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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Ted Toal on January 5, 2002, at 11:00:44
I was on Effexor XR for a couple months or so, and experienced some nasty side effects including a strange dizziness when moving my eyes. I went off it and probably didn't do it slowly enough: I experienced a scary zapping noise when I moved my eyes suddenly at night in bed. It was so scary I got out of bed and online, and came across this web site, and was relieved when I learned that other people experienced similar sensations going off Effexor.
It has now been over a year since I was on Effexor. The side effects subsided almost completely, but there is one thing I still notice that now seems to be getting worse. The sound I heard when I moved my eyes gradually became less frequent and less intensive, but never went away. After hearing it many times, I have now become aware that it seems to be caused by a skipped heartbeat, or an unusual heartbeat, and I'm actually hearing a change in the sound of my bloodflow for that heartbeat, a sort of small jerk sound. Because this sound has evolved from something that started with Effexor, I'm thinking that maybe Effexor had a permanent long-term effect on my heart. Has anyone else who has taken Effexor noticed any similar sounds upon awakening at night time (that's the only time I hear these sounds)?
There is a second sound, a tick-tick-tick that usually comes in sets of 2 or 3 ticks, that I occasionally hear, and that I eventually decided was also a strange heartbeat. I had an echocardiogram and it was normal. I really don't know what to make of these sounds. After steadily decreasing following withdrawal from Effexor, the small jerk sound now seems to be becoming frequent. Its relation to eye motion became less and less until now I don't think it is related to eye motion any more, it's just sort of random when it will occur.
Posted by 3 Beer Effect on January 5, 2002, at 13:52:11
In reply to Effexor Permanent Effects-Heart sounds when asleep, posted by Ted Toal on January 5, 2002, at 11:00:44
> Effexor is totally eliminated from the body in 7 days. Perhaps your real problem is that you are a hypochondriac.
Posted by IsoM on January 5, 2002, at 14:13:27
In reply to Effexor Permanent Effects-Heart sounds when asleep, posted by Ted Toal on January 5, 2002, at 11:00:44
Ted, please ignore 3 Beer Effect. He's young & hopefully will gain more insight as he grows older.
I hear funny noises in my head often at night, but I'll turn my head into another position to diminish the nosies. I feel they're actually harmless. Perhaps since the med, you may be more attuned to funny little things in your body.
I feel some of us are simply more aware of strange things than others without anything being serious. Why not try taking a questionairre Dr. Bob has on his site? Two of my sons & I test *very* high for subsyndromal epilepsy (sounds, lights, thoughts, etc) while my other son only answered a 1 for any of the questions. This might give you some insight on the noises.
Here's the site:
http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/isse.html****************************************************************************************************
> I was on Effexor XR for a couple months or so, and experienced some nasty side effects including a strange dizziness when moving my eyes. I went off it and probably didn't do it slowly enough: I experienced a scary zapping noise when I moved my eyes suddenly at night in bed. It was so scary I got out of bed and online, and came across this web site, and was relieved when I learned that other people experienced similar sensations going off Effexor.
>
> It has now been over a year since I was on Effexor. The side effects subsided almost completely, but there is one thing I still notice that now seems to be getting worse. The sound I heard when I moved my eyes gradually became less frequent and less intensive, but never went away. After hearing it many times, I have now become aware that it seems to be caused by a skipped heartbeat, or an unusual heartbeat, and I'm actually hearing a change in the sound of my bloodflow for that heartbeat, a sort of small jerk sound. Because this sound has evolved from something that started with Effexor, I'm thinking that maybe Effexor had a permanent long-term effect on my heart. Has anyone else who has taken Effexor noticed any similar sounds upon awakening at night time (that's the only time I hear these sounds)?
>
> There is a second sound, a tick-tick-tick that usually comes in sets of 2 or 3 ticks, that I occasionally hear, and that I eventually decided was also a strange heartbeat. I had an echocardiogram and it was normal. I really don't know what to make of these sounds. After steadily decreasing following withdrawal from Effexor, the small jerk sound now seems to be becoming frequent. Its relation to eye motion became less and less until now I don't think it is related to eye motion any more, it's just sort of random when it will occur.
Posted by Dr. Bob on January 5, 2002, at 17:06:56
In reply to it's all in your head!!!, posted by 3 Beer Effect on January 5, 2002, at 13:52:11
> Perhaps your real problem is that you are a hypochondriac.
Please don't post anything that others could take as accusatory or put others down, thanks.
Bob
PS: Follow-ups regarding civility should be redirected to Psycho-Babble Administration; otherwise, they may be deleted.
Posted by Ted Toal on January 5, 2002, at 19:51:12
In reply to Re: Effexor Permanent Effects-Heart sounds when asleep » Ted Toal, posted by IsoM on January 5, 2002, at 14:13:27
> Ted, please ignore 3 Beer Effect. He's young & hopefully will gain more insight as he grows older.
It's okay. He's partially right, I AM somewhat of a hypochondriac, although much, much less so than when I was younger. Mostly now I'm just trying to understand which of the myriad changes currently occurring in my body are caused by aging and which might need some medical attention.
However, I have two reasons for suspecting that perhaps Effexor caused a change in my heartbeat: (1) it definitely caused the initial noise that I heard at night, which definitely evolved into a more subtle sound that I'm almost certain is caused by an occasional heartbeat that is somehow different; (2) There was another post on here from someone who described the whooshing sound that some people hear when going off Effexor, and he specifically said that for him, the sound seemed to be synchronized with his heartbeat.
> I feel some of us are simply more aware of strange things than others without anything being serious.
I COMPLETELY AGREE. I'm pretty certain that I tune into little body subtleties far more than most people. I have a hypothesis that doctors and researchers could learn much more about the body by paying attention to these minute details that some of us are able to notice. As I entered my 30's and then 40's, I noticed many, many body changes that I believe are caused by aging. I even started a list of them. Many I have never heard attributed to aging, but then, I think our culture tends to deny the aging process and try to ignore it, so there isn't much common knowledge about the effects of aging. We think an old person becomes gray, wrinkled, slow, and weak, and that's about it. But in reality every single little subsystem of their body is failing, and sensitive people notice the changes.
> Why not try taking a questionairre Dr. Bob has on his site? Two of my sons & I test *very* high for subsyndromal epilepsy (sounds, lights, thoughts, etc) while my other son only answered a 1 for any of the questions. This might give you some insight on the noises.
I took it, but don't know how to interpret the results because there is nothing showing max possible scores and no curves showing score distribution among the population. It seemed to me that I was answering a few questions high but most 0, so I probably scored towards low end.
Posted by stjames on January 5, 2002, at 20:04:59
In reply to Re: Effexor Permanent Effects-Heart sounds when asleep » IsoM, posted by Ted Toal on January 5, 2002, at 19:51:12
If you are conserned about missed beats, get it checked out. An EKG is a simple test. Many people
miss beats, in many it means nothing. Some tests
hopefully put you at ease.Whoosing sound, yes I get that, many do on Effexor. I get it even after 7 days off Effexor.
It does not bother me.
Posted by dreamer on January 5, 2002, at 20:51:54
In reply to Re: Effexor Permanent Effects-Heart sounds when asleep, posted by stjames on January 5, 2002, at 20:04:59
> If you are conserned about missed beats, get it checked out. An EKG is a simple test. Many people
> miss beats, in many it means nothing. Some tests
> hopefully put you at ease.Yes check it out but don't panic...I've had arrythmias ?....an unatural rhythmn , missed beats for years , usually with a kind of body sound/pressure-very hard to explain .
The missed beat is usually followed by a beat that seems like a big thud and can be scarey , doc said it's just a natural kick- start , like starting a car.Last recent test (on effexor) had tacycardia very fast rhytmn , missed beats -it's common , but I'm no cardiologist (sp)?
Posted by IsoM on January 6, 2002, at 2:19:27
In reply to Re: Effexor Permanent Effects-Heart sounds when asleep » IsoM, posted by Ted Toal on January 5, 2002, at 19:51:12
These so-called skipped beats aren't really skips. Just that one beat delays a little & when it comes, it merges into the next beat making that one far more noticable. You can even sometimes "feel" it in your throat.
It is a funny feeling, making you particularily aware of your heart - but as others have said, no harm done. In fact, a heart beat that's a little irregular is a sign of a healthy heart. A very regular heart beat is often indicative of possible future problems. I read of a new test being developed that plots the heart rate on a graph using a math program to try to pinpoint the very regular heart rates & to check these patients out for heart problems.
There's a few things that makes these 'missed' beats happen more for the rest of us - caffeine is one, & often codeine-containing pain relievers are another. Maybe switch to de-caffinated instead.
Posted by 3 Beer Effect on January 8, 2002, at 4:27:53
In reply to Effexor Permanent Effects-Heart sounds when asleep, posted by Ted Toal on January 5, 2002, at 11:00:44
Sorry about that prior mean-spirited post, i'm on a high dose of Remeron 60 mg & it is making me irritable all of the time. Hopefully that will go away since I just started it 2 weeks ago.
Regards,
3 Beers
> I was on Effexor XR for a couple months or so, and experienced some nasty side effects including a strange dizziness when moving my eyes. I went off it and probably didn't do it slowly enough: I experienced a scary zapping noise when I moved my eyes suddenly at night in bed. It was so scary I got out of bed and online, and came across this web site, and was relieved when I learned that other people experienced similar sensations going off Effexor.
>
> It has now been over a year since I was on Effexor. The side effects subsided almost completely, but there is one thing I still notice that now seems to be getting worse. The sound I heard when I moved my eyes gradually became less frequent and less intensive, but never went away. After hearing it many times, I have now become aware that it seems to be caused by a skipped heartbeat, or an unusual heartbeat, and I'm actually hearing a change in the sound of my bloodflow for that heartbeat, a sort of small jerk sound. Because this sound has evolved from something that started with Effexor, I'm thinking that maybe Effexor had a permanent long-term effect on my heart. Has anyone else who has taken Effexor noticed any similar sounds upon awakening at night time (that's the only time I hear these sounds)?
>
> There is a second sound, a tick-tick-tick that usually comes in sets of 2 or 3 ticks, that I occasionally hear, and that I eventually decided was also a strange heartbeat. I had an echocardiogram and it was normal. I really don't know what to make of these sounds. After steadily decreasing following withdrawal from Effexor, the small jerk sound now seems to be becoming frequent. Its relation to eye motion became less and less until now I don't think it is related to eye motion any more, it's just sort of random when it will occur.
Posted by Mitch on January 8, 2002, at 9:44:27
In reply to apology about prior post, posted by 3 Beer Effect on January 8, 2002, at 4:27:53
> Sorry about that prior mean-spirited post, i'm on a high dose of Remeron 60 mg & it is making me irritable all of the time. Hopefully that will go away since I just started it 2 weeks ago.
>
> Regards,
> 3 Beers
Hey, let us know if the irritability goes away or not. You just got dx'ed BPII right? Well you make the 3rd (including myself) person that has posted here about Remeron irritability.Mitch
This is the end of the thread.
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