Hard Decision

After much thought and research I have decided to taper off of the antidepressant i've been taking for years. The prospect scares the hell out of me - especially with my family history - but I think its the right thing to do for me. I talked to my kids about it last night and they support my decision, but are concerned.

I've thought about it in the past, but now it has become somewhat necessary. I have lost my health insurance (and the second coverage for Sara and Michael) and can no longer afford my medication. So, there it is. It forced the decision.

I will taper off as much as I can. I've read that this is a horrible drug to get off of. I hope it is truly not the case.

I dropped my dose by 1/3 this morning. I'll stay there for a couple of weeks, then another third. All the documentation says that the last 75mg are the hardest to get past and off of.

I'll know by tonight how this first drop is going to go. So far just a little headache, which is to be expected. If its going to get worse it will be later this evening, as the medication half life is up.

I'm going to talk to an herbalist to get some assistance with countering some of the side effects, but I'm not stopping until I'm off of the effexor xr.