Posted by Leighwit on April 19, 2001, at 13:32:10
In reply to Just my opinion, posted by Fish on April 19, 2001, at 10:48:54
Fish,
Effexor isn't an SSRI, and I think it's double jeopardy to compare one class of AD to another. To say that Effexor is a "stronger" (loosely paraphrasing there) AD than "others" is likely to mislead people. Wellbutrin, MAOI's, NARI's etc., are all very different drugs in different categories. Prozac and other SSRI's are more commonly prescribed (particularly for first time patients) so they receive a lot of discussion, but shouldn't be directly compared to Effexor as often as they are. I've taken every SSRI, in addition to Effexor, Serzone, Norpramin, Reboxetine and Wellbutrin. I can tell you that Effexor is the only one from which I've had major withdrawal symptoms and extreme side effects. YMMV (and did or does) but that doesn't mean that Effexor isn't tougher to take (or discontinue) than most other ADs, which has nothing at all to do its "strength" or efficacy. Because it's tougher to take doesn't mean it's a better or stronger drug. Pdocs frequently refer to drugs as "easy to tolerate" or "more frequently difficult to tolerate". I happen to believe that Effexor needs more warnings. Would that have stopped me from trying it? No. I would have tried ECT at the time. But I think the information available about ECT is more accurate than that available about Effexor.
> >First, I want to say that I absolutely support everyone on this thread who have expressed concern and anger over
> extreme side effect from this drug. I know from experience that these side effects are real. I have had some really
> ugly side effects on this the drug ... but I must, in good conscience, say a few things about anti-depressant drugs in
> general. Although I do believe that the side effect of Effexor(XR) are probably more severe than other drugs in
> this class, I must state that I do believe all anti-depressant drugs have similar side effect. About 8 years ago, my
> mother died (my best friend) and then a number of other unpleasant things followed. I wasn't sleeping and went
> into depression. I took Prozac ... didn't help, but still stayed on it for about a year. When I stopped taking it (as
> my doctor insisted you don't need to wean so I didn't), I had terrible vertido and nausea for about two weeks.
> The side effect from taking Effexor and weaning off Effexor are more dramatic and intense, but the drugs ability to
> combat depression is also stronger (in my opinion and from my experience). It actually worked for me. These
> drugs have not been on the market long enough to know the possible long-term effects (anyone is welcome to
> correct me on this if I am wrong, I welcome the information). Anyway, what I am trying to say is, I think people
> need to know what they are up against, in general, if they choose to take an anti-depressant. I want to stress
> again, as I did in an earlier message, that when you are in a depression, most people will do just about anything to
> get out of it (unfortunately, some people even choose suicide). I don't advocate taking a drug that's symptoms
> make you worse, but I do have to say, from what I have learned from other people and through my own
> experience, ALL or MOST anti-depressants have side effects and they vary with different people. I am angry that
> I did not know the possible side effects of Effexor XR, I'm not angry that I had them (I hope this makes sense).
> Taking anti-depressants isn't an easy decision, but I think we need to mention that Effexor XR is an extreme
> version of this class of drugs, both in cure and side effects (my opinion), but I also think it is important to point out
> that ALL anti-depressants seem to have some level of unpleasant side effects and that people should be aware of
> this when making a decision to take them. If drugs are needed to help people get out of a potentially dangerous
> and debilitating emotional state, then maybe those side effects won't matter for a period of time, but ALL
> information should be available when the decision is made. Just my opinion ... and my observations. Fish
poster:Leighwit
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010417/msgs/60461.html