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Has anyone ever gone through withdrawl related to anti depressants? I take/was taking a couple, plus other meds, for the treatment neuropathic pain, not depression and some of the side effects weren't all that fun. So last week I decided to stop cold turkey to see if I could find out which are the most effective and which ones I could do without....wrong fucking move. I was taking 150 mg of venlafaxine and some tofranil and since I wasn't depressed I'd try these two. Now I'm dizzier than hell, the world seems to lurch this way and that, I've stopped sweating and am now cascading instead and to top it off I go through more emotional phases than Derby on a Friday night. Oh and the neurologists seem to think there aren't any withdrawl symptoms...Crap they're watching Bambi on TV.

   

Sorry I can't say that I've ever gone through withdrawal from a prescription drug but I've known others who have. Did you look the drugs up on the net? A lot of times you'll come across forums where their are others who have experiences with the same drugs and they may be able to provide some insight.

As for the doctors who perscribed them, don't expect them to come forward and admit that there might be something wrong with what they perscribed you. My aunt damn near died from a drug her arthrists specialist perscribed her and to this day the arthritis specialist won't admit that it was the drugs she gave her that caused the problem even though the problems she encountered are well documented. I think it's a kind of professional egotism.

Hope you get better there big guy.

   

Best thing to do is talk to a pharmasist. They'll know chemically what's going on with you body and can suggest the best way to stop using the meds..........if there's a better way.

   

I've used quite some. I take them for anxiety. Venlafaxine is Effexor right ?

Quiting cold turkey is NOT a good idea. If you do so, be prepared for about 2 weeks of quite hard side effects. What you described is normal for withdrawal symptoms. Dizzyness can stay longer but the emotions up-down should go quite quickly.

   

Never heard of venlafaxine prescribed for anything but depression or anxiety disorder, those are the approved uses. Seems like you were being your doctors mouse.
Anyway you need to low dose off that drug or your in for one hell of a ride.

   

They prescribe those SSRIs for quite a lot of things. I quit venlafaxine because I made a maniac episode on it. It was not fun for my social life, specially my partner's life. I never thought you could sleep with 4 women in a day without your girlfriend knowing it...

   

The whole pharmaceutical antidepressant industry is a sham. They almost never tell you these things, when they really should. Thousands of people a year commit suicide because of frivolous use of anti-depressants, or use without proper instruction. It's rarely a good idea to go cold turkey on these kinds of drugs, since it takes a couple of weeks for them to really take effect in the first place. They essentially have to get you addicted to these drugs in order for them to work, but don't really bother discussing what might happen if you forget just one dose or decide to quit cold turkey because the cons are really outweighing the pros.

I've been on paxil and celexa, and neither did much good for me. The paxil just made me feel weird all the time, and the celexa would have me laying down and crying all day if I forgot to take a dose.

Somehow, though, one day, I just stopped taking celexa altogether and didn't feel any different. I guess I just happened to be in the right biorhythm that day or something.

   

Dude, you trying to kill yourself?

A few years back I was tossed onto some anti-d's at 150mg per day. Celexa

It's not that you shouldn't, or suggest, or attempt..... simply DO NOT cut off cold turkey.

The amount of side effects that come with anti depressants is a nightmare in itself.... trying to suddenly stop is very unsound for your own mental stability.

Your brain becomes addicted or acustomed to the pill being in your system. Once you suddenly pull that away, your brain basically goes into shock from not having that medication regulating things to what the brain just became used to. You suddenly will have extreme emotional mood swings, headaches to migraines, severe throbbing in the top-front left and right of your head to the point where you can hardly stand at times..... sensitivity to lights and sound, the world seems to be crashing down on you, etc etc.

Some people who are actually suffering from serious depression and who end up stopping for whatever reason have lead to suicides, esspecially in teenagers.

You put yourself at great risk, both physically and mentally when you do this.

I have gone a day or perhaps a day in a half without mine once apon a time (Be that from running out or simply forgetting) and just the heavy headaches and mood swings was enough to ensure I took them.

I am no longer on them, thank Jebus, but I had to lower the doses and make sure my brain can adjust to the changes. I went from 150mg a day, to 100, down to 50... then stop. If side effects occur, go a little longer at the higher dose up and then try again.

Anti Depressants have their pros, but they also have a mountain load of cons and side effects..... and in my personal opinion, are a lot more dangerous then most illegal drugs.

Just about everybody in my family has been on Anti-D's at one time or another, as I guess it runs in the family. My dad was on the same ones I am on and had the same issues. My GF is on a different type for being so far away from home, and if she forgets to take one.... within a few hours her pills bring up the side effect of feeling jittery, "Brain Shocks" and various and sudden mood swings.

It's those mood swings and extreme emotional floods you have to seriously look out for, because those can get you thinking a little off about yourself and your life..... as mentioned before, some might think it's a good idea to end it.

To be perfectly honest, I am very suprised that your doctor or whoever gave you this medication didn't tell you about how to get off the drugs and what occurs if you just stop. That was one of the very first things jammed into my brain when I was first put on them.

Be very careful.

   

He's in Taiwan, I guess the doctors are not that honest or informed about it...

I have nothing to add, Shep, other than GET THE FUCK BACK ON THEM and lower the doses over the months, before you quit...

Good luck

   

I would also like to add that from personal experience, I went on them due to being between jobs, having student loan payments jumping all over my ass, people asking for money for various other things, parent's divorcing, grew up all my life learning how my father deals with things, etc......

I wasn't eating, no desire for sex, never smiling, the whole kit..... I'm 6'6 and supposed to be around the 205lbs mark for weight. At the time I was put on them, I was about 172lbs, which I haven't been since grade 8 or 9..... not good I was told.

Anyways, a few people were concerned, figured I should be put on them, and at the time I figured what the hell, what do I know?

Went on them for a year and they did help in their own odd little way.

Every emotional stimuli was somewhat masked, I guess is the closest term to use.

Things didn't affect me as much as they normally would. I wasn't constantly dwelling on crap that really didn't effect my life, let alone anytime soon. I kept worrying about what to do soon, rather then what I should be doing now.

That all went. I could still get angry, laugh, etc.... but it was all leveled off.... somewhat not in a way I personally would want to be like for the rest of my life, let alone the damn side effects of even lower sex drive, cotton mouth (I'm a pot head anyways, so that wasn't anything new) and a bunch more. (not including the ones you get when you don't take them)

Basically if I could sum it up, what they allowed me to do was to have temporary relief from so many thoughts filling my head. They gave me the chance to push the emotions off to the side, think straight about a situation, decide on a solution and move onto the next problem or simply move on.

I didn't worry that it might be the wrong decision.

I didn't care if I could have thought of something better.

That was my decision, it made sense at the time, I made the decision..... meh.... that's life.

And that was it.... Meh.

I was on them for a year, and after that year it did give me the moment in time to step back, reflect apon how I was without them, what I was like on them, and how to live my life with a little bit of both sides to balance.

I sure as hell never want to go back on anti-depressants if I can help it, as you always feel a little..... well.... not yourself.

But I do see in some cases, if used properly and used for the right reasons, some legit use for these medications.

But I completely oppose the parents who load their children up on pills and who think it's the easiest solution. I never had them as a kid, I had probably one of the worst lives in all of school up till graduation, yet somehow through all the extremes and thoughts, I made it and learned something out of it.

Some cases, there is justification, perhaps I should have been on them, who knows?

But if you're a kid who already deals with almost an entire school using you as the kicking horse and exposing and making fun of everything about your life everyday you are there..... having the entire school know that they were that good at screwing with your life that you had to be put on pills.......

...... well.... let's just say that certainly won't help your situation any. Next you'll be labeled a basket case or something (all the while half the idiots making fun of you are probably on them too)

So then eventually it becomes too much and the kid thinks it's a smart idea to prove them wrong and stop taking their meds.

Wrong move..... welcome to your own living hell, be prepared for the wonderful idea to slide into your mind in between powerful and sharp jaggs of pain into your brain, that ending it all seems like a good idea as you have never felt any lower in your life then you do now After 24 hours of not being on these pills.

And those emotions will certainly make it difficult for you to see the smart idea of popping one of those things right at this very second.

Then before you know it, you got a dead kid in the news paper which reads that he was suffering from anti depression and stopped taking his medication.

Another thing that can add to the thoughts would be the common belief by kids, is that now that they are taking these drugs to simply live their everyday lives, they are not normal. Not a good thought to have in the head.

These kids are dealing with extreme hormone adjustments, very stressful community environemtns, trying to figure out who exactly they are, etc.... it's very risky for them and a decision to put them on anti's shouldn't be looked at lightly.

Food for thought which confirms much of my own personal experiences and current theories:

The Antidepressant Quandary — Considering Suicide Risk When Treating Adolescent Depression
Gregory E. Simon, M.D., M.P.H.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/355/26/2722

These things are nasty son's o bitches if you turn your back on them.... anti depressants are not like advil... they will hook you, they will make you addicted.... they're meant to.

They are not like quitting smoking, where you just feel a little crappy and crave one.... the withdrawls are much worse and affect you in a much different way.

It's not like you suddenly crave the pill and just need to have it.... if that was the case, that'd be wonderful. No no.... It's like your brain opens the floodgates and it just woke up realizing it's not the fridge door but the emotional gate that's been masked up and all hell comes at you with hand grenades and monkey poop. You simply land in this confused, "I don't know what to do" frame of mind and just simply become lost in yourself with your thoughts.

Very bad medicine my friend, very bad.

   

Stopping cold-turkey and not weaning yourself off of any anti-depressant is dangerous like others have said. If I forget to take my Celexa daily, I end up with a headache and mood swings.

   

^ Oh yeah ShepherdsDog, it does appear to be showing you haven't taken them.... you seem a little grumpy in the face. WAKKA WAKKA

(That's just to lighten you up.... just in case I need a disclaimer at this time)

   

Both of the drugs I mentioned are used in the treatment of neuropathic pain. I also take tegretol, an anti convulsant used by epileptics, for the same reason. Methylcobal is just another one of the drugs I'm being prescribed. These drugs used in different dosages have different uses.

I checked a few forums and people are describing exactly what I am going through, some seem to have it a lot worse . I never thought the dosage I was taking was that high and would have these effects, and I never thought to ask. They dealt quite effectively with my pain but like I said before their side effects were not fun....but in hindsight they were a damn sight less bothersome than this.

I've had to retype this a few times as I seem to be wavering between feeling really stoned and feeling like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Time to see doctor in tomorrow morning. SSRI...Seriously Sucks Really Intense

   

Oh and not to keep going on like I do, but another thought crossed my mind while re-reading through.

Just because you are not taking an anti-depressant for depression, doesn't mean you won't have the same side effects, or that they won't affect your emotions.

150mg is what I would consider a medium-high dose.... really high for someone not suffering from depression. I took 150 due to my body size and type of emotions I was dealing with.... had to move up from the average 100mg.

You being on 150mg and not suffering from depression and then stopping I am really concerned about.

Be prepared for depression if you don't get back on them and get to your regular daily pattern back on track for your own sake. Not all Antis are the same, and some are far worse then others for side effects.

I can't stress that enough or say it any more straight.

   

Dude seriously, if you still have some left, take your dose now and go back to your normal routine tomorrow and still see your doctor.... don't wait.

I don't mean to brag or anything but my mom's a nurse for over 30 years, my step mom specializes in anti depressants and a nurse as well, along with just about every other female in my family. I have a lot of family who work in the medical field and I trust everything they have told me about these things, which go hand in hand with my own experiences with them......

it's not wise to take medical advice from a faceless person on the internet, I know.... but going back on them isn't going to do anything worse to you, other then relieve you of these withdrawls. Once you get that under controll, talk to your doctor about how to properly get off the ones you are on now.

Don't take the risk, it's simply not worth it.

   

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