Posted by JavaJava on April 4, 2002, at 11:44:30
Sorry about this long post, but I'm new to this board, and kind of nervous! I want to make sure I get in all the gnarly details (LOL).
I'm also new to Effexor XR, which I just started today. My psychiatrist put me on 37.5 mg./day for a week, and then 75 mg./day thereafter.
I was diagnosed as bipolar 10 years ago, and fortunately, my symptoms have been so minimal that they've never really caused problems in my life. I've never actually been manic, but I have leaned towards depression. Right now I'm on Neurontin and also Klonopin, the latter being something I take on an as-needed basis.
I also suffer from panic attacks (I've had these for 30 years, so I'm no stranger to panic! And the Klonopin helps in this regard, too.)
I'm 45 and female, so hello, premenopausal mood swings! Hence, the Effexor. I'm also going to start continuous birth control pill therapy, which will stop my periods for a while, and hopefully my PMS/depression/mood swings. Both my gynecologist and psychiatrist are in agreement that this is a good thing for me right now, and I agree, as well.
I'm SO neurotic about taking new meds, most specifically psych meds, so I need to hear some GOOD STUFF! Yeah, maybe I'm deluding myself right now, but if I hear a bunch of bad things/experiences, I'm liable not to take the medicine.
I'm also the type that if I think I'm feeling a side effect (especially nervousness or derealization), I'll just stop the medicine altogether. This harks back to a bad experience I had with Prozac last year: My FORMER gynecologist prescribed it to me for mood swings, but I neglected to tell him about being bipolar (and bipolars generally don't do well with SSRIs!), and I had the panic attack of a lifetime -- easily the most frightening point of my entire life.
So I'm neurotic, cautious, and I probably focus way too much on all this stuff -- so could somebody please reassure me as to the GOOD things that could come from taking Effexor, and some GOOD personal experiences?
I need some support right now so I can take my medicine, ignore the side effects, and hopefully end these mood swings.
Thanks in advance!
poster:JavaJava
thread:101796
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020402/msgs/101796.html