Letter to Pastor
I’m scared. I am having trouble getting one of my meds. It is for depression, obsession, general anxiety disorder. I realized was going to have trouble getting it so I’ve been tapering off it. There are quite a few lawsuits due to people killing themselves after stopping this medication.
I found one place that I can get a substitute for it but they have been reluctant to ship it and due to a bank charge coming in I don’t have the money for it anyway. I spent all of my savings this month to purchase my ticket for my required trip to Bangkok that is coming up but I spent the rest for a fun trip to Bantayan Island. This isn’t really about money though its about the horrible withdrawal I’m going to go through.
Besides running the risk of loosing every friend I have because of the rage the withdrawal of Effexor XR has had on me in the past it causes me to hear “shock waves” is the best way to describe it. I just found medical literature on this and they call it “brain zaps.” Even that is not a serious problem but how sick it makes me feel is. Besides it being an SSRI it is also…
Effexor is an antidepressant in a group of drugs called selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSNRIs)
When people take methamphetamine, norepinephrine is what causes the high but it is more aggressive because it causes the flooding of this chemical into the brain.
I’ve tried to prepare my body for this but it is not going well at all. My previous doctor strongly suggested I never go below 75mg a day. She prescribed it for me in a way that allowed me to adjust my dosage widely as needed. I was prescribed this for general anxiety disorder, not really for depression. That’s just an added bonus for me.
It is also being used for Peripheral Neuropathy which I also have.
If I can’t get this drug, I’m going to need all the help I can get and I think the only place I can get that help is if get it from the Father and try to apply fasting like reliance on God. I’m actually terrified because of what I have already experienced, and I’ve only cut the dose in half!
Faith, Hope and Love,
Rusty
Tagged with: Depression • God
Filed under: Cebu Experience
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Get
To The Philippines Faster
Good luck, Rusty. I’m pulling for you.
You are not alone, I am sure all of your readers are with you as well.
Be strong, you still have plenty of things to accomplish and you have a dynamo called Jessie to help you.
Same here Rus. I’d hate to be in your shoes when those withdrawals kick in. See if you can get the ff; Cymbalta or Yentreve, generic name Duloxetene. It’s from the same family as Effexor, works like Effexor because it’s also a SNRI. Pristiq (generic name Desvenlafaxine, also known as ‘son of venlafaxine’). It’s a newish drug, might not be available in PI, if available it will be expensive. As a last resort, Strattera (generic name tomoxetine). I doubt PI will sell it because it is marketed for ADHD. But if available, it can take care of your withdrawal because it is also a SNRI, but not very effective for anxiety. Good luck….
Bob and Robert thanks for the moral support.
Christine, the lowest theraputic dose is 75mg as you know. I’ve been taking 37.5 for the last week. I thought I was going to sell through this until yesterday and I noticed the brain zaps even then I thought I would be okay but today, I felt the withdrawel and I don’t want any more o fthat. I’ve felt it before but it has been a long time and was on much higher doses. Since I’ve been on 37.5 most of the last year I thought i wouldn’t have so much trouble. But it was horrible what I was feeling. So I went ahead and took a full dose for today.
I have xanax to fight the GAD, I just don’t like to take it. I’ve been on it for 24 years now and I have been very responsible with it, I’ve always been afraid of it because it is so addictive. At the same time, I recognize I do need it. I will look into these drugs you suggest and look for other SSNRI’s.
I have a smile on my face and peace in my heart, hopefully I can hold onto that no matter what this cruel wold throws my way. I also hahve the love of a good woman who is trying hard to make it easer for me too. This too will pass.
I went through this topic once again and I noticed something that you have mentioned before, no money ?
I always thought that life in Philippines was not that expensive but I see that even there things are not that cheap.
Is it the medication that is so costly?
Robert,
The Philippines are not costly. My medication in the USA cost me $1200 a month. Here they cost me $300. :)
Most of the time when I mention no money, it is because I wont touch my savings. I have a budget and I’ve been saving significant amounts of money most months. So I can nbe broke with some savings.
This month saw me whip my tiny savings out. I bought my required trip to Bangkok, then I splurged on myself a couple of hundred with my second trip to Bantayan Island and then my monitor died and blew another $200. My monitor died in Dec of last year but Jessie and I just shared her PC. Then her monitor died, its been dying the whole time but one day I couldn’t keep it one for more than a couple of minutes so I scournged up every dime I had to get a monitor. The combination of the three blew a whole in my savings and my budget.
So most of the time when I say I have no money it is really I have no more budget.
When I came to the Philippines, I had nothing so I had to start all over. I have my retirment income which is a substantial income in the Philippines. It does not mean however that I have unlimited cash, its limited. :)
I’m also the kind of person that I don’t think it would mater how much money I made, I’d findn a way to spend it. That Cannon Mark III is driving me nuts. Its a $2000 camera and I think I have to have it. :) Speaking of which I also maxed out my credit card on a new camera but much cheaper than $2000. My cards come from HSBC USA and they are probably going to cancel all their credit cards in the states. I was agressively paying them down to get that $2000 camera but my camera is getting old. part of it fell off this week. LOL I got an underwater cam from Olympus. Half price it was about $270 so I’m really happy about it. I don’t have my hands on it yet. I shipped everything to a friend in the USA and she will ship it to me. I had to buy several accessories. And when I ship anything to the Philippines I try to get several other things I’ll need, like those meds.
I execpt Effexor to be available to me tomorrow but a 30 day supply is over $100. The main reason medication is cheaper here is because you can get generics here for drugs that don’t have generics in the USA. Another reason is, the USA is about the only country that allows drug companies to write off R&D cost within their medication. The drug companies should be able to write it off of course, but the USA leads the way int he research and the rest of the world uses it but makes the Americans pay for it. Why does this happen? Most of the world has socialized medicine!
Hey Rusty. I am sorry to hear of your troubles.I hope you find a solution. Hang in there. Things will get better. Me and all your internet friends are here pulling for you. Take care.
Norman
Hi Norman,
Things are good. Couple of challenging days.
Looks like I”ll be able to get my medication locally in a few days so I’ve gone back to a full dose now. Actually took more than a full dose yesterday. Feeling pretty good this morning except not enough sleep. I forgot to take Zantac and my stomach reminded me in the middle of the night. :)
That’s just it though, I’ve tried to get off the stuff I take and everything is pretty much essential for me.
Hey Rusty. Good to hear your doing better.Just take whats medically necessary.I take medication for high blood pressure myself.Just got a good deal on my medication for $8 a month.Saves me $300 a year.Hope to use the savings for a trip there to see my friend sometime this year.She is from the area your in.She works in Cebu City duing the week.Comes home to the province some weekends.
Yeah, it is hard to find work in the rural areas but its hard even in the cities, she’s lucky she is one of those that has steady work!
The local pharamcy is suppose to have my medications in today. If they don’t, then I can start worrying again.
Someone sent me five pills from down south, if I don’t get the what I’m suppose to get here, then back into trouble again and back to alternating days to discontinue dose. Not totally in the clear yet but I feel like myself again today for the first time since Sunday night.
Man I wish I was at the floating bar in Bantayan. That’s such an awesome place!
I’m excited, I’m suppose to have a new monkey today!
i need good job,good wife,favour,blessing,victory,finacial,miracle,guideance,protction,good heath and long life,till i hear from you thanks you.
its me
kazeem
Hello Kazeem,
I hope and pray you find all the things you need too make you happy. Thanks for sharing!
If you don’t get them, I pray you find peace and happiness without them and that His grace will be sufficient though for most of us, we want more. :)