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Re: Beginning my fourth year...

Posted by Andre Allard on September 2, 2001, at 20:06:16

In reply to Beginning my fourth year..., posted by Mud on September 2, 2001, at 12:52:45

I am now on my third trial of effexor.

1rst trial:

Over a three week period I worked up to 225mg and it was a lifesaver along with 100mg trazadone at night. If I took the trazadone away I would drop a bit. After 2 months, I noticed the effects waring off slightly but my doctor did not want to increase the dose. After 5 months of effexor, I was beginning to get sick and tired of taking over an hour to ejaculate during intercourse. I decided to go off the drug.

2nd trial:

Over three weeks, I worked up to 225mg again. After six weeks, I was still depressed so I bumped the dosage up to 300mg. That dosage did not work either so I came off and tried other meds. I blamed the effexor for not working but now that I look back on it no drug could have done the job considering little was going on in my life.

3rd trial:

The reason I upstarted effexor every time was because I could not get similiar relief out of any other med. Every time I went back on effexor I was hoping that it would change my life the way it did the first time and every time I ended up disapointed. This time, I started at 150mg along with the usual 100mg trazadone. Although my social anxiety was gone the depression had not lifted completly considering that I had two very serious suicide attempts during this period(the first attempt my heart stopped beating, the second time I damaged my liver and kidneys).
While in the hospital recovering from the second attempt, the pdoc I consulted with suggested pushing the dosage up to 375mg. That dosage did help and once I got my life into gear my depression had been the best since this whole game started. But, nothing lasts forever and just like previous, I noticed my anxiety and depression coming back. My girlfriend left me and I lost my job shortly after (I lost both because of my illness). I overdosed for a fifth time with no success and decided to increase the effexor to 450mg along with trazadone and 3g L-tryptophan. This seems to be doing not to bad although I still feel something is missing.

Over the last two years being off and on effexor, I haved tried augmenting with valproic acid, lamictal, wellbutrin, quitiapine and resperidone to no evale. My plan is to increase the dose every few months or so when I notice the effects warring. If one day I am up to 750mg effexor then that is what it is going to take. I realize that I cannot simply keep on cranking the dose up forever. When that day comes, when mega dosages of effexor do not do anything anymore, I pray that by then there will be a new miracle drug for me.

The only other drug that has worked great has been olanzapine. I could not handle the insatiable cravings.

At the moment I experience only a few side effects. Trazadone takes care of the insomnia, decreased appetite and the inability to relax my body. I combat the constipation with a drug I purchase over the counter that increases the intestinal contractions - effexor does the opposite. L-tryptophan is for appetite and it further helps me to relax. Finally, the grogginess I experience from the L-tryptophan is masked by 20mg ephidrine once or twice/day.


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poster:Andre Allard thread:77421
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010902/msgs/77458.html