I'm now up to 300mg a day of Effexor. The withdrawals are pure hell. I have had a lot of addictive drugs in my days but this one has some shitty side effects.
I have been on it for quite some time now and soon I'm going to be put on 450mg a day. I can't stop this because of a standing order that I have anti-depressants or I get to battle for my sanity in court. Aside from that, this drug does help. At first. Then it fades away. Eventually, I'm sure I could take 2000mg a day and still lay in bed half the day.
I was diagnosed as being manic-depressive and borderline schizophrenic a few years back, maybe 3 or 4. I have been taking various mood stabilizers since then (Lithium, Trileptal, Tegretol, Depakote, Geodon, everything) but always have been on Effexor. Most of the time when I'm off it, if I have skipped a dose, I get the crazed sensation of being completely off the rocker. It causes an insane mania and tingling, electric pulsating sensations throughout the body. It makes it damn hard to sleep. I sweat and sometimes I feel worse than before I even took the drug.
I don't see how it is legal but it just shows how the pharmaceutical companies control the health system.
