Can this be withdrawal symptoms?

Ive been on Effexor XR 75mg for about 5 years.  I stupidly went cold turkey this past June.  I had the "brain shivers" panic attacks and heart palpitations for about a month after stopping.  I would take Xanax .25mg-.5mg on and off to counteract the effects of panic attacks.  Sometimes 3 days in a row, others once per week.  I've been doing this for about 4 months.  Now this month (almost 4 months later) I made an appointment for a hair transplant.  At this point I havent taken xanax or any other drug for about 2 weeks prior.  I was very stressed about the procedure, and when I got there was given 2000mgs of Keflex for infection, 5mg of Valium and the local anasthesia which has epenephrine.  After the procedure, I was told to take 500mgs of Keflex 2x per day, and a Vicodin as needed.  2 days after the procedure, I started getting chronic severe anxiety.  Sweats, chills, cant think straight, fright, tremors, etc.  This has been going on for about 2 weeks.  When it first started happening, I took .5mg of Xanax at a time for 2 days, but has been about 5 days since I took it.  I also took vicodin once per night 500mgs but stopped.  I also stopped the Keflex after 5 days instead of 7.  Could it of been any of these drugs, a withdrawal of some type,or the effexor?

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

The symptoms you had earlier, in June, can be seen in Effexor withdrawal. The symptoms of Effexor withdrawal are independent of the dose can be prolonged over a few weeks. I am not sure if the symptoms you are having after the procedure are still part of the withdrawal syndrome. They may very well be part of the original condition for which you have been taking Effexor.

A second possibility is that these symptoms could be due to the side effects of Vicodin. Your treating doctors are in a better position to assess the situation.

[valerinababy]

I stopped effexor cold turkey and I have never been so sick in my life!  I thought I was dying! Go to your doctor asap