Unintentional Cold Turkey

[gofio]

I 'missed' taking 150 mg of Effexor XL for a week without knowing it. I felt like death ~ just couldn't understand why I felt so rough ~ wasn't until I discovered that I'd missed taking it that I could understand why I felt so bad. Resumed taking it & been OK since ~ wouldn't recommend that anyone go cold turkey with this drug. Has anyone had a similar experience of missing the drug unintentionally? I'd rather have the unwanted side effects of drugs than be out of my mind with anx/dep. No amount of willpower/guts/courage etc has helped me to cope without drugs ~ the harder I fight the quicker I crack up. Have tried to find someone that has beaten real anx/dep without drugs~ so far no one has sent me any info. regarding their experience of doing it. I'm not intending coming off anything unless I'm stable for at least a year, every time I've come off in past has led to a breakdown soon afterwards. Being positive certainly helps, as does hard exercise & avoiding anything/people that are negative making. Currently feel good. But would like to know if anyone has beaten this rotten illness alone? Thanks in anticipation, Best wishes & success to all.

[mammo]

Never, never, never stop this type of medication abruptly, it is very dangerous.  If you are able to have a good quality of life by taking a pill everyday, why worry about it?  Sometimes depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, not outside influences, so if this is this case, you need the drug.  Don't get caught up in not wanting to have to take medication so long as it is helping you.  Maybe with time, and change you may one day not need it.  But now you do, so take it and relax.  Therapy can help you deal with a lot of issues, and you may want to try this. Things from our past can haunt us, and depress us, so it is well worth talking to someone and weeding out any issues that may be weighing on you.  I've been there, and sometimes we don't even know that there are things bothering us, until a professional brings it out.  Regardless, stay on your meds, get into therapy, and only under your doctor's guidance attempt to wean yourself off this type of drug.  Also, we are all different, and what works for one, may not work for another.  So, go by your doctor's advice, nobody else has the knowledge to guide you on this.  Best wishes to you, there are a lot of us in the same boat!

[Hensley258]

I have mised a day on rare occasion, but I must ask....How did you miss a whole week?
I remember when i was on Effexor and after 48 hours of no dosage I got withdrawls. That alone was a reminder that I forgot.

As for how to get off meds for life? I am right there with you. Call me a pesimist, but I honestly think that if a person has true mental depression (as in a real mental illness) that going off meds and being "cured" is rubbish.

If you can think of an alternative therapy then i have tried it in spades with no result.
Natural remidies? Ha Ha! yea right! They are not near powerful enough when the level of a persons depression and anxiety are at critical levels and very severe.

Like you, I am all ears if anyone has a cure for cronic forms of depression.

[Rebekah72]

Sweetie, change your view of "beating" it.  When I was 30/29 or so and first went on meds, I absolutely didn't want to do it.  I was a new parent and my life was fantastic, nice house, great kids, great family and yet I wanted to just eat a bullet every day.  I couldn't clean or do anything I was supposed to be doing.  I told the shrink I'd give meds a try, and thank god I did.

I've had a few steps back a few years ago, but now I feel the best I ever have.  I HAVE beaten it, by keeping up with my meds and doing what I'm supposed to as a responsible adult.

As for going cold turkey, I've done it a couple times.  I will tell you this, when you miss some you know.  I get nausea, shakes, sweat terribly.  When you miss it for a few days you get the shock waves in your head and your eyes kind of have a weird reaction to light?  It's very surreal, but it shows you that you need it.

I didn't like Effexor, it didn't work for me and has been a bad medication for a member of my family, but the person who put me on that in addition to Lexapro AND Wellbutrin was a quack.  Now I'm on the 25ish Cont. Release Paxil and things are going well.

Feel free to message and good job getting back on the meds!