![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by TheOutsider on December 1, 2004, at 17:01:29
I've justed started on Effexor XL and have reached a dose of 150mgs, I'm currently experiencing no side effects.
This seems a little to good to be true! Is the Effexor not getting into my system?
Any opinions?
Posted by jclint on December 1, 2004, at 18:21:45
In reply to Effexor XL, No side effects, what does this mean?, posted by TheOutsider on December 1, 2004, at 17:01:29
I don't think that's too unnatural. My only one was anorgasmia for about 6 weeks, but then all was fine. I had no other noticable side effects really, apart from weight gain after a year or so.
Despite the hammering it gets, I think efexor's side effect profile is pretty slim :)
By the way -Thomas?- I got your babblemail :)
Posted by linkadge on December 1, 2004, at 19:33:39
In reply to Re: Effexor XL, No side effects, what does this me, posted by jclint on December 1, 2004, at 18:21:45
As long as you are experiencing and "effect" count yourself as among the lucky.
Linkadge
Posted by Colleen D. on December 2, 2004, at 14:48:58
In reply to Effexor XL, No side effects, what does this mean?, posted by TheOutsider on December 1, 2004, at 17:01:29
Aside from sweating, minor difficulty reaching orgasm and insomnia (which I had before), Effexor worked well for me. I hope this continues for you! :-)
Colleen
Posted by sunny10 on December 3, 2004, at 11:43:17
In reply to Effexor XL, No side effects, what does this mean?, posted by TheOutsider on December 1, 2004, at 17:01:29
As others have said, each person reacts to each medication differently.
The only thing I can add is that my side effects didn't really become apparent until I'd been on it for about four months.
I hope this DOESN'T happen for you, but thought I should let you know a different experience than others have offered up on your thread.
Posted by annon_lady on January 21, 2005, at 12:02:33
In reply to Re: Effexor XL, No side effects, what does this me, posted by jclint on December 1, 2004, at 18:21:45
has anyone suffered any long term side effects from effexor xl? cos i think i am and don't know what to do about it
Posted by Smeegle on January 23, 2005, at 19:36:21
In reply to Re: Effexor XL, No side effects, what does this mean?, posted by sunny10 on December 3, 2004, at 11:43:17
I was on Effexor XR for a little over three years, up to a max dose of 300mg/day. As far as AD's work, it worked extremely well. I have been on quite a few and initially I though Effexor was my miracle drug. My problems didn't really start until after about 18 months. The primary ones being a complete and total lack of motivation and an excessive need for sleep (both of which improved significantly once I got off Effexor). The only real down side is the discontinuation of Effexor. About eight weeks now and still dealing with "discontinuation" side effect (primarily SI).
Smeegs
Posted by dancingstar on January 25, 2005, at 3:13:56
In reply to Re: Effexor XL, long term side effects » jclint, posted by annon_lady on January 21, 2005, at 12:02:33
Yep. After taking it for about six months, I got really tired, and began to need to sleep for about 16 to 18 hours a day. My arthritis/bursitis for which it was originally prescribed morphed into fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue. Somehow I developed low thyroid. I developed TMJ, badly. I gained about 15 pounds.
Three years after I started taking it I stopped taking it on a whim, innocently one day. Got sick three days later, and then so sick I thought that I would die. I was kind of amazed when I didn't. There is nothing redeeming about the withdrawal when it is bad. I never got high from the drug; so it wasn't even worth it on the front end. It was a horrible, terrible, excruciatingly painful, unexpected ripoff; some bad joke that Wyeth Pharmaceuticals neglected to mention when I paid them for the privilege of being made sick by taking their drug every month for three long years.
I found this board and stayed here, first because it helped me, and then because other people needed help. And also because I don't want one -- not one single person to have to accidentally go through what I went through. If you choose to go through it, that is one thing, but to take Effexor innocently and not know that it can cause you so much pain, that is truly unfair.
Anyway, I lost the weight, don't have chronic fatigue nor fibromyalgia, but I do have some nerve damage and colitis type thing now. I'm currently in physical therapy to try to mend some of the damage done from the withdrawal. (I am seeng a different doc. than the family practice dude that originally prescribed the poison -- oops, my bias is showing -- and my internist is pretty upset cause he had no idea that I would get so sick when I stopped taking Effexor, no idea at all. Freaked him out, it did. He was so pleased to hear that I stopped taking it.
I've been doing research on this ever since. The psych docs. have known about it since 1995. If you follow my links, really since Septemeber, you will be able to read for yourself about the side effects. Information is power. Then you can make an informed decision. It isn't cotton candy that you are taking, my friend. While the drug may not affect you badly, how do you know how it will affect your particular system? The reactions are slow and insidious. They don't seem to really get too many of us right away. Even Wyeth now admits that the longer you take E and the higher the dose, the more likely you are to have problems with "discontinuation syndrome." England has placed tight restrictions on dispensing and seems to be trying to tighten them further. Why or why are we so slow to do the same thing? Can it have anything to do with stock prices?
There are a couple of people here that are trying to get me to stop telling you this stuff, but I cannot for the life of me imagine why? Do they want you to take this drug and find out later what is capable of happening, like has happened to so many of us?
This way, if you decide you need to take it, that's okay. You know what you are getting into. And remember, the side effects do not happen to everyone. But they do happen to a lot of people, just read this board by way of example, or read my links to see that the percentages are much higher than reported by Wyeth.
But hey, rumour has it that Effexor will take you out of the deepest of depressions, at least for a while. That may for you be worth the price of admission.
One woman's point of view....
Wishing you excellent health!
Posted by Broken on January 25, 2005, at 8:04:31
In reply to Re: Effexor XL, long term side effects » annon_lady, posted by dancingstar on January 25, 2005, at 3:13:56
Great post
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.