Thursday, January 24, 2008

Another Account of Withdrawal


From an NY Times article...

Over the next several days they came in handy, especially at night, when I would wake up feeling dizzy, almost seasick, disoriented and in a heavy sweat, the pillow soaked. One night, awake and not eager to go back to lying restlessly in bed, I went online, typed in “Effexor withdrawal” and found bulletin boards full of pained, plaintive and sometimes angry posters who had quit taking their medication and were suffering a broad but surprisingly consistent range of symptoms: dry mouth, muscle twitching, sleeplessness, fatigue, dizziness, stomach cramps, nightmares, blurred vision, tinnitus, anxiety and, weirdest of all, what were referred to as “brain zaps” or “brain shivers.” While there were those who went off with few or no symptoms at all, others reported taking months to feel physically readjusted. In the face of those symptoms, many despaired, gave up and returned to the drugs.

By the end of the second week, I felt confident that I could continue on 75 milligrams a day. But then my symptoms became more physical: the chills at night and the cold sweats continued. I felt tingling in my shoulders and hands, spasms in my legs. These came and went, seemingly with no reason. And then one night as I lay back to go to sleep, I felt a quick spasm in my head as if an electrical current had suddenly been sent through a circuit somewhere inside my brain. Two more followed in quick succession. With each came a wave of nausea. I sat up. They seemed to disappear. They returned. I realized these were the brain zaps, and over the next few weeks they would come, with no distinguishable pattern, several times a day.




None of
these symptoms would come as news to most researchers. In 1996, nearly a decade after the introduction of Prozac, its manufacturer, Eli Lilly, sponsored a research symposium to address the increasing number of reports of patients who had difficult symptoms after going off their antidepressants. By then it had become clear that drug-company estimates that at most a few percent of those who took antidepressants would have a hard time getting off were far too low. Jerrold Rosenbaum and Maurizio Fava, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, found that among people getting off antidepressants, anywhere from 20 percent to 80 percent (depending on the drug) suffered what was being called antidepressant withdrawal (but which, after the symposium, was renamed “discontinuation syndrome”).

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/magazine/06antidepressant-t.html

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

crazymeds.us


"
Effexor's Cons: For many people Effexor XR has the absolute worst discontinuation syndrome of an antidepressant. Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride) is a medication people utterly loathe to have taken. It is not uncommon for someone to fire doctors during or immediately after they quit taking Effexor XR(venlafaxine hydrochloride)."

http://www.crazymeds.us/

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Some Medications Can Be Difficult, Even Dangerous, To Stop

http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-pharmacy0118.artjan18,0,4249755.story

Savvy patients have learned that it is essential to ask physicians and pharmacists about side effects before they take any medicine. Drugs can cause reactions that range from mild discomfort to life-threatening complications.

Even a thoughtful consumer may forget another crucial question: What will happen when I stop this medication? Many drugs can cause trouble if they are stopped abruptly.

The patient information on the back of an ad for the antidepressant Effexor XR has a heading, "What happens when I stop using Effexor XR?" When people stop suddenly, they may experience symptoms such as agitation, anxiety, confusion, diarrhea, dizziness, dry mouth, muscle twitching, headaches, insomnia, loss of appetite, nausea, nervousness, nightmares, poor coordination, seizures, sensory disturbances (like electric-shock sensations), sleepiness, sweating, tinnitus, tremor, unpleasant mood or vomiting.

Read More...

Antidepressants: The baddest of the bad is revealed

http://www.wddty.com/03363800370123817560/antidepressants-the-baddest-of-the-bad-is-revealed.html

Antidepressants: The baddest of the bad is revealed Antidepressants are a family of drugs that are bad and dangerous to know – and now researchers have named Effexor (venlafaxine) as the baddest of the bad. Patients are much more likely to attempt suicide while taking Effexor than any of the other antidepressants, a new study has found.

The news comes as no surprise to those who’ve already been exposed to the drug. It’s considered to be one of the most powerful antidepressants, and one of the hardest to tolerate. In fact, around 19 per cent of patients stop taking the drug early because they can’t stand the side effects, which include anxiety, sexual dysfunction, weight gain, high blood pressure and thyroid depression. One patient even reported a sudden change of hair colour.

They are the lucky ones. Once over the initial hurdles of life-destroying side effects, withdrawal symptoms are so severe that it’s almost impossible to stop taking the drug.

Read More...