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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by queenie on March 29, 2006, at 20:25:16
all i have been reading is BAD. been on prozac for 15 years, doc says to try effexor. what is the percentage of people with good vs. bad experiences. everything i have read on this site has me a little nervous. haven't started it yet, let me know...
Posted by zeugma on March 29, 2006, at 20:50:51
In reply to good news about effexor xr PLEASE, posted by queenie on March 29, 2006, at 20:25:16
a close friend with lifelong depression went into remission on it, after failing numerous SSRI's and Wellbutrin. She is not on any meds now.
-z
Posted by greywolf on March 29, 2006, at 21:03:30
In reply to Re: good news about effexor xr PLEASE » queenie, posted by zeugma on March 29, 2006, at 20:50:51
I was on Effexor for about six months. I experienced two significant SEs: cognitive slowness/sleepiness and sexual. Since I write for a living, being awake was somewhat of a prerequisite (though some of my colleagues would probably say they wouldn't recognize the difference).
On the upside, it was fairly effective with minimal to moderate depression, and I did not experience any difficult withdrawal issues when I decided to move on to something else.
So, probably not as positive as you'd like to hear, but there were some positives.
Posted by Racer on March 29, 2006, at 21:08:20
In reply to good news about effexor xr PLEASE, posted by queenie on March 29, 2006, at 20:25:16
Truly, Effexor is a pretty darned good AD medication. It works for about as many people as most other ADs do -- something like a third of people who take any given AD will hit remission of depression on that drug, about another third will find some relief, and the rest won't improve at all. After trying one med, if you aren't in the first group, it's time to either augment or switch, depending on which group you're in. Effexor hits about the same odds as the rest of the drugs out there, so it's got that in its favor.
Also, because Effexor affects two neurotransmitters -- serotonin and norepinephrine -- it tends to affect different symptoms of depression than the SSRIs do. That's good for a lot of people, since serotonin isn't the problem for everyone with depression. So, if the Prozac wasn't hitting all of your symptoms, there's a good chance that Effexor will be an improvement over it for you.
The biggest drawback for Effexor is its short half life, which leads to withdrawal symptoms -- 'scuse me, Discontinuation Syndrome -- if you miss a dose. The XR makes it easier to take, since you can take it once a day, but you still have to be a bit careful not to vary the time you take it too radically. If you take it at 7AM on Monday, but wait for noon on Tuesday, you may not feel all that well Tuesday afternoon. Still, that's not a hardship, really, if it helps your depression.
The biggest problem with Effexor is the withdrawal, when you're ready to come off of it. There are a lot of things that can help with that, but I really believe the reason the withdrawal has such a terrible reputation has a lot to do with the fact that these are people in a lot of psychic pain, people who are pretty deeply depressed, and are therefore less resilient than they might otherwise be, and they're also likely to be more negative in general. That's not to say that the withdrawal isn't bad, I've been though it and it certainly wasn't a walk in the park. Still, I could probably have tapered faster than I did, but my state of mind made it seem much rougher than it might actually have been. Does that make sense? Maybe if I hadn't been so depressed at the time, I'd have had more tolerance for the discomfort.
Hope that helps.
Posted by queenie on March 30, 2006, at 6:50:49
In reply to Re: good news about effexor xr PLEASE » queenie, posted by Racer on March 29, 2006, at 21:08:20
RACER - thank you. that does really help, makes me feel a little better anyway. thanks for taking the time to reply. hopefully i won't experience the drawbacks of this med. i do need something different, not because i am in a deep dark hole, but there has to be something out there to make me feel better. this place can be a little overwhelming the first time in...
Posted by krybrahaha78 on March 30, 2006, at 8:41:31
In reply to good news about effexor xr PLEASE, posted by queenie on March 29, 2006, at 20:25:16
if your planning on taking this for anxiety---good luck. Individual responses vary, but this drug skyrocketed my anxiety through the roof and this was only at i think 37 mgs. Depression though, i hear it works quite well. Still dont understand why it has any indication for anxiety?
Posted by Jakeman on March 30, 2006, at 20:19:22
In reply to good news about effexor xr PLEASE, posted by queenie on March 29, 2006, at 20:25:16
> all i have been reading is BAD. been on prozac for 15 years, doc says to try effexor. what is the percentage of people with good vs. bad experiences. everything i have read on this site has me a little nervous. haven't started it yet, let me know...
queenie, I would not form any strong opinions based on reports from this board. I think they tend to over-represent the negative. Effexor has been a life saver among some people I know.
warm regards, Jake
This is the end of the thread.
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