothing for my situation, causing ridiculous dehydration, and possibly causing mood swings. I haven't taken any for just over a month and every day I'm still getting the same extreme light-headedness that I got the first time I missed a dose. I have no idea how long this is going to last, and I'm sick of it.

I urge anyone who is researching this medication and considering starting it to reconsider. Tell your doctor you would rather try something different first.

I took Effexor a little over a year ago due to my psychiatrists strong urge for me to do so. I don't remember the dosage, but I only stayed on the stuff for 4 weeks before discontinuing the drug. I remember feeling the side effects right away. I remember an intense feeling of nausia (like you feel when you're drunk and you can't tell if you're going to vomit all the sudden or you'll be all right). This was only really bad within the first week of taking it. I remember being really irratable, when before I was really indifferent about anything, then all the sudden I had a terrible temper with just about anything. I had increase anxiety. I remembered not feeling depressed anymore, but I also remember not ever feeling happy; it was as if the Effexor had made me emotionally numb. After about 4 weeks of not being able to sleep, of constant anxiety, of feeling ichy, weak, tired, suffering from insomnia, not being able to concentrate; I just straight out stopped taking it. BIG MISTAKE. I did so because I really really had to get a research paper done that I handn't been able to work on due to the side effects of Effexor. Well, I basically went into a panic phase for about 2 days where I paced around the house, tossed and turned in bed (not being able to sleep), my roommates couldn't understand a word I was saying, I felt I needed to smoke a cigarette every 10 minutes. This is where my experience gets really wierd. I went to the local IHOP and started drinking coffee, pitcher after pitcher, and it started mellowing me out. I needed desperately to get my paper done, so I went to the gas station and bought a bottle of those yellow-jacket (those ephedra energy pills). Yeah, I took those for a couple days and it really mellowed me out, when before I thought I was just going to snuf it, then everything from that point on was smooth sailing. Does that make sense to anybody? I'm still trying to figure out why after the mammoth dose of caffeine and moderate doses of ephedra, everything was all right; again, does this make sense to anybody?