About two years ago I foolishly took about a 4 month course of 37.5mg of Effexor/venlafaxine, came off it without withdrawal effects, then took a similar course of low-dose (25mg) Tramadol. Since then I have been generally drug-free (no chronic usage; extremely limited recreational use) and would no longer consider myself depressed, thanks in large part to major life changes/overhauls.
However, I have been very patiently waiting for now, literally, years for the negative residual effects of these two drugs to abate. I blame mostly the Effexor, as it seems heavily reinforced by anecdotal reports of similar problems/calls for class action law suits etc (though obviously the effexor is much more frequently prescribed than the tramadol).
The worst problem is the severe short term memory loss. I will regularly forget whether I completed a task or not or what task I had set myself in motion to do. More importantly, it has tremendous impact on my ability to recall facts/words/ideas which I am sure cuts my IQ in half.
My creativity, which was once quite high, has been all but eliminated and I find it extremely difficult to get "lost" in any sort of art or experience - something which was once very easy to do and a primary reason to live.
I have a general feeling that my personality, which was quite energetic, perhaps, at times, abrasive has been neutered and a sense of heightened awareness and consciousness is an extremely muffled version of what it once was.
Perhaps MOST troubling, as it reinforces the very real nature of this all (and not just a neurosis I've programmed into my head), is that many different drugs including Caffeine have completely different or muted effects on my post-effexor self. I also cannot seem to do much of anything that requires actual cognitive faculties (i.e. read, converse, write a simple forum post) without losing energy and gaining a vague pulsing headache.
And worst of all, my ability to write, for which my career and lifestyle depend upon, is severely hampered. I find it extremely difficult to form sentences in text, mostly because my memory is too weak to recall the words and then remember where they were to be organized.
All this to say I need a solution because abstinence, as was advised to me two years ago, has clearly not worked.
The horrible irony of all of this is I have tried many, many psychoactive drugs. Most left no detectable damage and though I suspected a few (an overdose prescription of amphetamines; a bit too much MDMA a decade ago), none caused anything so blatant, so crippling, and so concurrent with so many other reports as this Effexor.
I am willing to try just about anything and I have access to a great deal, prescription or otherwise.
