My sincerest apologies...
Sometimes LIFE gets in the way of us having the time to pursue the issues we find so very important. Unfortunately that is what has happened here...

This blog has been off-line for a very long time and after several attempts to recover my research information and your emails, after a computer meltdown in early 2008, (Can we say "back-ups"? :-), I am re-introducing it today in hopes that it will rekindle an interest in, and inform others of, the prescription medication known as EFFEXOR.

I am interested in your comments and your stories, so if you have something to share please send them to my new address:

effexorresearch@gmail.com

Additionally, for those of you who may be checking back...thank you for your continued support of this blog and please feel free to leave a comment here or email me at the above address with your updates as well.

Please contact me using the following email address:

effexorresearch@gmail.com

Yes, I am still doing my research...On EFFEXOR and other antidepressants

I also have a new email address for you...

I wanted to write and let everyone know how much I appreciate the words of encouragement and heartfelt support which you have given to me, both in my journey, and in the writing of my book. I get MANY letters each week asking if I am still working on the book
...the answer is YES!

I must admit that when I decided to embark upon this project, I thought it would move toward publication much faster than it actually has. Daily life, personal and family obligations have taken priority as well as another move, and after several months of "down time" I have picked up where I left off and am forging ahead with my research.

Being self employed has meant that I must make what money I can at every available opportunity, so that should it become necessary, I will be able to publish the book MYSELF since, as of this date, no one has offered to publish the information on this controversial subject. I will be looking at writing grants in the next couple of months so if anyone reading this has any ideas in that area please, I would appreciate your passing them along.

Now, for those of you who may have written in these past few months and have not received an answer from me, I want to apologize. I know just the writing is therapeutic for many of you, but I also know it is nice to hear from someone WHO HAS BEEN THERE! I have to tell you though, that I receive SO MANY emails in a week, that if I attempted to answer them all, it would leave me even less time to continue my work. I do read every single letter I receive however, and I think of the stuggles you are enduring... and it's those letters that keep me going, and keep me determined to get the word out to others about the side-effects and withdrawals that so many of us have suffered.

As I continue my research, I would like to ask today for your help...

If you have written in the past, please send me an update on how things are going now.

If you are now taking EFFEXOR or another antidepressant please write and let me know if you are having any difficulty with side effects etc.

If you are in the EFFEXOR withdrawal stage or have gone through ANY antidepressant withdrawal PLEASE tell me about it.

I really need anyone who has been there or is there right now to write and tell me YOUR STORY.

Please remember too that I may need to contact you, (either for clarification or I may just need more information), so please make certain that you include a current working email address as well.

I wish you well and again, if you would like to send me your story or any information regarding EFFEXOR or any other anti-depressant medication... I would greatly appreciate it.

My new email address for this research project is:

effexorresearch@gmail.com

You may also join my notify list and get email when I update my site :-) :

email:

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Always,

~deb~

Day 55 Thanks for your letters...

Yes, withdrawal is HELL...And, it was enough to make ME want to start taking EFFEXOR again too. But I stood my ground and I threw out all my pills one day so there was no way I would surrender to them. It's as if we are their slaves isn't it?

My hope is that everyone can get to that point of never going back ...You will certainly thank yourself for it many times!

I have not updated my journal recently but I tried to keep up with all the letters I have received. I am falling behind once again though, so thought I would do this update for those who have written: (and you should see how many people write to me each day and ask this same question...."HOW MUCH LONGER DOES THIS GO ON??")

As for how long it lasts and how I am doing?... Well, I still have an occasional zap or two, but the really rough stuff is over and those awful dreams have settled down so now they only happen about once every week or 10 days...I would say that overall I am pretty much back to "normal" .

I do still cry, for no real reason at times, but even those little jags have started to subside and are less frequent than they were a few weeks ago.

I am hearing from some former users who say they are better after only a few days or weeks off EFFEXOR, while others tend to take up to 6 months to really feel whole again. Everyone's body is different so everyone will have their own timeline I suppose. I am still concerned about the LONG TERM EFFECTS OF THIS AND ALL THE OTHER AD DRUGS and am still working on my book. Any insight any of you wish to provide will be very beneficial to the project. Please drop me a line.

My excuse for not keeping up is that I have been pre-occupied with our upcoming move (this weekend), and am also suffering from a re-occurring sciatic nerve problem I have had for over 4 years.

The original nerve damage came about when I was walking along beside a young teen (who had been hit by a car so was a paraplegic), confined to a wheelchair. His wheelchair was one of those top of the line jobs, brand new with all the attachments. His left wheel left the sidewalk as we were walking along and caught itself in that little space between the sidewalk and the lawn. As he began to tip over sideways, I grabbed for the chair out of instinct. What I didn't know when I grabbed onto that chair was that it weighed over 500 lbs., (that still seems amazing to me).

At the point of my pulling on the chair though, I heard ripping and popping in my lower back, neck, shoulder and right arm. I knew I had done some serious damage. Someone happened by just then and saw the dilemma we were in so stopped to help. Even the two of us had a hard time pulling on that chair, trying to upright it, but finally with the help of the driver, (he used the forward and reverse levers to rock himself loose), it spun itself free he was able to drive it forward out of the hole.

Anyway, to end all my rambling here, I have suffered off and on with both shoulder and arm problems and the back/leg problem which is so bad at times I can barely walk. I am so hesitant to take any drugs since I am worried about their SIDE EFFECTS, that I usually just suffer through the 2 weeks or so of inconvenience and then I am fine again.
This time it has been a bit different. The pain has lasted over a month, I am living on Aleve and yet, I can still barely pull myself out of bed in the mornings and can't stand for very long at all.

Even through all this, (which, by the way, is still much easier than getting off the EFFEXOR was for me), I have somehow managed to find us a new home and now I'm trying to pack for our move this weekend.

I do apologize to everyone who has written and has not received a reply from me. I am still here and I STILL CARE!! I know what each of you is going through and I am still working hard on my research and I need to have everyone of you write to me and let me know HOW the withdrawal and the side effects have effected YOUR LIVES!

Take Care and keep me posted as to how your days go...REMEMBER...YOU CAN DO THIS AND MANY HAVE!!!
All my best,
~deb~
beach-lover@verizon.net
read and sign the EFFEXOR PETITION

Day 17 WITHOUT Effexor and why won't these aches go away?

I woke up this morning with a good attitude and a clear mind, both of which will help me today as I have a few phone calls to return, and a lot of miscellaneous chores to accomplish along with my work.

My plan was to go to the gym today too, and I still may do that, but I have been bothered by another problem that has just recently surfaced (within the last week anyway), and that is the fact that I am achy, and I woke up feeling it again this morning.

My lower back bothers me the most, but my legs, and even my feet hurt too. Has anyone else had this ACHY feeling? I attributed it to the “flu-like” feeling people wrote about experiencing during withdrawal but is this what its like?

Hopefully, it will go away long enough for me to get a few things done and
I really hope it’s not another “after-effect” of Effexor...

beach-lover@verizon.net
read and sign the EFFEXOR PETITION

Day 35 Since Starting The Taper and Day 16 WITHOUT Effexor

I thought by now I would be back to my normal self...after 2 weeks...well, I guess can say I am much much better than I was that 1st week of withdrawal and even better now than the second, but why am I not “back to normal?”

I am still having:
brain zaps, (mostly in the afternoons now),
sudden bouts of crying,
some short term memory loss,
vision problems,
the problem of “swishing” in my head when I turn or raise it too quickly,
headache,
nausea,
vivid dreams,
bouts of extreme hunger,
dry mouth and dehydration, (at night only),
and trouble focusing long enough to make a decision.

Case in point regarding the focusing problem and decision making...I was shopping today and I picked up several items as I went up and down the isles. As I walked further I would stop and think about each one and gradually I was changing my mind and putting each of them back. When I got up to the counter to pay, I had hardly any items left to purchase! (Great way to save money but...It was exhausting to have done all that shopping and then to have placed so many items back and to have come home without some which I really did need.) All this because I just couldn’t decide! I hope this little annoying decision-making problem go away soon...it is very much NOT ME!

While I have experienced some of the above problems during the course of taking my medication, and others during the withdrawal, I expected them to be gone within a couple of weeks... They are still with me and it is very discouraging...

I'm hanging in there though...I know it can only get better from here but I wonder about how long it is going to take...

beach-lover@verizon.net
read and sign the EFFEXOR PETITION

Day 34 Some UPS...Some DOWNS

I felt pretty good this morning. Again, no nausea, not dizzy, but I did have some strange dreams...only strange... not frightening. As the day progressed though things went from good to bad and then to worse and I almost wished... (at one point I DID wish), that I was on the Effexor again. This reminds me of the addiction I had with nicotine which I conquered 3 years ago. I have to keep telling myself that this too, is an addiction, and there will be some rough times.... (And I need to listen to myself when I’m talking too! :-)

I never cried like this when I was taking my pills....but now I cry for the littlest reason or sometimes, for NO REASON AT ALL! I want to quit that...


Hubby had to work today (and will have to again tomorrow), so that makes for a long weekend. I managed to get a lot done at home today (house stuff... NOT what I wanted to be doing...which is my RESEARCH!) I did get some shopping done and when hubby got off we met in town and had pizza (while we were waiting for my temperamental car to start). I picked up some DQ on the way home. Yes, I know...it’s time to stop being hungry for JUNK FOOD but I still am. Monday is my day though...I start eating better and exercising.

Oh, I read an article that Niacin Supplements and Folic Acid help with mood swings and depression...I checked on getting some but the dosages they suggested are already included in my daily multi.

I guess they should already be doing their thing huh?

beach-lover@verizon.net
read and sign the EFFEXOR PETITION