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Thread: maisiemarie’s withdrawal journal

  1. #11
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    Dear Stan,

    So sum up, I've been on ssri's for ten years and manage to be off them for a few months at a time before having to get back on. I was on Effexor 150 mg for three years and then stopped in Santa Fe only to have shooting and stabbing and burning sensations all over my body. I was evaluated for ms and many other workups and told that these sensations were psychogenic and to resume my effexor. I then for reasons of cost got on a generic short acting version of venlafexin that was only 75 mg and wasn't covering me around the clock. The stabbing and burning sensations ceased only for the occasional and I was without them for two years more or less. In late 2011, they started to return and I was put on Savella, which helped the stabbing sensations stop. The side effects of Savella were so dramatic that we had to go back to effexor. I then stopped that and was transitioned to Pristiq. The mood swings were severe and I was pulled off and put on Vibriid. Within three weeks of this drug, I went in an almost psychotic state and never made it to 40mg. I stopped under the care of a Dr. Emil Soorani and had two weeks of Deplen medical food in between. It has been three weeks of nothing and I have lightening bolt sensations and muscle twitches going through my body. There was a concern for ms, but it does not make sense that I would have these moving all around my body and changing throughout each day. Sometimes the lightening bolt sensations come throughout my brain. I have lost hope and feel that suicide is the only option at this point.

  2. #12
    Founder stan's Avatar
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    hi Maisie
    my english is not well
    your symptoms are withdrawal, if you feel suicidal, you have to go to hospital
    you are a victim of drug pusher
    i think you are in withdrawal of all the meds you have taken, any was slowly tapered, take new meds is nonsense, reinstate effexor can work or not and to see it you have to be on 1 to 2 months
    i think you have not MS,
    as Luc said, take nothing and wait is maybe the best for your brain;
    in your case i would eat healthy, walk a little and let time pass, the body heals slowly, it will take months; it is the only road i know, i was in the same state as you and today am better
    if you are not able to take nothing and wait, look to reinstate, but try to not take new psy meds;
    we will see what other people can advice
    the suffering is hell but with time it diminish
    12 years paxil(9 years only 10 mg) - cold turkey(1,5 month) and switch celexa tapered 1 year 20 mg
    62 years old - for GAD - 4 years 3 months meds free [since april 2009]

    vegetables soup - orange (vit C) - curcuma - some meat or fish

  3. #13
    Founder Sheila's Avatar
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    You will definitely recover your health and happiness. But you have to stay alive in order to do that. We want to help you and to accompany you in your healing, but this board is not designed to be a suicide hotline. If you feel you are in danger of hurting yourself, please call 911 immediately. We want you to stay alive so you can make it out of this hell and into a great life. Many of us have been where you are now, and have come out of the hell. The hell is temporary.

    I am trying to understand your medication history. Every time you write, you add new meds! I am confused. The short answer to this is – definitely don’t add any new meds! Maybe, maybe reinstate a med you’ve already been on. I’m not sure yet.


    Maisiemaries meds history –

    On meds x 10 years, occasionally off all meds for a few months, experienced withdrawal, got back on a med.

    Effexor, 150 mg x 3 years (started age 26) – abruptly stopped it, had withdrawal
    Effexor (short-acting generic, 75 mg) – when started, when stopped?
    Lexapro x 2 years – stopped it – when stopped?
    Savella – late 2011, briefly, bad side effects (SS/NRI used for fibromyalgia in US)
    Effexor – briefly recently? when?
    Pristiq – briefly, bad side effects (SS/NRI, a variant of Effexor)
    Viibryd – briefly, very bad side effects, stopped 1 month ago (approx. April 2012) (SSRI, 5HT1 A partial agonist)
    Deplen medical food x 2 weeks (contains a form of folate, a B vitamin)

    Off all meds x 3 weeks on 28 May 2012.


    Symptoms – burning, stabbing sensation all over body, cognitive confusion, cannot work, cannot exercise, lost social confidence, fatigue, electric shocks, feeling body is not taking commands from brain, little plaques in brain, muscle twitches.


    Of course, I am not a doctor and cannot diagnose over the Internet, but these are classic symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal that I have seen in many, many cases. They will heal with time.

    I agree with Stan that your prescribing physician seems to be throwing the latest fad drugs at you left and right without thought. It sounds very harmful.

    At this point, your system is sensitized and you cannot start and stop drugs easily.

    I can’t tell yet whether I think it would be better for you to take nothing and ride it out or whether it would be better to re-instate. In order to make a more informed suggestion, I still need to know –

    When did you take your last Lexapro?
    The last time you were on Effexor, when did you start and when did you stop?
    Meds free since June 2005.

    "An initiation into shamanic healing means a devaluation of all values, an overturning of the profane world, a peeling away of inveterate handed-down notions of the world, liberation from everything preconceived. For that reason, shamanism is closely connected with suffering. One must suffer the disintegration of one's own system of thought in order to perceive a new world in the higher space."
    -- Holger Kalweit

  4. #14
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    stabbing shooting and muscle twitches sensations all over body

    It happens everytime I stop ssnri's and it is so overwhelming I have to get back on to stop the unbearable pain. They tell me it is fibromyalgia but burning shooting stabbing tingling sensations all over with muscle twitches that move all around and last for seconds and then change site can't be a real condition. Please help, anyone at all in your community that knows what to do. It was effexor for six years and lexapro for two years prior. 150 then 75 mg. Has this permanently altered my brain and receptor sites? I been to the er but there is nothing they can do for me in that setting. I have no health insurance for expensive specialists at UCLA.

    Sincerely,
    Maia Marie
    [email protected]

  5. #15
    Founder Sheila's Avatar
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    Maisie -- Did you take your last Lexapro 6 years ago?

    Were you taking Effexor for 6 years until recently? When did you take your last Effexor?
    Meds free since June 2005.

    "An initiation into shamanic healing means a devaluation of all values, an overturning of the profane world, a peeling away of inveterate handed-down notions of the world, liberation from everything preconceived. For that reason, shamanism is closely connected with suffering. One must suffer the disintegration of one's own system of thought in order to perceive a new world in the higher space."
    -- Holger Kalweit

  6. #16
    Founder Sheila's Avatar
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    Maia – I feel like I’m trying to give you help in the dark. I wish I knew clearly what your recent medication history was. However, here is a general suggestion for you to consider:

    You are in a very bad state, and you say you get relief when you go back on the Effexor, I think.

    **Do you have any bad side effects when you go back on the Effexor? If not, then you might consider re-instating the Effexor at a low dose and giving yourself some breathing room.

    If you decide to do this, start by taking a low dose – 37.5 mg or even less. The short-term goal should be to take the edge off your symptoms, *not* to get full relief from them. Because your long-term goal is to get off the meds tolerably and safely. And we don't want you to get more dependent on the meds than necessary.

    Take the low dose for two weeks and see if you get enough relief from your symptoms that you can get some sleep and feel somewhat coherent. Remember, the goal is not total absence of symptoms.

    If things are still unmanageable, then you would go up another notch in dosage and try again for two weeks.

    If things felt livable, then you would stay at this new, low dose of Effexor for several months – like maybe even six months. Your system has been jerked around recently, and needs to get used to something.

    Then, you would taper ultra-slowly. We will discuss how to do this later.

    You *will* be able to get off the meds permanently, and you *will* recover fully.

    This is just one person’s opinion. Continue to research and to educate yourself. Use your own best judgment.

    Meds free since June 2005.

    "An initiation into shamanic healing means a devaluation of all values, an overturning of the profane world, a peeling away of inveterate handed-down notions of the world, liberation from everything preconceived. For that reason, shamanism is closely connected with suffering. One must suffer the disintegration of one's own system of thought in order to perceive a new world in the higher space."
    -- Holger Kalweit

  7. #17
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    Effexor and Dysautonomia

    Dear Sheila,

    Thank you for the response and I will try to include all my questions and update on the forum so as to help others along my journey. I have ms and starting and stopping the effexor triggers a condition called dysautonomia which is heavily implicated in people with ms. The struggle that I'm having is, many in communities such as yours believe that these drugs can cause toxicity which I was worried had contributed to the development of ms. And yet, I am finding that effexor which is an anticholinergic drug and SSNRI, regulates autonomic dysfunction which is such a big part of my illness. So, I am left not knowing what to do.

    Sincerely,
    Maia Marie

  8. #18
    Senior Member Chris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by maisiemarie View Post
    Dear Stan,
    The stabbing and Sometimes the lightening bolt sensations come throughout my brain.
    I am so sorry your withdrawal symptoms are so terrible, but unfortunately many have been through it. It just gets me so mad that a doctor could be able to ascribe electrical shock sensations in the brain to preexisting conditions.
    "It is certain my conviction gains infinitely the moment another soul will believe in it." Novalis (quoted in Lord Jim)

  9. #19
    Member bruno2006's Avatar
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    welcome!
    2004: Effexor-150mg
    2006: switch to paxil-up to 40mg
    2008: after paxil taper failed, went back on effexor-250mg
    2009: quit effexor cold turkey. Switched to zoloft-100mg
    2010: zoloft taper failed, switched to celexa-30mg
    October 2011: tapered celexa in one week

  10. #20
    Founder Luc's Avatar
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    Maisiemarie, you were on a rollercoaster of drugs, and them being so extremely addictive you went into WD every time you got off of them. Looks like it is the main cause of your symptoms. We're looking forward to your update on the situation. Are you still free of the drugs? We are thinkinking of you.
    Keep walking. Just keep walking.

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