Posted by Cindylou on May 1, 2001, at 19:16:08
In reply to extreme fatigue and mental slow-down - please help, posted by MaggieB on April 30, 2001, at 16:49:52
Maggie --
I would definitely stop it. I had the SAME reaction at first on Effexor -- it made the depression WORSE --but the docs wouldn't believe me, acting like it was all in my head! Eventually, my mood did get better, however, the exhaustion and mental fog NEVER went away -- in 8 months. All I wanted to do was sleep. This was difficult with a one-year-old to take care of!I truly believe now that if you feel that way on a drug at first, it isn't the one for you. It took me about 5 SSRIs and the same reaction on all of them to finally reach this conclusion.
Good luck to you -- I know it's a difficult decision especially when the docs keep pushing you to stay on it.
In your corner,
cindy
> I have been taking effexor xr for 2 weeks. Severe fatigue and mental muddiness began immediately. The constant tiredness, lack of motivation and mental slow-down are contributing to my depression. I am now totally disfunctional. I have been reading this message board for over a week and have been encouraged to keep taking it because of the posts acknowledging similar symptoms and assurances that they normally go away. Each day I hope for some small improvement that would indicate that I have turned a corner, but there has been none. My questions is: does the severity of my side-effects indicate that I will not be able to take this drug? Is there something I should look for after 2 weeks that should indicate progress? I cannot afford to remain in this state much longer. I don't want to contact my doctor about changing the medication until I know I have given it a chance to work, but I'm beginning to think no one should feel this bad while adjusting to a new med. I took 37.5 mg. for 7 days and have been taking 75 mg for the past 7 days -- in the a.m. only. Does anyone have any thoughts on when to give up -- or not give up -- under these circumstances?
poster:Cindylou
thread:61170
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010424/msgs/61290.html