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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Terry on May 20, 2000, at 12:44:41
I'm at the end of my rope i hope someone can answer my questions. I have been taking Serzone for 4 day, 50mgs in the morning and the same in the evening. I am so dizzy and nauseated and confused I can hardly function. All I want to do is cry. Has this effected anyone else this way. Please let me know. I need to know theres a light at the end of my tunnell. Thank you Terry
Posted by CraigF on May 20, 2000, at 14:05:19
In reply to Serzone and Dizziness, posted by Terry on May 20, 2000, at 12:44:41
In my opinion, you may have been given too high a dose to start. Much of the conventional wisdom on Serzone has been that it works much better when ramped up very gradually. I started at 50 mg. for five days before moving to 100 mg for another five days and increasing in 50 mg. intervals. The dizziness/spacy feeling didn't hit until 200 mg. but went away in a few days. It would return when I increased, but would always fade.
Or, you're just real sensitive to Serzone and it's not the right drug. Are you taking anything else with the Serzone?
Posted by Noa on May 20, 2000, at 15:18:10
In reply to Serzone and Dizziness, posted by Terry on May 20, 2000, at 12:44:41
I started out really slow, too. Even so, the first few weeks on Serzone I felt very emotional, angry, crying a lot. I also felt sedated and uncoordinated. But this went away after 3 weeks.
Posted by Lin on May 20, 2000, at 16:11:39
In reply to Serzone and Dizziness, posted by Terry on May 20, 2000, at 12:44:41
Terry,
I felt really dizzy and sick on Serzone at first also. I was started on 100 mg bid (morning and night), and I felt completely out of it and confused. Both of these side effects went away, though my blood pressure did remain low for the duration of my treatment with it. I tend to have low blood pressure anyway (not clinically low, but on the low end of normal), so it exacerbated this. I took 300 mg/day for several years, but tried to increase to 450 but couldn't, due to the dizziness. Again, though, this could be because of my already-low blood pressure. The nausea and dizziness definitely did subside, though. I am glad to hear that p-docs are now starting people on lower doses than what I was started on. I felt like I had been hit by a bus for several weeks. I started Serzone RIGHT after it was approved by the FDA, before anyone was using it, really.
> I'm at the end of my rope i hope someone can answer my questions. I have been taking Serzone for 4 day, 50mgs in the morning and the same in the evening. I am so dizzy and nauseated and confused I can hardly function. All I want to do is cry. Has this effected anyone else this way. Please let me know. I need to know theres a light at the end of my tunnell. Thank you Terry
Posted by Terry on May 20, 2000, at 16:57:06
In reply to Re: Serzone and Dizziness, posted by CraigF on May 20, 2000, at 14:05:19
> In my opinion, you may have been given too high a dose to start. Much of the conventional wisdom on Serzone has been that it works much better when ramped up very gradually. I started at 50 mg. for five days before moving to 100 mg for another five days and increasing in 50 mg. intervals. The dizziness/spacy feeling didn't hit until 200 mg. but went away in a few days. It would return when I increased, but would always fade.
>
> Or, you're just real sensitive to Serzone and it's not the right drug. Are you taking anything else with the Serzone?No I'm not taking anything else except for the Serzone. Thankyou for getting back to me so quickly. I appreciate it so much. I'm going to call my doctor Monday and see if he will lower it to50mgs .
Posted by Snowie on May 20, 2000, at 19:35:56
In reply to Serzone and Dizziness, posted by Terry on May 20, 2000, at 12:44:41
Terry,
I can't help you, except to say that I went off Serzone shortly after I got dizzy and fell (very embarrassing, not to mention that I hurt one knee and skinned up my hands) on my way to work a few weeks after starting it. Never had that problem before Serzone nor since going off of it.
Snowie
Posted by Racer on May 20, 2000, at 21:31:11
In reply to Serzone and Dizziness, posted by Terry on May 20, 2000, at 12:44:41
Ugh. I had a similar experience, but it got worse as time went on, and stayed much much worse. My blood pressure is low to begin with, and I tend toward anorexia when I'm upset or depressed. Eventually I had to stop taking it at all, which took forever because the doctor was such an idiot.
The doctor I saw wouldn't consider taking me off Serzone until one of the nurses forced her to: AFTER I'd been throwing up everything I tried to eat for about two weeks and hadn't gotten out of bed for days. My ex-boyfriend was ready to put me back in the hospital, but it got better AS SOON AS I went off the Serzone.
I hope you find something which works for you as well as my current meds work for me. If it's Serzone, great. If it's not, don't give up hope. With all the drugs out there, it won't take long to find the right one.
Posted by Cindy W on May 21, 2000, at 1:53:23
In reply to Re: Serzone and Dizziness, posted by Racer on May 20, 2000, at 21:31:11
> Ugh. I had a similar experience, but it got worse as time went on, and stayed much much worse. My blood pressure is low to begin with, and I tend toward anorexia when I'm upset or depressed. Eventually I had to stop taking it at all, which took forever because the doctor was such an idiot.
>
> The doctor I saw wouldn't consider taking me off Serzone until one of the nurses forced her to: AFTER I'd been throwing up everything I tried to eat for about two weeks and hadn't gotten out of bed for days. My ex-boyfriend was ready to put me back in the hospital, but it got better AS SOON AS I went off the Serzone.
>
> I hope you find something which works for you as well as my current meds work for me. If it's Serzone, great. If it's not, don't give up hope. With all the drugs out there, it won't take long to find the right one.Terry, I agree with Noa's posting above. With Serzone, it is important to increase it very gradually; also, the dizziness and emotionality for me disappeared after a couple of weeks. Then I felt GREAT.--Cindy W
(I'd still be taking it and not mostly Effexor-XR if it worked for OCD)
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