@dissidentdaughter
I know exactly what you are talking about with the pain reviving after Effexor. I was well aware that it may be a consequence of getting off the drug.
It, my pain, has reared its ugly head. I was on an extremely bad safari in Kenya and ruptured 3 discs in my neck and 3 in my lower back in 2006. My neck was repaired in 2007. My lower back has not been fixed.
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AND I refuse to allow it to take over my life again. So what am I doing instead of suffering? As I sit here and think of my life and what is different now from when I was first put on Effexor I realize I have chosen to take control of my life.
You spoke of divorce. My husband died in 2011. He had been lost in his alcoholism for 5 or 6 years. To be fair, I had been lost in illness and multiple sclerosis myself since 2002. We chose to retire in Missouri, not realizing the difference in temperature from the Chicago area would take me out because of my MS. I was having so much difficulty related to the higher temperatures.
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So what's different now????? ATTITUDE
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I refuse to allow my physical pain to destroy my life I worked for 32 years to achieve.
Yes, I still have pain. And I keep putting one foot in front of the other. I have many mottos that keep me going. Keep going, keep going, keep going. That's one of my many mottos. I wrote them on 3 x 5 cards and posted them on my walls in my line of vision.
My therapist was great at writing simple sentences on a sheet of paper to send me home with. It was something I could hold in my hand to keep me focused on my next steps until I could be with her again.
Anyway, I hope this starts to help. You are not alone.
Come back and respond please. Smiling at you, Bright Wings
Together we can accomplish anything