Life Without "The Juice"

After a few tough weeks of getting this stuff out of my system, I began to feel some changes in my body. I had energy, I was not dozing off at work in the middle of the day, I was interested in talking to girls again, I seemed to have a focus that I did not remember having, and I began to feel a drive to achieve (something).

The decision to come off the medicine followed a bad break-up and I questioned it many times, but I wanted to venture out on my own, without my medicinal crutch. Within a few months, I lost about 12 pounds, I was exercising and enjoying it, and I had an appetite. However, I also found myself having difficulty concentrating and I lacked the focus to complete a book, reading is a major passion of mine.

I had done several Sprint Triathlons in the past and really enjoyed them. I set out to complete an Olympic Distance Triathlon about a year after I got off of the Effexor. In my training, I began to notice some Obsessive tendencies creeping into my life. The kitchen counter HAD to be clean, the sink HAD to be clear of dishes, and I HAD to vacuum frequently. Also, I could barely spend money on any non-necessary expense. I figured that some of these were healthy, my house would be cleaner and I would save more money. I did not see the OCD nor did I see the lack of concentration as a threat to my long term stability.

Around this same time, many of friends had gotten married and I realized that I had no more friends. I have the best family a guy could hope for and I am lucky that they live very close. I began to spend more time with the family, not realizing that this was not normal for a 28 year old male. After about a year, things came to a point....