[kare]

i was diagnosed with postnatal depression after my baby was born in 2005.
i have been on 4 different anti-depressants, the last of them being Effexor XR, which i started in 2006.
i was also taking Zyprexa 2.5mg for around 6 months for paranoia, which i stopped taking mid 2007, suffering no side effects.

today was my 4th day in a row without taking Effexor EX. i feel vile. my brain feels like it is rattling around in my head, and it feels as through someone is giving me electric shocks through my brain.. i feel like throwing up, every time i turn my head i feel as though it takes a few minutes for my eyes to catch up... my muscles are twitching uncontrollably and i have been crying all day, scared that if i continue to ween off the medication i will fall back into a deep depression, even though i have been feeling fine the past few months on Effexor XR 150mg daily.

my psychiatrist recommended weening with the 30mg capsules a few times for the first few days, then gradually cutting back to nothing.. he said i can ween off them completely from the 150mg, but i would most likely suffer worse withdrawals... so.. stupid me - i thought "oh i can just ween right now... i'll be fine!"

it is awful!!

my pyschiatrist recently told me that he just didnt want to tell me this but apparently when i first started effexor he didnt want to scare me by telling me that they are one of the harder anti-depressants to ween from, mainly because it seemed to be the only one that worked!

i started freaking out a bit tonight... wondering maybe if i am doing the wrong thing coming off the meds too early, even though for the past 4 months i have felt great and back to my old self.. is it normal to be paranoid and scared about returning to depression when you begin to ween off the meds?

im thinking, after 4 days without.. if i am already feeling a little teary, then i am not ready?
and it is a little disheartening, but the thought of one day having to stop taking them is also very daunting to me... what if i seep back into this horrible black hole?

so what i want to know is..

1 - is it common for some to continue taking medication even after they are ready to ween because they are afraid of being depressed again?

2 - is it possible that the only reason i have been feeling great for the past 4 months is because the medication is "working" and i am possibly not yet ready for life after anti-depressants?

3 - if you did ween gradually, are the withdrawals still severe? and if not, how bad are they and what did you experience.

4 - how long did you stay on the medication after you felt "better" ?

sorry for the long post.. but i dont know anyone else on Effexor XR and i know that all meds have their own side effects and each person is different.. but it would be some comfort to find out how you dealt/deal with these things..

cheers in advance,
kare.

Effexor xr is a very hard med to cold turkey. When I weened off, i went down 37.5mg a week with very little if any side effects. I was on it at 225mg for about a year. I felt great and still do. Best advice is to tell the doc that you want to ween slowly and your doc will oblige.