DOSE:	repeated	oral	Pharms - Venlafaxine	(daily)
	repeated	oral	Pharms - Sertraline	(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

53 kg

14 months ago I began taking Zoloft 50mg daily for mild depression (no anxiety) which I believe was due in part to 4yrs of regular MDMA/amphetamine use and a family history of depression/anxiety. I would have seemed relatively normal to those around me, however I began losing control of my emotions, when I’d always been a very controlled (if at times, surprisingly un-emotional) person - including occasional suicidal thoughts, I realized it was time to take action before it got worse.

At first, I suffered nearly every side effect, including nausea, eye shakes (very similar to a MDMA experience) and dizziness accompanied with a complete loss of appetite for the first 3 days. However, after a week the side effects settled and it worked well in controlling my spiraling emotions. This was up until about 8 months ago when I was prescribed 100mg Zoloft after I’d built up a tolerance (apparently a common occurrence). I also began experiencing a noticeable rise in anxiety (sick feeling, heart palpitations and general fear), although now I was very anti-MDMA and possibly substituting this past-time with increased amphetamine usage. This dosage of Zoloft didn't seem to work nearly as well as what the 50mg dose did, and at times I even felt more depressed at the fact I was constantly unmotivated, so I spoke to my GP about trying something different that would also help with the anxiety.

I was aware of Effexor and was expecting him to recommend it, as I knew many people who were, or had been prescribed it for their depression/anxiety problems. I'd heard it was very hardcore, and I was against trying it at first, however I know everyone is different, and it could well be just what worked for me.

Prescribed 75mg, going straight from the Zoloft worked well with very minimal side effects. It all seemed like it could just well be 'just what the doctor ordered', so to speak. It didn't box me in emotionally as much as the Zoloft did, so that was a bonus too - I could actually cry when I felt like crying! Although, a few weeks later, the 'tolerance' that I’d built up with the Zoloft happened with the Effexor, and once again my GP up'ed my dose - to 150mg. The first week of this went well, and by now I was clearly not depressed any more, with minimal anxiety issues. But after a big weekend, I crashed big time. I slept all Sunday, not because I was down, but because I was absolutely exhausted - physically and mentally.

Once I awoke after my boyfriend forced me to get up, I flipped out totally. Stressed, anxious, very angry with a fierce temper (totally not me- almost as if I was watching myself outside my body), lacking any motivation or compassion and eventually it all ended in tears and serious suicidal thoughts which included well planned out strategies as to how I’d go about it. As if this wasn't bad enough, I was twitching, dizzy, nauseous, pounding head, frequent momentary disorientation (similar to large dose GHB come down - release of dopamine from NT's), painful muscles and shallow panicked breathing. As I was unaware of the cause of this episode, I was confused and worried I’d done some sort of permanent damage from having a small amount of cocaine and 1,4b on the weekend - nothing out of the ordinary though, I must add.

Eventually, with the support of my boyfriend, I saw my doctor as soon as I could and explained everything. He basically said there were two options - up the dose of Effexor, or wean myself off it. He was very much for upping the dose, even though he could tell I wanted to get off the stuff ASAP. As my partner was there with me, I had the confidence to stand up for myself and tell him I would be coming off it. (There was no way I’d up my dose, even if it wasn't just a typical knee-jerk reaction that narrow minded GP's tend to have, and in fact was a medically founded, proved approach.)

After working out a plan for slowly coming off it (one 75mg every day for 7 days then every other day for 6 days) I began my weaning off period. The day following not taking Effexor, has to be the weirdest feeling I’ve ever experienced. The electric shocks that some people describe when coming off Effexor were more like simultaneous pulsing of all of my pulse points in my body, combined with all of the effects mentioned above when I had my 'episode' but not quite as severe. Now I knew what caused this episode; I’d forgotten to take my daily dose of 150mg Effexor the previous day. It was awful. I had to see my GP to work out a gentler program to come off it. (However the next two days were public holidays - great timing!) He prescribed the 37.5mg Effexor and a 3 week plan to come off it very, very carefully. I'm half way through the first week, and I haven't felt the withdrawal symptoms since.

In conclusion, Effexor did help to conclude my year of anti-depressants to 'fix' myself, and helped get me out of my self-pitying cycle. I'm so glad I’m coming off everything finally, and keen to see how I go on my own.

Exp Year: 2004	ExpID: 39408
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jul 6, 2006	Views: 18,529
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Pharms - Venlafaxine (191) : Addiction & Habituation (10), Depression (15), Medical Use (47), Not Applicable (38)