Here’s a quick update on my anxiety disorder: two weeks ago, my psychiatrist told me I could finally wean off Effexor aka Venlafaxine. I knew the withdrawal was coming because I’d had problems with this before when I started to take the med and whenever I took it a few hours late.
It’s been two weeks since I started the process. Yesterday I took the last tablet. Knowing that I’d get full-blown withdrawal symptoms today, I made a huge mistake and had a huge all-you-can-eat dinner with my friends.
I got carsick, almost hurled multiple times, and couldn’t sleep, hence blogging at 3 am.
It was our first gathering in more than a month. Because of the pandemic, we didn’t get to hang out very much. But it was a mistake still.
I searched online and found that a bunch of people have the same problems. I’d waited for so long to stop using this medicine because of side effects like nightmare, insomnia, and severe coughing. It was horrible not being able to sleep properly, and I had to take naps during the day. I can’t tell you how glad I felt when the doctor told me I could try and wean off the med.
Feeling irritable more than ever is bad enough. Acute nausea and dizziness on top of that is driving me crazy. Now I just feel like the suffering may never end.
It will properly take a month for my body to completely get rid of the med. Thankfully, the gym is reopening next week. I hope I can go to the gym, though. I still don’t know how bad next week will be. There’s no other choices but to endure it.
Smelling salts, dried plums, and cold sugary drinks are my best friends at the moment. Oh, probably ice cream buckets, too.
— Petra
Petrawrites.com 