Posted by mamawriter on September 17, 2002, at 9:15:02
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? , posted by trella77 on September 16, 2002, at 19:15:58
> Hi, the Dr just gave me Effexor today and I was doing some research. I found this website posting and I am scared to death now. the withdrawls seem to be horrible. If anyone has any advice as to start this med or get on a different one please help me!!! I am getting on Effexor to help with Depression and Anxiety and to help wean myself off Xanax (which I have been on for 5 years) THANKS ... I am also scared of weight gain and sexual side affects
Hi there. As my spouse pointed out, every single drug used to treat depression has message boards just like this one, with people complaining about side effects and/or the ineffectiveness of the drug. Unfortunately, every drug affects every person differently. Prozac made me so nuts, I would have rather just stayed crazy than take it. Other people wouldn't live without Prozac. Effexor worked very well for me. The mood swings went away, and got even better when I reached a therapeutic level of the medication (225 mg). No problems with sexual function and I LOST weight. I felt my feelings and could talk about them. It helped me be the best I could be.
The only reason I want off of Effexor now is, I've used it for nearly 3 years, I feel pretty good and would like to try life drug-free for a while. But the withdrawal is very hard.
Using Xanax as long as you have sounds very serious. Good luck with Effexor. It truly worked wonders for me. It doesn't mean it will be great for you, but you won't know until you give it a try. 150 mg is supposedly the lowest therapeutic level, so when you get up to there, you may have an idea how it works for you.
poster:mamawriter
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020914/msgs/120109.html