maisiemarie’s withdrawal journal

[Sheila]

Thanks for posting here, maisie. As I mentioned to you --

I know this is very scary, but, in my opinion, it is not possible to meaningfully diagnose any illness when one is in withdrawal from these highly toxic drugs. Essentially, we have been poisoned, and that shows up as all sorts of temporary or pseudo-diseases, which evaporate as our bodies heal.

There have been others in w/d who showed white spots in their brains in imaging in ealry w/d and they are utterly without MS now.

I understand your dilemma about Effexor and it’s not an easy one. I’m not a doctor, but if I were in your shoes, I would consider mega-dose Omega-3 which had shown some good results with neurological damage and serious psychological problems. There is one thread on it here in Alternatives, and you can Google it for more info.

If that doesn’t appeal to you, there have still got to be safer ways to regulate autonomic dysfunction than to go on a toxic drug.

Also, I just stumbled across some mention of Vit. D being important in MS.

[maisiemarie]

Hey, sorry to post here as I am having problems knowing where to post on forum. I was the girl that developed "ms" and their answer (copaxone and effexor) has made me even more ill. Would anyone have any suggestions? I need to have a proper alternative to effexor that will regulate my seratonin and norepinephrine. In addition, I've developed severe dysautonomia which may or may not be an affect of the effexor withdrawal. I was on venlafaxin for eight years and when I stopped I had a bad ms attack. I've been sick for seven months.

What is the protocol for healing the nervous system after these drugs? Is it possible that long term use of ssri's could create permeability in the blood brain barrier and lead to the development of ms?

Sincerely,
Maia Marie

[Luc]

Maia, I moved your post to your journal. This way it will be easier to keep all the updates in one place.

Looks like the reason for your developing severe dysautonomia is your having spent eight years on Venlafaxine. Of course, I am in no position to unequivocally rule out any additional "MS" type of condition, yet, many of the IAWP members have been experiencing the "MS"-like symptoms and not having the *real* MS, and all of it being the result (very often) of the long-term use of SSRIs. Here are the symptoms of MS - they match the WD symptoms;

loss of sensitivity or tingling, pricking or numbness, muscle weakness, muscle spasms, or difficulty in moving; difficulties with coordination and balance (ataxia); problems in speech or swallowing, visual problems, fatigue, acute or chronic pain, and bladder and bowel difficulties, cognitive impairment, emotional symptoms of depression or unstable mood, and many others.

Have you noticed any improvement in recent time, Maia? If so, is the improvement linear (continuous), or more cyclical (after a better period, you experience the worsening of symptoms?)

[Sheila]

You can’t meaningfully diagnose anything while you are still in recovery from an AD. I can’t make a recommendation for you, but, for me, I would not take any medication that attempts to do anything to neurotransmitters. I would look into high-dose fish oil. It may help with re-myelinization.

I wouldn’t think of it as needing to *do* anything to regulate your neurotransmitters. Rather, I would focus on nourishing your system, giving it the tools to repair itself, and then waiting.

[stan]

MS or not, for me , one problem is psychotropics, so in your case i would taper them; they cannot help you, even if MS; but the MS have to be seriously diagnose; and as withdrawal of psychotropics gives symptomes like MS and fibromyalgia etc

[Junior]

I have been doing chinese medicine - acupuncture and drinking the tea they make from their herbs - for a few weeks now and it is beginning to help the bowel issues I have that are due to dysautonomia. I found a really good chinese doctor with a very good reputation. It might be something worth considering.

[grandmaD]

Welcome! It is always sad to hear of another person caught in this awful trap! At least you are onthe right track now and the road to recovery.

I spent 12 wasted years trying to get off paxil when I didn't know it was w/d and suffered the symptoms you have described. I do not trust doctors anymore as they told me I had to stay on it for life and I was not put on for depression, but for pain. When I got serious about getting off, my doctor switched me to Endep, then Lexapro and another one starting with E but cannot remember. Anyway, I was terrible - because THEY DO NOT RECOGNISE THAT BY STOPPING THE INITITAL DRUG YOU GO RIGHT INTO WITHDRAWAL!

my local doctor refused to help and after 6 doctors found one who does not understand w/d - never heard of it - but at least is happy for me to taper myself at my own rate. I went back on the orgiginal drug (thinking it is the one I had been on for 17 years - so better the devil you know than the devil you don't know - that is a sayng here) I began at 10% taper over 6 weeks as suggested but crashed after 4 months and then began a 5% taper over twelve weeks which I did for 12 months successfully without crashing.

I would say probably to go back on the drug you feel most comfortable at the last dose you were taking. This is important because I kept getting down low and then going back to a full dose and it was this up and downing that caused me the grief. I tried skipping days alo, and that caused a lot of hell also and didn't work. Then wait till you stabilise - it took me 12 weeks to stabilise and even then, I should have waited longer, but I get so impatient. While on that subject, you need LOTS OF PATIENCE! Believe me, patience, patience, patience! I wish you all the very best and with the advice you gain here, you will succeed, but you need to be aware that it will take a long time!

I see you are young, so you have age on your side, whereas I believe much of my problem is the length of time I was on it for plus my age (nearly 60) and added to that the years of upping/downing and skipping doses. I can see now, though, that if you do it RIGHT, you can get there!

[Sheila]

I want to thank everyone for making such an effort to be so helpful to Maisiemarie!

[maisiemarie]

Thank you for this message back. I visited a naturapath and acupuncturist today that thinks he can help me. I am hoping this is the right way to go. I was after all, not on ssri's the first 23 years of my life. There are some white matter lesions on my mri but it doesn't seem to explain the symptoms correctly. In desperation, I got back on the effexor after being urged by the doctor to, I got violenly sick that I had to stop again.

My question to the community is if any one has had success and with what protocol? Do things get better? What would be the dysautonomia connections with the ms and 8 years on effexor?

Are there class action suites that are helping people against Wyeth and Lilly?

Sincerely,
Maia Marie

[Sheila]

That's great about the naturopath / acupuncturist. My advice is to tell him to start you at 25% of any treatment he would normally give anyone, and wait for a week or two to see how it affects you before doing more.

We are all experimenting with ways to help ourselves heal. Have you looked into Omega-3 yet?

Being on the Effexor for a long time caused your body to adjust to it. You take away the Effexor, and your body has to adjust again. For some people that does not happen smoothly, and there is chaos, dysautonomia, pseudo-ailments. Slowly, your system will right itself.

The ship has sailed on class action suits, except for maybe birth defects.