Calendar and Bead Counting

I have decided to start my withdrawal on August 2nd, not the 1st since it falls on a Sunday. I also have decided that I am going to be using the bead removal method decreasing 10mg a week until I reach my goal of NO EFFEXOR! I made an excel file with the exact count of balls and time I will be doing each, I will post a picture below. I am also going to be dropping more slowly when I reach the 30mg dosage since I have been frequently seeing that the withdrawals start to get worse around this dosage. I will only take out 5mg per week when I get to 30mg. So it will take me about 4 months to completely withdrawal. November 28th will be my last day! Here is a sample of what one of my calendars look like:

For example on August 2nd I will be taking 140mg which is 140 Balls, I will have removed 10 balls in one capsule. On the 31st I will be down to 100mg and 100 Balls, taking out 50 balls. I will be sure to count the balls in the capsule because the effexor xr generic has significantly less balls, which I think is better. I read somewhere that the non-generic has about 400 balls? All I know is that I am taking it slow. I am using this method because I know the effects of withdrawal that I felt from just missing a single dose of Effexor. It wasn't fun. Speaking of side effects, I was just thinking about making a list of the "strange feelings" that I have been having for the last 6 years on Effexor. Here are a couple I thought of:

• Vertigo & Dizziness - Contstantly feeling like my ears are full and my equillibrium is off. This was even worse when I was taking trileptol. So bad that I couldn't go into large stores like home depot, the isles would make me too dizzy. Now it is better, but still there.
• Nausea
• IBS - I am not sure if this is a life long one or due to Effexor
• Foggy Mind/Confusion - I have always been quick to thoughts and such, I have noticed and it has gotten progressively worse that I don't think as clearly as I used to. I sometimes have a very hard time finding a specific word.
• Sweating - I sweat constantly and I also get hot flashes.
• Anxiety - I grew up being very social and not having much anxiety. Ever since I started antidepressants I find myself being anxious talking to strangers and sometimes even friends/family. I get this feeling of being uptight.
• Feeling my heart jump - This doesn't happen all the time, but I do get it enough to talk about it. I sometimes feel this faint tremor or funny beating which happens only for a second or two.
• Headaches - I remember having my first "migraine" in the rehab right after starting Effexor/other drugs. I have learned to live with this splitting pain in usually half of my head every time I get a headache.

That is about it. I'm sure there is more and I'm sure that I will think of them later.

For now I am going to go buy a weekly medicine holder so that I can open my capsules ahead of time and make weekly batches. I'm thinking this will help me not make any mistakes!