Efexor - Anxiety Medication

nesf

solas wrote:

anyone any experience with paroxetine? effexor seems to be a newer generation of ssri's and I would have thought they would be more effective or at least with lesser side effects. Are these basically the same drug?

Effexor is an SNRI not an SSRI, they are different classes of drug iirc. SNRI's act on serotonin and norepinephrine while SSRIs act only on serotonin.

solas

ah ok

Esel

At higher levels, Effexor (venlafaxine) also acts weakly on dopamine.

Terry

I've been on efexor for a few years now.
I found that it works fine for me.
These drugs will have a different effect on each individual because of differences in brain chemistry.
I started on 35mg (not 37.5 ), went up to 75 and am now on 150.
I felt crappy for the first few days with each dosage increase, but was fine afterwards.
Just avoid alcohol at all costs if you want the drug to work properly. Otherwise you are pissing into the wind.


yes, do as i say and not as i do

catho_monster

Ok, I really want to add my 2c to this debate, because my life was totally made a mess of with effexor.
I have been on it for nearly 5 years now. Usually I'm on 75mg, top i was ever on was 150. I have been weaning myself off (with the doctors approval) for months now and im currently on 18.75.
I am coming off them, because i believe that they have prevented my digestive system from functioning properly. I have been nauseus since I started taking them, and it has gotten progressively worse. I have been to every specialist in dublin to find the case of my nausea, bloating, sickness to no success, only to be told that these antidepressents could be the cause. The difference since cutting down in marked.
WARNING: the withdrawl symptoms, when anyone here that is on the drug wants to come off them, are worse that the original symptoms in my case. I have been dizzy now for 6 weeks. Crazy dizzy for the first two weeks when i dropped from 75 to 37.5. couldnt move my head without losing all sense of barings. and dizzyness is not the only thing. google ssri withdrawl syndrome if anyone wants to know more.
and one more thing. i thought i was going dyslexic. genuinely, my brain couldnt process numbers right. i found myself not being able to hold conversations becuase i couldnt find the right word. im in academia and this really affected me. now i could totally be wrong, but i've checked with other people i know on antidepressents and this has happened to them too.
i believe 100% that effexor has messed up my brain, and has poisoned my body.
yes, it does help fix you when your broken but this withdrawl, and what it did to my body while i was on it = i'd rather be depressed.

there is more to this to emphasise my point, but i think i might cry if i have to go through my memories to relive all the things that have been going on the last while. i'll get back to you on it if anyone wants to know more...

solas

catho_monster wrote:

WARNING: the withdrawl symptoms, when anyone here that is on the drug wants to come off them, are worse that the original symptoms in my case. I have been dizzy now for 6 weeks. Crazy dizzy for the first two weeks when i dropped from 75 to 37.5. couldnt move my head without losing all sense of barings. and dizzyness is not the only thing. google ssri withdrawl syndrome if anyone wants to know more.

This is what I was concerned about. Tbh, my own doctor wouldn't prescribe medication for me and I learned to cope with my own issues over the last few years, which hasnt been easy. I ended up quitting my job and was out of work for three of them and the emotional pain at times was unbearable...but I'm stil here. I did resort to taking painkillers but only in order to knock me out at night less I wouldnt have had a decent nights sleep. eventually they started giving me headaches during the day and when I stopped taking them it was a migrane for three days scenario which landed me at an emergency doc who once I explained practically threw a prescription of effexor at me, no questions asked.
I knew my doc would be really pissed off had I taken them so I decided not to until I found out more about the stuff and had his consent.

and one more thing. i thought i was going dyslexic. genuinely, my brain couldnt process numbers right. i found myself not being able to hold conversations becuase i couldnt find the right word. im in academia and this really affected me. now i could totally be wrong, but i've checked with other people i know on antidepressents and this has happened to them too.
i believe 100% that effexor has messed up my brain, and has poisoned my body.
yes, it does help fix you when your broken but this withdrawl, and what it did to my body while i was on it = i'd rather be depressed.

honestly, these have been my symptoms anyway and as far as I can figure out a result of supression that i had endured over the years. I was physically unable to hold a conversation, just couldn't produce the words. I was given a job start about eight months ago and have been slowly making progress. As a back to work program the people I was working with with understanding of our personal situations and as part and parcel of the program, we were offered several variations of communications and social interaction based workshops designed courses which were helpful. As for academia, I've only just deferred for a year as I know I just wouldnt have the attention levels to contend with it.

there is more to this to emphasise my point, but i think i might cry if i have to go through my memories to relive all the things that have been going on the last while. i'll get back to you on it if anyone wants to know more...

Always here if you need to share too. best of luck

I've always had attention and coherency problems.
I found that I was able to get away with being a confused muddle until I got to college, and then my depression hit.
I took effexor XR 75mg for 2ish years, no side-effects, I came off it over a period of 2-3 weeks with no withdrawal.

As my problems in that department didn't leave with the depression, I have researched furthur and I feel that it is preety likly I have ADD and that this might be the cause of the depression in the first place.

Nalced_irl

Well, been on it now for a good few weeks and to be honest i dont know if they are working or not. I havent really got the balls to try to do something that would usually send me into a panic frenzy. Anytime im about to do something like that, i decide to go without any "crutch" but give in and take something to help anyway. Gotta try it sooner or later tho i suppose so hopefully ill find they are helping anyway.

nesf

Nalced_irl wrote:

Well, been on it now for a good few weeks and to be honest i dont know if they are working or not. I havent really got the balls to try to do something that would usually send me into a panic frenzy. Anytime im about to do something like that, i decide to go without any "crutch" but give in and take something to help anyway. Gotta try it sooner or later tho i suppose so hopefully ill find they are helping anyway.

There's no shame in a "crutch" if your quality of life is **** without it to be honest. Be careful about building up the "first test". You could accidentally wind yourself up so tight that you'd have a panic attack meds or no meds.

Esel

Nalced_irl wrote:

Well, been on it now for a good few weeks and to be honest i dont know if they are working or not. I havent really got the balls to try to do something that would usually send me into a panic frenzy. Anytime im about to do something like that, i decide to go without any "crutch" but give in and take something to help anyway. Gotta try it sooner or later tho i suppose so hopefully ill find they are helping anyway.

That's about six weeks then? You say you "dont know if they are working or not", can you expand on that a bit? Have you noticed any changes in your mood, thoughts, sleep, energy levels, appetite?

Have you been back to the doctor? S/he might recommend increasing the dosage. Don't be worried if so.

Best of luck with everything.

Nalced_irl

nesf wrote:

There's no shame in a "crutch" if your quality of life is **** without it to be honest. Be careful about building up the "first test". You could accidentally wind yourself up so tight that you'd have a panic attack meds or no meds.

Well, unfortunately ny crutch is alcohol so i dont wanna use it too often. Went to a pub today without drinking at all beforehand and was fine. Obviously its a Tuesday night so pub was very quiet so not a place i would usually "go mad" in but i would normally feel more anxious than i did. Plus i saw my counciler today and she really does have a calming affect. Dont know quite what she does but talk, but when i left her today, i was actually smiling and not worried about anything for the first time in years! She is the third have seen in the last few months and the first that actually makes me feel i may get over this.

Nalced_irl

esel wrote:

That's about six weeks then? You say you "dont know if they are working or not", can you expand on that a bit? Have you noticed any changes in your mood, thoughts, sleep, energy levels, appetite?

Have you been back to the doctor? S/he might recommend increasing the dosage. Don't be worried if so.

Best of luck with everything.

Well, its 5 weeks so far but i dont really notice any mood change to any great extent. (you do know im on it purely for anxiety and not depression btw. Dont know if mood changes are more common in depression or not) I have been a little less anxious going to places i usually avoid but not to the extent that i feel comfortable. For certain places, i can still feel an attack coming on hours before i even go there so the mind is still racing wildly!

Terry

I'll tell you now that the only way you are going to get better is to quit drinking for a while.
You don't have to quit altogether. 1 or 2 won't do you any harm, but any more than that and you are pissing into the wind.
I'm sure you know by now that when you wake up after drinking, you feel more nervous than normal.

Nalced_irl

Absolutely Terry, i have cut down alot compared to what i used to drink. Basically cant deal with the mixture of anxiety and hangover together very often.

Terry

Very few people can.

Nalced_irl

Well, i used to drink a hell of alot probably 4 days a week. Nowadays, with the help of being unable to work so crap finances i only go out once a week. I do go out other nights but ill only have 3 pints or whatever. Only go out for a big session once a week tho.

Filan

Actually I've gone onto decaffinated coffee the past 5 weeks...and the difference has been huge.

Also quit the occasional cigarette..even occasional caused my heart to race

Terry

Contrary to popular belief, smoking does not relax you.
If I'm any way nervous, I can't smoke. I can't even be around a lit cigarette.

Nalced_irl

I would be the opposite Terry. Mentally it does relax me but only while im actually smoking it. As soon as im finished, it all comes back and for a few mins is alot worse. When im out tho, going for a smoke is a good excuse to go outside if im feeling sh1tty and ill usually barely even inhale the cigarette, just want to get outside and calm down. I have been advised to quit smoking but havent managed to even try yet. With the anxiety and all, to add withdrawals from smokes seems too much tbh.

IncredibleHulk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Healy_(psychiatrist)

http://www.healyprozac.com/default.htm

Prozac is somewhat similar to Effexor

Hope this is of some help. Note I am not giving medical advice.And don't give them up suddenly without doctors advice

Best of luck

nesf

IncredibleHulk wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Healy_(psychiatrist)

http://www.healyprozac.com/default.htm

Prozac is somewhat similar to Effexor

Hope this is of some help. Note I am not giving medical advice.And don't give them up suddenly without doctors advice

Best of luck

I'm unsure if it's helpful to link to this kind of stuff on these threads. Effexor isn't a SSRI btw.

Esel

nesf wrote:

I'm unsure if it's helpful to link to this kind of stuff on these threads. Effexor isn't a SSRI btw.

I agree. Especially when the justification given for the post is that "Prozac is somewhat similar to Effexor".

IncredibleHulk

nesf wrote:

I'm unsure if it's helpful to link to this kind of stuff on these threads. Effexor isn't a SSRI btw.

My apologies Effexor is not an SSRI it is an SNRI and so not similar to Prozac. Sorry OP posted that in good faith as well as the link to Healy,he is well known in that field and though his input would be worth considering. I stand by dont give up suddenly any anti depressant without docs advice

LegacyUser

been on efexor 150mg then 75mg for past 2.5 yrs, had a baby while i was on this stuff. my baby has just turned 1, can anyone tell me if there are any side effects for her because she is hyperactive. took my last tablet (75mg) 5 days ago, have all the side effects plus a few extra, can i get a heart attack?? does anyone know because my heart feels like its stopping every now and again..if i can get it together tomorrow ill go see the doc but if anyone out there knows of any heart attacks please let me know. my family think im nuts, im hysterically happy one minute and miserable the next, my head feels all tingly at the top but for anyone out there who's thinking IT'S TIME, its bearable.....

Esel

Stopping Effexor cold is definitely a bad idea. You are very likely to experience 'rebound' symptoms - of your anxiety or depression. The recommendation is to taper off gradually under medical supervision and direction.

AFAIK, the drug is completely gone from your system in 3 days. This is very quick - Prozac takes a good few weeks to clear.

IANAD, but I think you are probably worrying needlessly about your heart. Go to your doctor, and when you're there, discuss your concerns about your baby.

tbh

heidi - 999 wrote: »

been on efexor 150mg then 75mg for past 2.5 yrs, had a baby while i was on this stuff. my baby has just turned 1, can anyone tell me if there are any side effects for her because she is hyperactive. took my last tablet (75mg) 5 days ago, have all the side effects plus a few extra, can i get a heart attack?? does anyone know because my heart feels like its stopping every now and again..if i can get it together tomorrow ill go see the doc but if anyone out there knows of any heart attacks please let me know. my family think im nuts, im hysterically happy one minute and miserable the next, my head feels all tingly at the top but for anyone out there who's thinking IT'S TIME, its bearable.....

You definately need to talk to your doctor about this - if you are worried about your baby, the internet is not the first port of call. I understand this thread has been helpful to a lot of people, so I'll leave it open, but any requests for medical advice, or any posts purporting to give this advice will be deleted. I don't like banning people from this forum because of the nature of it, but we can't risk the forum being closed. Sorry heidi.

wild geese

Thought we should pass on the experience our late son had with Efexor – he was on 75mg, when his Doctor increased it to 150mg we noticed his weight shot up, and according to his Doctor his blood pressure, already high, went through the roof. In spite of visiting his Doctor monthly, in the fourth month of the 150mg dose he had a massive stroke, and passed away six days later. We feel this may have contributed to his death, and would warn anyone having any reaction from this medication to ask his/her Doctor to prescribe another medication – it does not suit everyone.

tbh

I'm sorry for your loss wild geese. Was there anything in any tests that may have been done after your son's death that indicated the medication?

Esel

So sorry to hear that, wild geese.

I am surprised, to say the least, that the doctor kept your son on the higher dose when it was affecting his blood pressure like that. It is a known possible side-effect of Effexor.

jimpe

I got prescribed Efexor XL 75mg today from my GP, have been suffering from panic attacks and agoraphobia for 2.5 years, but it's much worse in the last few weeks, difficulty leaving house etc. I didn't really want to go on medication, so I asked if there were any other options, eventually she gave me the number for a counsellor. I got the pills earlier on, but she said not to start until tomorrow...I think I'll call the counsellor before I start taking them and see what he/she thinks. I went through an unbelievably stressfull few years, starting 3 years ago, so I'm guessing that's what caused the whole thing...so maybe there's another option for me other than medication.

I wasn't too impressed with the doctor to be honest, she wants me to go for blood tests, and her final words were that I need to relax (wow, great advice). Anyway, at least I'm doing something about it now, and not just waiting around letting it get worse and worse.