Posted by jennie277 on January 25, 2005, at 17:28:29
I had been taking the SSRI Remeron for about 5 years. It was primarily for my anxiety. I was always thin in the past so it helped me out in gaining some weight. I was prescribed w/ 15mg but because it made me so sleepy and lethargic all the time, I split the pill in half. After all this time, I just couldn't handle being tired all the time and now I realize that it did not necessarily help my anxiety, it just made me so tired that it would supress it. So that is where the Effexxor comes in.
I went to my doctor 13 days ago now with my issues of the anxiety and wanting to stop the Remeron. I let him know that Remeron aside, my anxiety causes me a nervous stomach, nausea, shaking, extreme thirst, loss of appetite and a few more other complaints. He prescribed me with Effexxor and almost made it seem like it would solve all of my problems. I started taking it right away.
The first night I had taken it, it made me so nervous and terrified that I just got in bed and finally fell asleep after a few hours. Since then, I would wake up a lot through out the night, but I would go right back to sleep. I did get the 'shocking sensation' a lot while I would try to go to sleep. For example, sometimes in general when I am dozing off to sleep I begin to dream I fall off a curb or run into a tree as if it's really happening and it shocks me so much I wake back up. This happened a lot the first few nights on the Effexxor.
Into the next few days though I stopped eating and lost my appetite. I was extremely dehydrated and just wanted to drink gatorade or water. It was not as though I was nauseous or my stomach bothered me at all. I just didn't want anything but liquid. Because of this (not eating--anything but smoothies) I was very lethargic and had no energy. Finally though, over this past weekend, I have been able to eat a lot more. Other side effects I do experience currently is I tend to yawn a lot, but I do not feel anywhere as drained of energy as I did on the Remeron. I tend to get the shocking sensation once in a while.
SO THE POSITIVE SIDE TO ALL OF THIS is that I feel so very emotionally and mentally balanced, more than I ever had. I am in my mid 20's and the older I get, the more my anxiety has become a problem.. I am extremely shy, I get very nervous, I shake, and can't breathe. Until I felt as balanced as I do right now, I did not realize just how much of a problem the anxiety was.
So for the most part I feel like it was a lot of work to adjust to the Effexxor and although I am only 13 days into this, I feel pretty satisfied. I feel focused, confident, and feel as though I am making much more healthier choices and decisions in everything I do.
Unfortunately though, I find a lot more negative information on experiences on Effexxor through searching the web. I don't think I have actually found one positive experience which is a little concerning but perhaps everyone's body chemistry and degree of anxiety and depression is different(?)
poster:jennie277
thread:447598
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050124/msgs/447598.html