withdrawall symptoms?

[abk90]

I was on Effexor for anxiety from my previous job for the first time in October for about a month and a half. He also prescribed xanas (0.25 mg) , which I took every night just before going to bed and 3 times during the day. I took xanax 3 times a day for about a week and took it as needed for a month. I wasn't feeling anxious anymore so I stopped taking both by weaning off from 150mg to 75mg every for a week to 37mg every day for a week and 37mg every other day for a week. With xanax, I simply stoped taking it on my last day with Effexor.

In December, I started feeling a little depressed so I went back to taking Effexor and took Ambien for about a week. When I went to see a different doctor (the one that I had before worked at a walk-in clinic) about a month ago and told her that I had started having suicidal thoughts while I was on Effexor, though she believed it's less likely that it's the effexor that caused the thoughts, she said that I should start taking Willbutrin and wean off Effexor. She also prescribed me a pain killer for my headache, a muscle relaxer and xanas. All these medications scared me off so I decided not to take Willbutrin and deal with my problems without medicating myself by exercising more often, eating the right diet and so forth. I took my last Effexor last week. I have been having a strange feeling in my head like my brain is melting and I've been forgetful and not been able to concentrate and so disorganized. I used to have a really good memory, this is upsetting. Should I go back and take 37mg and then take Willbutrin? Your help will be greatly appreciated.

[Goldmoon]

I can identify completely with the feeling you are describing. I experienced that while I was tapering off of Effexor, and that was in spite of having tapered over a period of 6 months, which is much slower than typical recommendations.  The feeling you are experiencing with your brain is most likely because it is still looking for the chemicals it was getting while you were on the Effexor. Call it withdrawal (aka discontinuation symptoms).  

I am curious about how long were you on Effexor.... How high was your dose and by how much were you dropping the dose to come off of it? Done too quickly, you'll most certainly experience withdrawal symptoms.

Have you talked to your doctor about taking the 37.5 mg of Effexor again and tapering more slowly? If your funny brain feeling goes away when you take it, that will tell you that it is the Effexor that is giving you the "brain melt" feeling.  (It may be worth a try..... but only as long as you are not taking the Wellbutrin, which you said you were not. Definitely talk to your doctor.

I can tell you that when I was getting off Effexor, I had to do so in smaller increments than the traditional 37.5 mg capsules. I actually ended up splitting open the capsule and then taking half of its contents, then 1/4 etc until I was down to nothing. Again, I did this over 6 months. Even then, I still had some withdrawal symptoms, but certainly not as drastic.