Posted by Leo on February 16, 2001, at 19:39:55
In reply to Re: Long term effects of Effexor/permanent , posted by Alli on February 16, 2001, at 15:01:40
> I have experienced all the withdrawl side effects but even more so, have experienced additonal effects of Effexor that have recently come to light and may be permanent.
> =============
> Leo ~ Could you describe the additional effects that you are experiencing that you feel may be permanent? After being on Effexor for two years and recently completing the withdrawl process (pure hell), I'm still not feeling 100%... but I wake up every morning hoping that today will be the day when I feel "normal" again. AlliAlli,
Go to www.effexorfz.freeuk.com
This website contains a tremendous amount of the side effects of effexor.
The following is a list of what I have experienced while on and discontinuing the drug.
Loss of short and medium term memory.....to the point where I couldn't remember how to get home.
Loss of drive, ambition, motivation......had a lot of great things I wanted to do, would start but never complete. This was not me at all.
As with Steve Whiting, I started to experience a successive deterioration in my health. My mental state seemed to deteriorate as well. I would sleep for hours some days and then experience insomnia for several days. I never established a sleep pattern while on the drug. This has changed since getting off the drug. I have found that I am ready for bed around 10pm and wake consistently between 6-7am. I tested this theroy and found that when I took the effexor I would be exhausted, ready for sleep around noon time. And then would sleep until midnight only to stay awake sometimes for the next 24 hours. It is truly a great feeling to be wide awake and raring to go in the morning.
I have experienced severe agitation. Violent mood swings. These have subsided drastically. I was never like this before even with the depression. This, to me, was a sure sign something was up. I am much easier to live with according to those around me.
I am still experiencing the confusion that Steve talks about. This is disturbing. I have always been able to organize my thoughts and feelings. I am a free-lance writer and this has made what I do very hard. This, along with the memory loss has forced me to plan everything I do in writing so I can follow the process of writing and creating and not leave anything out or skip a sequence.
I have not experienced any paranoia or stomach cramps, although I would go from constipation to the runs every other day or so. This seems to be settling down to.
I have had swelling in my shoulders, arms and hands. This has stopped since getting off the effexor.I have experienced the involuntary body movements as well as the spontaneous outbursts, not singing, just babbling. Almost like teretts. This had never happened to me before I took the effexor and started to occur over the last year and a half. I haven't had it happen recently. This is frightening but it does seem to be subsiding.
I never had any convulsions or hallucinations.
I have, and still do experience severe dizziness, extremely painful, sharp pains in the back of my head that make me loose my visual focus and the aches and pains that one would attribute to having the flu. Severe fatigue and rapid onset of exhaustion by just climbing a flight of stairs. Again, not at all like me.
I experience the light headedness and dysphoric sensations daily and in bursts, some more severe than others. These do not seem to be subsiding.
There are reports of studies that have been under taken and quite a few state;
"Investigators who were testing effexor observed that clustors of symptoms occured at or shortly after the discontinuation of Effexor treatment."
Patients experienced withdrawal sypmtoms ranging from flu-like symptoms (aches and pains) to insomnia, nausea, nervousness, dizziness, dysphoric mood, loss of energy.....In some patients, withdrawal symptoms were so severe and prolonged that medical treatment was required. Some patients could not be withdrawn from the drug, therefore they continued on the effexor and one patient was hospitalized. These cases suggest a severe addiction possibility.
This study can be found at www.socialaudit.org
1997/Moore/VenlafaxineThere are numerous studies about effexor on this site. You owe it ot yourself to read these studies. I think you will find them very unsettling.
My overall health, physically and mentally, declined while on effexor. This decline accelerated the longer I was on it. I have not been off of it long enough to know for sure what permanent damage has been done, however, through my discussions with others on the drug I am certain that some of what has been brought about by taking this drug will be with me the rest of my life. Just how it will effect the quality of my life is yet to be seen. And yes, if I can I will sue Wyeth-Ayerst for millions.I believe that depression and anxiety disorder is a dark abyss of suffering. I also believe that these things are brought on by an embalance within the body. This embalance triggers the depression/anxiety. Then I think that how bad this gets depends on individual personalities.
I think that in many situations effexor worsens these conditions of suffering with long term continued use. I have yet to see anything in the med information given by the pharmacy that warns people of the true effects of this drug. The manufacturer has known about these effects for many years and only in March of last year disclosed some sellected information. To my knowledge that have yet to disclose everything about effexor. This, in my opinion, borders on criminal behavior and will be addressed with legal action.
poster:Leo
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010212/msgs/54185.html