I want to thank everyone who has had an opportunity to reply to my post about insomnia. I had a break through last night and was finally got a few hours of Z's. Albeit after some chamomile tea, sleep aid and zanax. At least I feel like can function today.

As for the Effexor, it has been a bitter sweet journey. I was started on Effexor about 16 years ago. It was in response to a very traumatic episode in my life. That being said, I have to say it was a god send! After about 2 weeks on the med my life changed. It was like my whole life I had been asleep and was suddenly awakened to a sunny new world. Well, being in my early 20's and more than ignorant about pysch meds, my sunny new world was not so sunny, it was the rose colored Effexor glasses. I suddenly didn't care about anything and it was marvelous! Didn't care what people thought, what people said, but beyond that I quite literally didn't care about anything. I thought I was living a 'normal persons' life when in fact I was hurtful in my actions and language, degrading towards others, didn't care how I acted, I was like a belligerent teenager. The realization of my attitude didn't dawn on me until about 8 years later when I was tired of taking meds. I had heard or read that you are supposed to taper dosages when coming off a psych med so I went from Effexor XR 150 mg 2x day to Effexor 150mg over about 6-8 months. I don't recall my symptoms during that time as it was so long ago, but I do remember regaining some clarity of thought, and it was grand. It was also depressing, if you will, because during long conversations with my spouse and family a clear picture of the belligerent teenager that I was, was enough to make me physically ill. As well, I recalled having hallucinations so real that I would ask my spouse to turn off the radio (um, no radio on) and I actually called 911 once (yicks!) I digress...I continued to taper down to 75mg 2x day over about a year. I don't recall any negative withdrawal symptoms during this time as the taper down was so slow my body was able to adapt to the lower doses. I continued the taper down over the next 3/4 years to 37.5mg 2x day. in the mean time i thought I would support my efforts in my taper down by supplementing with herbal support. SIDE NOTE...I caution you...DO NOT take any herbals before first checking with your doctor or better yet pharmacist! I took one herbal pill (1/4 of the dosage recommended) and ended up with Seratonin Syndrome. This is a life threatening interaction folks! This is why so many folks on this panel caution the use of herbals. I recovered from my syndrome after a couple of days. Although I was so ill that I ended up having severe withdrawal effects (it you don't know what they are, look them up...had everyone one of them) as I couldn't ingest my meds. After about 1 year on the 18.75mg 2x day I decide it was time to be done. So at the end of March 2017 I went off the drug completely. I didn't have any side effects to speak of or at least I didn't think I did (they are so subtle they sneak up on you). I let my closest friends, work colleagues and spouse know that I had gone off my med and to let me know about any changes in my behavior). No changes noted! Sweet! I am free! About two weeks later, the night of a vacation I had waited 2 yrs for, all hell broke loose! Hello insomnia, crying, erratic behavior, meanness, irritability, fatigue, cravings. I didn't equate this 'new' behavior with my removal from the drug as I had been off of it for two weeks. Needless to say, after two weeks of the most horrible vacation experience ever, I capitulated and started up on the Effexor again at 18.75mg 2xday. Well that did the trick!! Yup back to feeling 'normal' except for the occasional ringing in the ears, dizziness and insomnia, I am alive again. I am thinking my most recent experience of insomnia may have been some withdrawal symptoms creeping in so I adjusted my intake to 8a and 8pm to have it in my system every 12hrs. Although the 'self life' of the drug is around 4hrs, I still think it builds up in the system enough to have carry over to 8hrs (just my experience). As well, I have been under abnormal stresses at work, working ungodly hrs upwards of 80hrs on some weeks. So my insomnia may have been contributed by this stress. Anyway, to make a long story longer ;), my hope right now is that I can maintain my current 'normalness' on the 18.75mg 2x day. Both my parents and grandparents had mild psych issues, so this could be a hereditary issue for me. I feel like I can 'cope' on this small dosage if I don't become adjusted to it. If I have any advice for folks who choose to read my long winded story, is to please seek out every opportunity to educate yourself on this and other drugs. Find a specialist who understands these drugs and whatever you do DO NOT 'cold turkey' off this med. I took years to taper down this med and kudos to those who choose to endure coming off of it sooner. I am very thankful to have found this Mayo clinic site and when I am ready, to seek out their expertise in getting off this drug. In the meantime, I hope my story can be helpful to others and that we can continue to a support to the masses as they are getting their lives back. Namaste.