Our blizzard, my brain

February 1st, 2008

Well, we got our three inches. (That’s what she said!) It’s frankly more than a tad disappointing, given yesterday’s commotion about winter storms, but apparently it’s enough to cancel schools. Which seems a bit ridiculous to me. This is Michigan, people. If we can’t get our children to school because of three inches of snow, what hope is there?

Astute observers will note that I am penning this entry at what is a ridiculously early hour for me. I woke around six this morning with that strange combo where your body is completely exhausted but your brain won’t let you fall back to sleep. I think it’s part of the Effexor withdrawal, which I haven’t written about since my disastrous attempt to come off it a couple of weeks ago. I’ll provide a quick update at the risk of boring 99% of my readers in the hope that it might prove useful to that 1% who is having a similar experience.

As I noted, coming off even the smallest available dosage — 37.5 mg capsules — was a nightmare I’d prefer not to repeat. So I decided to step down even more slowly, which meant actually opening up the capsules, counting the granules of medication and manually cutting them in half. (For the record, there are an average of 126 grains of Effexor in each capsule.) I’ve been on that lower dose for over a week and it’s been much, much easier. It’s not symptom free — there are the occasional “zaps” and some other stuff — but it’s not terrible.

Today I’m stepping down again to 1/4 of the 37.5 mg capsules and we’ll see how that goes. I suspect, as I’ve read, that the real symptoms kick in when you drop off entirely, but I’m hoping if I do this for a week and then stop, things won’t be nearly as bad as before. I’ll keep you posted. I know it’s riveting.

On the flip side, I think I’m experiencing some pain relief from the new drug I’m on for fibromyalgia, neuronton. (Or, more accurately, the generic version, gabapentin.) It’s just hard to tell sometimes if it’s real relief or if I’m just in a place in the pain cycle where I feel better. I also have been doing a little research on neurontin withdrawal, in case this doesn’t work, and that doesn’t seem like a pleasant experience either. That scares me a little. But what should I do? Just live with the pain? Blech. Sometimes I just wish someone would fix me.

Entry Filed under: Just Life