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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by AMY on November 21, 1999, at 1:43:28
Dear Dr. Bob,
My doctor recently put my on some antidepressants he first put me on Paxil sor a week then he recently switched me to Effexor and he first gave me the take home start up kit which includes the first week you take 25 mg then the second week you take the 37.5 mg and he recently about two weeks ago or so he gave me the dosge of 150mg ; i take this medication once a day usually at night my only two questions are one when taking this medication how long are the side effects suppose to last because recently i have been really tired like exhaursted during the day and really tired at ngiht . I usually go to bed around 12am on the week days, but ever since i have been taking this medication i am getting tired rather early in the evening. I have read where you may be tired for the first few weeks just so the medication can get into your blood steam and so forth, but i didn't think i still would be tired for this long. Also while being on this medication i read that you can't have a lot of caffene while on this medicaton and i havent had any for the past three weeks but i am still getting really bad headaches. I also read that one of the side effects is headaches but, usually it takes about 2 weeks to let the caffene relaease from your system but i am still haveing headaches > Do you have any suggetions on why any of these things are stll occuring and do you have any suggestions or ideas that i can do or maybe try methods to get rid of my bad headaches. i have been taking excedrene but it' not really helping at all. Also after being on the medication for a few weeks i have noticed that my thoughts are gone for instance if i were talking to you i can understand you but my thoughts have been erased from my head . I feel as though someone has erased my hard drive sort of like a computer thing but someone has erased my memory. Do you have any suggestions on how to get my mind working again.
Thanks for any help you might give me and i also thank you for taking the time to read my E-mailThanks again,
AMY
e mail address ( DBOEZ@aol.com)
Posted by jamie on November 21, 1999, at 4:31:35
In reply to antidepressants and side effects, posted by AMY on November 21, 1999, at 1:43:28
The side effects Amy are weird. Everyone gets different effects. Sometimes side effects disappear. Sometimes they don't. If they disappear it could take a couple weeks or a couple months. At this point you could try taking your effexor at different times of the day to see how that helps. Try it in the morning for a few days. Try it at noon. You might find a different time is all you need. I don't know why you can't take coffee. Sometimes effexor raises blood pressure. But I can't see how coffee would make that any worse. Besides, your doses right now are too low to be any worry of that. I've never heard of not being able to have coffee. You think everyone who takes effexor stops drinking coffee? I think not. That might be the whole problem. Not the effexor. Some people get wired up on effexor. Maybe they should cut down on coffee. But quit completely? I just have never heard of that. If you like coffee, I know of no reason you can't have some with effexor. Gallons of coffee aren't good for anyone. But a couple cups a day sounds perfectly reasonable to me. It might just do the trick on those headaches and the tiredness. Just don't have any past mid afternoon or it might contribute to insomnia. Thats all. Hey, go have some coffee for pete's sake! :-)
Posted by Annie S. on November 21, 1999, at 15:40:21
In reply to antidepressants and side effects, posted by AMY on November 21, 1999, at 1:43:28
Hi Amy,I've been on Effexor XR for four months. When I first started taking it I had an intense urge to take a nap in the afternoon. Now that I've been on it longer it seems that I do fall asleep a tad bit earlier than I did pre-Effexor XR. All in all it is worth it because I feel so much happier and relaxed. I never was told to give up coffee and still drink my 2-3 cups per day. In fact I definitely need my afternoon cup because of the Effexor XR.
I can relate to your disappearing thoughts. Your comparison to a hard drive is so right on. Sometimes I think I'm getting Alzheimer's. I really don't know why this happens. On the third day I was on Effexor XR on went through a stop sign on a road that I've traveled every day for 10 years. My mind was somewhere else. It really scared me and when I drive I constantly remind myself to stay focused. I've also noticed that when I'm working I have to constantly remind myself of what I'm doing so I don't drift off.
I feel so good about myself and life that I'm willing to be a bit scatter brained in exchange for a chance at a "normal" life. Coffee helps me focus my brain--go get yourself a cup of coffee.
Hope this helps,
Annie S.
This is the end of the thread.
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