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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 2:38:07
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? » eeyorena, posted by winddancer on January 23, 2005, at 1:28:25
Hi Winddancer,
Happy to help :-)
I had a link handy, and then I lost it, never to be able to find it again...don't ya know. Spent the next hour wandering around the internet, got blocked out of the stuff I wanted by yahoo and went in through askjeeves instead, but it brought me right back here, sort of, but a long time ago and differently. Check this link out, I think you might find it very interesting. Don't know quite how I got there. That must be why they call it "surfing" :
http://depression.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.dr%2Dbob.org/tips/split/Antidepressant%
2Ddiscontinua.htmlMore simple information here:
http://www.crazymeds.org/effexor.html
And here is a link that shows that at least in part the basis for prescribing Effexor for hot flashes is based on a mere 12-week study, which does not seem to be long enough to reach realistic conclusions about how it works on our bodies in my opinion:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050104/hl_nm/hot_flashes_dc_1
Those should keep you busy for a while.
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 3:05:19
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? » winddancer, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 2:38:07
Don't you know I had to go and screw up the link. I'm so sorry! Let me try again.
http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/split/Antidepressant-discontinua.html
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 3:59:33
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? » dancingstar, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 3:05:19
Here is one more kewl site that I found where it seems as though health professionals and others answer people's questions about antidepressants. I think maybe some of you have already found it, but in case you haven't, it might be helpful to someone.
It appears to me as though the health professionals that are answering the withdrawal questions re Effexor are telling it pretty straight at this point, even online.
Yours for the reading:
Posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 12:39:40
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 3:59:33
Hey all.
Dancingstar, I only see computer jibberish on post? Was that to make a point about manufacturer's, etc., or did it come out wrong on the post?
Have a question for anyone ...
I feel like my anxiety is breaking through the Eff-XR; lately more agoraphobic.
I have anxiety and panic attacks. Think ya' know I'm considered borderline.
My father's death anniversary is coming closer, so it could be that; lady upstairs says smoke from my condo is coming into hers (?!); focus on how this whole borderline thing came about in me and how I shouldn't care(?!) ... those kind of outside factors.
Could I possibly have gotten so used to Eff-XR, that now I am needing more?
Any suggestions sincerely appreciated. cf
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 12:47:39
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? » dancingstar, posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 12:39:40
Hi CF,
How are you?
Click the link. It works.
Bebe
Posted by winddancer on January 23, 2005, at 13:06:41
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 12:47:39
Thanks Dancingstar,
I'm starting to go through the info on the links. It sounds like I'm on some pretty dreadful stuff - but maybe it saved me at the time. I was trying to blame my maladies on other things but now feel that there is a good chance that they are mostly Effexor related.
Thanks for all your work finding all that good information. Geez, isn't it amazing what the pharm companies don't want to share with you. Also what they probably don't really want to know about.
Winddancer
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 13:11:15
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? » dancingstar, posted by winddancer on January 23, 2005, at 13:06:41
omg, you won't believe what i'm reading now.... here. you can flip through it at will. i've been right all along. 1995.
http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pt/search.pl
watch out for the benadryl!!!!!! omg
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 13:16:18
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? » winddancer, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 13:11:15
http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/split/Antidepressant-antihistami.html
Posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 13:38:16
In reply to MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!!, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 13:16:18
Tks DS...got that...what a giant link!!!
So, seems maybe Allegra preferred over Benadryl in second post.
In my earlier post felt like breakthrough anxiety.
It is my feeling that if I miss my Eff-XR dose by 3+ hrs or more, I 'quickly being withdrawing' and experiencing anxiety. Took one an hour ago and feel so much better now ... like night and day. cf
Anyone else have this going on? cf
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 13:45:01
In reply to Re: MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!! » dancingstar, posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 13:38:16
No, CF, I do not completely understand the ramifications of what I just read. It could be possible that ANY antihistamine is incompatible with any SSRI or SNRI, like Effexor, and is capable of causing heart problems. I think there is some question as to whether or not it is safe to mix the two types of drugs, and if there is some question about it, I would like to not make that sort of error in judgment, again, and I assume everyone else wants to be able to decide that sort of thing for themselves.
That is why I provided the link. I am not saying that it is so, but, um, maybe? Oh, gee....
Posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 13:56:25
In reply to Re: MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!! » corafree, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 13:45:01
Bebe - Oh yes, I see where it purports the possibility of antihistamine and SRNI (that's what Eff-XR is, isn't it?) could possibly cause some heart prob. cf
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 14:00:13
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor-XR? » dancingstar, posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 13:56:25
Yes, CF, Effexor is an SNRI.
That's what I was looking at. It looks like the information has been passed on from one person to another for what seems like years now, and there doesn't seem to be anything else to make the withdrawal any easier. But I wouldn't risk it after reading this.
Would you?
Posted by winddancer on January 23, 2005, at 14:01:33
In reply to Re: MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!! » dancingstar, posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 13:38:16
Thanks for alluding to that. I hadn't really paid much attention to what time I took the Effexor, just whenever I ate breakfast, which is a little different on the weekends sometimes and I sometimes forget, and have been feeling not great, so I'll watch for that.
Have any of you felt a tingling in your mouth, tongue, lips and fingertips as being related to the Effexor? OR have you had this sensation related to the anxiety? I'm trying to sort or what's what.
winddancer
> Tks DS...got that...what a giant link!!!
>
> So, seems maybe Allegra preferred over Benadryl in second post.
>
> In my earlier post felt like breakthrough anxiety.
>
> It is my feeling that if I miss my Eff-XR dose by 3+ hrs or more, I 'quickly being withdrawing' and experiencing anxiety. Took one an hour ago and feel so much better now ... like night and day. cf
>
> Anyone else have this going on? cf
Posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 14:11:59
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor-XR?, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 14:00:13
Because of my health problems, no I wouldn't; if strong and healthy could prob' risk it, if is really effective for a bad withdrawal. Guess would depend on the individual. With the knowledge of the problem though, one would have to take responsibility for their actions. cf
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 14:19:31
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor-XR? » dancingstar, posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 14:11:59
Corafree,
Just like so many other things, I don't think I would have done this either if I knew. Heart problems run in my family.
AFTER READING THAT, I DON'T THINK YOU GUYS SHOULD TAKE THE ANTIHISTAMINES UNTIL ENGLAND COMES UP WITH A DEFINITIVE ANSWER RE EFFEXOR AND HEART PROBLEMS SINCE IT IS IN THE WORKS RIGHT NOW ANYWAY.
I'm sorry, but it's the same principle that I've been fighting for all along, just safety for our health, nothing more. Is that really too much to ask?
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 14:25:44
In reply to Re: MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!! » dancingstar, posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 13:38:16
my little outburst wasn't directed toward you, cf, it was toward the cosmos in general...my frustration at the helplessness i sometimes feel at being able to really make a difference and really my disappointment in the medical community for not taking some kind of action and instead just going on ahead and prescribing these drugs without being more vocal about the problems so that so many people over the years could have been spared so much pain.
They have known all along that this drug was not right for the types of things it is being prescribed for and ignored the situation. I'm really surprised.
Posted by ccb on January 23, 2005, at 15:11:22
In reply to Re: STOPPING Effexor made easy - alternatives, posted by kgirl on June 3, 2004, at 13:40:41
When I finally got off effexor, I felt angry and/or depressed for a couple of weeks to a month. It did go away for me. Just keep the faith.
Posted by Dr. Bob on January 23, 2005, at 16:14:27
In reply to Re: please be civil » Dr. Bob, posted by not2late4u on January 23, 2005, at 1:21:13
Posted by Jen2 on January 23, 2005, at 19:25:43
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by Bug on January 19, 2005, at 21:41:20
Hi all,
Thought I'd add my two cents. I just posted the same stuff to the newbies group, so it'll be a duplicate if you read it there first.
I've been reading psycho-babble and the newbies group for the past week after I started taking Effexor, and these boards have been a great help to me. Thanks for the insight and advice and facts - they sure helped during a bad time. I've decided to post for the first time to let you know some of my story and maybe hear back from you.
Two years ago I moved to a very large new city - halfway across the country, where I knew exactly one person (aside from my partner with whom I moved - and with whom I have a difficult relationship). I had 4 months of misery, then worked for a while (which was also miserable - almost intolerable) and then returned to school to do a masters degree. And that's been kind of miserable too.
In November I had a bit of a, you might say, nervous breakdown. I was suffering from school /performance anxiety and intense pressures from relationships (too much and too difficult to go into now), although I think the fact that I'm a workaholic and that I've been working for the past 10 years in extraordinarily stressful jobs (in politics) didn't help matters. It was the worst three weeks of my life. I was extraordinarily anxious, paranoid, incredibly depressed, not quite delusional but almost, heart palpitations constantly the whole time. It was like something snapped in my brain that then affected my whole system. I felt like I was going to die.
I went to my doctor, who initially prescribed Lorazepam. It made me feel dead inside so she prescribed Effexor instead, but I was afraid of taking an antidepressant so decided I would just coast through Christmas and see how I felt afterwards. Well, Christmas was depressing, I felt a bit better but not great, and then after returning to school for two weeks I thought again that I was going to die. So I started taking the meds. I had to do something.
Well, here's where it gets interesting. The first couple of days were fine - I didn't feel anything at all. Days three through five, however, were a living nightmare. Nervous, anxious, sweaty, horribly depressed, couldn't focus my eyes (which also happened throughout my anxiety), felt disconnected from myself, crying jags, horrible horrible horrible. Spent three days on the couch watching bad TV and could barely cope with that. Days six and seven were tolerable, but day eight was a return to the pit of despair and physical terror. So I had a week of hell - I was white knuckling it through my days.
Day nine was OK, but on day ten the clouds parted and the sun came out. I'm on day twelve now, and I'm feeling more content and able to cope than I have in months if not years. (I am, however, feeling no anxiety at all, which isn't good because I have very little motivation to get my work done. But right now, it's better than the anxiety and depression so I'm not going to sweat it for a while.)
The nasty part of this is that, while the doctor prescribed the starter 37.5mg dose - which I thought I was taking - the pharmacist actually dispensed the 75mg dose. I didn't figure that out until day ten - who would think, especially in the depths of despair, to examine your pills to ensure the pharmacist gave you the right dosage? Not me. So I have been taking double the dose that I should have. No wonder I felt like I was going to die. I thought it was just my anxiety and depression, but it was actually the meds. I'm so angry about this. I couldn't cope for an entire week - I lost a week out of school and out of my life and it's the damn pharmacist's fault.
So not only am I angry about having been prescribed a drug that, I now find out thanks to all of you on these boards, has such serious side effects and the potential for horrible withdrawal, I'm also angry that my pharmacist screwed up and made my already hellish life more hellish for a week.
So thanks for letting me get this off my chest. I hope that I will continue to do well, although I know now to take my good days when I find them. I'm also getting psychotherapy and that's helping a bit. And I know enough now to start planning to manage the withdrawal when the time comes.
Best to all,
Jen
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 19:34:25
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by Jen2 on January 23, 2005, at 19:25:43
Good luck with everything Jen. You were smart enough to do your research up front, when you felt bad at the outset. You'll be okay! Hang in there.
Bebe
Posted by eeyorena on January 23, 2005, at 19:50:37
In reply to MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!!, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 13:16:18
That's very interesting. My doc has me on Allegra because I take an MAOI now...because I'm not allowed to take Benadryl on an MAOI (related to blood pressure somehow.)
Hmmm.
Posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 20:05:40
In reply to Re: MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!! » corafree, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 14:25:44
No offense taken.
But, I was thinking ... here I am taking a drug and don't even know what it is doing inside my brain.
Ya' see, I've been in train wreck after train wreck. I've been on tricyclics and SSRIs, and they didn't work. So, along comes, what I now definitely know is an SNRI, Effexor-XR.
You get to a point where nothing has worked, you're losing your life, friends, husbands, whatever, and pray that somebody out there has developed something that will help; you count on 'them' to lessen the emotional pain which you can't tolerate anymore, and you just take it (the pill they hand you), like all the others before it, hoping it will be the one.
And, I believe borderlines tend to think badly of themselves to begin with, so may be even less likely to self-advocate. Dialectical behavioral therapy teaches life skills to people who have never known them (skills), and to people like me, who knew them and somewhere along the way, lost them.
I do appreciate hearing the bad and good because that means someone cares.
Maybe someday there will be an AD w/o side effects and fearful withdrawals, but prob' not during my time on this earth.
I'm just trying to keep my feet on the ground as long as I can, my life so altered from what it once was, in the depths of agoraphobia today ... yuch; but, maybe tomorrow will be better. cf
Posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 20:29:35
In reply to MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!!, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 13:16:18
Could it be that we might consider the concept that generally speaking we are downright safer and perhaps even healthier, ultimately, for the most part, with a drug free existence?
The tenor of those posts seemed somewhat dismissive in the way many of the doctors prescribed drugs to patients and in some cases struck me as less than thoughtful, cautious, considerate, and prudent, and wise. I know, I know. My expectations are way too high. I was hoping that it would seem as though they actually cared about their patients, though clearly and by sharp contrast, some did. (stepping off the soapbox.)
How can anyone be sure what to do or take anymore?
Posted by corafree on January 23, 2005, at 21:12:31
In reply to Re: MAYBE WE SHOULD RETHINK THE BENADRYL GUYS!!! » dancingstar, posted by dancingstar on January 23, 2005, at 20:29:35
In prior post I said, like to hear good and bad because it means someone cares.
I wanted to add that there are many people in the mental health system that are confused, hungry for good life, and there do need to be more people that truly care about these people, like Dancingstar, care about their brains. So, maybe the ADs aren't the answer. But, I don't think generally there is much empathy in docs, drug companies, etc.; believe overall they're looking for the quick fix, just like some consumers. A drug-free existence, like a pill that worked and didn't harm you, both will come someday, as long as people talk about it, fight about it, start a scuffle over it. Dancingstar, you are helping people who maybe cannot help themselves; knowledge is what you are trying to share, as I see it. I'm emotionally ill, but you haven't scared me ... you've enlightened me. I'm not scared to stop Eff-XR, just don't wish to currently. Nine months on it; no catastrophies; had ideation, but not acted on. Before spending time w/ all of you and going to DBT, I acted on ideation. Glad I found Dr. Bob, glad you've put up w/ me in bad, oh and 'think good?' times; so many of you have supported me when I've felt weak/confused, w/ correct or incorrect responses, and it's all good; no right or wrong. may I say thank you, lovingly, cf
Posted by not2late4u on January 24, 2005, at 0:43:01
In reply to Re: STOPPING Effexor made easy - alternatives, posted by ccb on January 23, 2005, at 15:11:22
ccb, thats great to know, thanks for sharing.
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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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