I Have been taking effexor XR for about 5 years the last 6 months i decided i wanted to be drug free so weined off slowly,most doctors didnt give me an efficient plan to wein off they said do it in 2 weeks basically..i went down to 75 slowly then to 37.5,than 37.5 every 2nd day,then i would start taking beads out.after about 2 weeks on 37.5 and every 2nd day one night i woke up and a sever panic attack,thought i was either gonna die or go insane.
a day or two after that i started to get an uncomfortable breathing awareness ,24 hours a day im concentrating on my breathing,basically like i dont do it sub conciously anymore,i was constantly worrying i'd have another panic attack and/or stop breathing.
The doctor said go back onto 75mg effexor xr which i have prescribed valium,didnt work,went next day got xanax 2mg,said to take 3 times a day,but i don't want to get hooked and get withdrawel effects like you can get with effexor.,xanax helps alot,i only take 1 at night,itll knock me out for 3 hours,but than back to not sleeping,than the symptoms come back again. looked up breathing techniques,now i do the deep breathing constantly as i still have this breathing awareness but i dont have severe panic agttacks as i dont overbreathe,but its still hell.i have hardly slept in 2 weeks as when in bed the thoughts are worse,constantly thinking im going to die,my mums gonna die and i'm gonna have to deal with this hell alone,is like i dont think like i use to i don't get tired but i know im so tired,my chest feels tight and heavy so makes it harder to breathe,short of breath,so scared and worried about having to go through this my whole life and the constant fears and worries.
Im 25 years old,i feel that trying to get off the effexor has caused this ..help please
not sure if this is the right section..