Sorry to hear you were in an accident, hope your car isn't totaled and you recover from it quickly!
As for the storms, glad to hear that you weren't in the immediate area. I was out on my balcony taking pictures the whole time, I got some cool shots of the water being sucked up out of the river!

Beth...I'm glad you're OK too. I'm glad I didn't do any spinning around- that could have been bad. As far as the 6-speed goes, I probably am a "little" mad , but I'm also attached to the car. I figured out after shoulder surgery that as long as I don't shift when I'm turning, my left arm (the bad one) doesn't have to do TOO much work. I saw that weather up in STL... thats COLD. Things get scary when there's that much of a change.

KLS- I didn't get any pictures, but i've seen a bunch on the news that look pretty neat. That picture of the water getting sucked up seems really interesting. I hope you're ok too!

just wanted to add a firendly reminder that if you are taking Effexxor at 150 mg...just because you went down to 75 mg with no real problems does NOT mean that you can just stop taking it

yes, stopped on tuesday, and by thursday I was having wierd dizziness that reminded me of Tam's descriptions of out of body experiences. I felt like i was at teh central focal point of the universe and it was jsut coming in and out of focus around me....like i had been beamed up somewhere but they couldn't quite get me to materialized...i was stuck in a loop wher i couldn't quite land but i kept trying SO WEIRD!!!! I also had some severe nausea and cookie tossing which fooled me into thinking i just had the 24 hour version of the cold the rest of my family had. Couldn't get out of bed, couldn't walk, let alone drive...couldn't eat. Family was useless...! my hubby left me at home alone with the little kids after i told him i could not drive them to school. I then fell asleep on them for several hours until they were hitting me to wake me up. oops.

in any case, as the 24 hour flu went into day 3, i got up enough energy to look on the computer for what the withdrawal symptoms of effexor were, and turns out i pretty much had all of them...took half an effexor and the symptoms basically dissappeared.

I don't plan to try that again....i guess the idea is slow slow slow decreases.

feeling a lot better now, but wanted to just throw that story out there....

not going to try to get the rest of the way off till i am feeling better from next weeks surgery. I knew bad withdrawal symptoms were a possibility when i started taking it, but that was really weird and worse than i expected.

Today I met with a panel for my appeal hearing. I was so stressed and sore, from driving by the time I got there. My employers lawyer was there as well. I think my advocate and I presented a good case. The employer's lawyer must have been sleepy from his trip because he made alot of errors. YAH!!! I readily corrected him and was able to give a good clear picture of how my injury happened as well as how it reflects on my daily living. I am satisified that if it is not excepted, it's because it was predecided not to accept it prior to my hearing. I am so happy this is behind me, unfortunately my injuries are not. I must now wait for 14 weeks for a letter of decision from the panel. Well whats 14 more weeks after almost 4 years of waiting for a fair and just decision. Just thought I'd let you all know, because without everyone's support here I wouldn't have made it. So Happy Valentine's day and thanks to all that encouraged me and wouldn't let me give up.

good vibes to you and to the judge!!!

Happy Valentine's day

Johanna

coming off Effexor is REALLY hard. You need to come off it under a Dr.'s care. Go down to 75mg for two weeks, then 37.5mg for two weeks, then one every 2nd day, the every 3rd day etc. even then I spent the last week coming off of it in bed too sick to move. I have two girlfriends who had the same experience. My Dr. said he sees it all the time.
Trix

trix- yeah....it was my doctors suggestion to just stop at 75. I was a little suspicious, obviously my gut was right

i plan to split the 37.5's and see how small of a dose i can eventually ween down to before stopping.

wish me luck

I hate to say this but I had been on SO MUCH meds a few years ago that I could not get off even slowly. It made me act as if I was drunk. I had to go to NY Presbyterian Hospital for 2 weeks. It was awful but I had been taking around 10 different meds that were unnecesary. We all know the drill, go to the doctor and they give you another script. At the time you think, ok, that will help. But, it piles up. Stepping down, and stopping meds is tough. Always check with your doctor. If you don't like the answer, get another. Been there!! Linda

yes yes, totally correct!!! I requested a change due to the 15 pounds i have gained in the last three months that i can only figure is from the effexor. My doctor suggested that Wellbutrin might work for at least the mood and ADD, possibly the pain, and was great for weight.. so the plan was to switch. I have started the wellbutrin but still on the lowest dose of effexor, going to concentrate on decreasing it after my surgery on monday.

After trying the effexor thing, I can't imagine how you could get off more than one at the same time. I felt as though i belonged in the hospital with just the effexor. You are quite strong to come through that and succeed on the other side.

I only let my pain management doctor prescribe anything for me aside from my thyroid medicine. At every visit i take a hand written list of everything i am taking, dosages/times, etc. as well as a list of what i have on hand, so it is easier to know what he needs to write for me. I used to guesstimate, but tended to overestimate what i needed and end up with too many extras. The actual inventory every month works better.

Many have posted and i totally agree it is VERY IMPORTANT to only have one person controlling your meds and that that person knows what he/she is doing! Because even when you have those controls, things can sure get wacky with these meds.

Johanna,

I just added Wellbutrin to my mix - the doc is using it to try and fix my sleeping/waking problems. He said to take it in the morning (I take all my other pills at night, because it's easier to remember) because it has caffeine in it.

Sue