![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by questions on June 18, 2004, at 9:48:10
My Fiancee' has been on Effexor for just under a year. At first she improved, but lately she has been as anxious and irritable as ever. What has me the most concered however is some of her physical side effects which resemble those of someone developing Leukemia or Thyroid problems. Here is a list of both the physical and mental side effects I have noticed.
Physical:
- Numerous painless bruises on her thighs
- Night sweats
- Weight loss
- Tender Lymph Nodes in her armpits
- Insomnia
- Too tired to go to work
- Too tired to do anything around the houseMental:
- Becomes inconsolable at times over very minor things
- Zero sex drive
- Arguing with her is like quicksand. She starts arguments with you for no reason, and you can't get out of them no matter how diplomatic you try to be. What's more, she gets worse and more angry at you as the one-sided argument goes on regardless of what you say or don't say. I tried letting her air out all of her complaints while I just listened, but this didn't help either. Instead of feeling better as she went on, she just got more agitated. You basically have to sit there and let her berate you, and it doesn't make her feel better. If you finally give in and snap back, then you make it ten times worse as she can't handle any criticism well at all. This happened once and it was total disaster. I was freaked out.This has all happened recently. I want her off this stuff, but I realize she may get worse from the withdrawals. In any case I am worried about the bruising and some of the other physical side effects. Are these common? What could they mean?
Thanks for any help.
Posted by partlycloudy on June 18, 2004, at 10:42:28
In reply to Help with Effexor side effects!, posted by questions on June 18, 2004, at 9:48:10
I have been on effexor since last October. I have experienced many of the side effects that you are concerned about:
> - Numerous painless bruises on her thighs
> - Night sweats
> - Insomnia
> - Too tired to do anything around the house
>
> Mental:
> - Becomes inconsolable at times over very minor things
> - Zero sex drive
> This has all happened recently. I want her off this stuff, but I realize she may get worse from the withdrawals. In any case I am worried about the bruising and some of the other physical side effects. Are these common? What could they mean?
>I was helped by the addition of wellbutrin. It upped my energy level, improved the libido, and the crying improved. The bruising side effect is not dangerous (or so I believe). As my dosage of effexor was increased recently, I started to experience the night sweats again. They subside very slowly for me.
Is she seeing a therapist in conjunction with the medication? Does the prescribing doctor agree that the effexor should be stopped? To me, it would sound like her depression is not being completely helped with this single med. It took me many different combinations of effexor with other meds before finding the cocktail suitable for me.
If she is going to stop taking the effexor, my understanding is that if you do a v-e-r-y slow titration to bring the dosage down, withdrawls are not as bad.
Best of luck - she's a lucky woman to have you looking out for her wellbeing.
Posted by Sad Panda on June 18, 2004, at 11:35:05
In reply to Help with Effexor side effects!, posted by questions on June 18, 2004, at 9:48:10
> My Fiancee' has been on Effexor for just under a year. At first she improved, but lately she has been as anxious and irritable as ever. What has me the most concered however is some of her physical side effects which resemble those of someone developing Leukemia or Thyroid problems. Here is a list of both the physical and mental side effects I have noticed.
>
> Physical:
> - Numerous painless bruises on her thighs
> - Night sweats
> - Weight loss
> - Tender Lymph Nodes in her armpits
> - Insomnia
> - Too tired to go to work
> - Too tired to do anything around the house
>
> Mental:
> - Becomes inconsolable at times over very minor things
> - Zero sex drive
> - Arguing with her is like quicksand. She starts arguments with you for no reason, and you can't get out of them no matter how diplomatic you try to be. What's more, she gets worse and more angry at you as the one-sided argument goes on regardless of what you say or don't say. I tried letting her air out all of her complaints while I just listened, but this didn't help either. Instead of feeling better as she went on, she just got more agitated. You basically have to sit there and let her berate you, and it doesn't make her feel better. If you finally give in and snap back, then you make it ten times worse as she can't handle any criticism well at all. This happened once and it was total disaster. I was freaked out.
>
> This has all happened recently. I want her off this stuff, but I realize she may get worse from the withdrawals. In any case I am worried about the bruising and some of the other physical side effects. Are these common? What could they mean?
>
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
>Sounds like she is due for an increase in dosage. For side effects I highly recommend Remeron especially since she is losing weight. Remeron is a great cure for SSRI induced insomnia, anorgasmia & nausea. It also is mildly anxiolytic. Bruising isn't too much of a worry, it is caused by platelets not recieving serotonin. I don't know what is causing her tender lymph nodes, it might be a good idea to get a white cell count.
Cheers,
Panda.
Posted by jrbecker on June 18, 2004, at 14:53:59
In reply to Re: Help with Effexor side effects! » questions, posted by Sad Panda on June 18, 2004, at 11:35:05
Effexor has helped immensely with mood and irritability. Unfortunately, I do notice that all ADs (more the SSRIs than Effexor) can increase agitation and irritability at times. I definitely notice these symptoms more in the spring/summer than any other time of the year. This makes sense since my atypical depression cycles seasonally -- I have more energy in the lighter months, but am prone to more anxiety and irritability then as well. And the Effexor definitely exacerbates this.This was just one thought that comes to mind from your post. But it certainly doesn't explain why she's having all those somatic symptoms.
I would recommend that you make sure she brings up these issues with her doc. In my opinion, increasing the dose of the Effexor or augmenting with another antidepressant like Wellbutrin is not a good idea until you talk to the doc.
> > My Fiancee' has been on Effexor for just under a year. At first she improved, but lately she has been as anxious and irritable as ever. What has me the most concered however is some of her physical side effects which resemble those of someone developing Leukemia or Thyroid problems. Here is a list of both the physical and mental side effects I have noticed.
> >
> > Physical:
> > - Numerous painless bruises on her thighs
> > - Night sweats
> > - Weight loss
> > - Tender Lymph Nodes in her armpits
> > - Insomnia
> > - Too tired to go to work
> > - Too tired to do anything around the house
> >
> > Mental:
> > - Becomes inconsolable at times over very minor things
> > - Zero sex drive
> > - Arguing with her is like quicksand. She starts arguments with you for no reason, and you can't get out of them no matter how diplomatic you try to be. What's more, she gets worse and more angry at you as the one-sided argument goes on regardless of what you say or don't say. I tried letting her air out all of her complaints while I just listened, but this didn't help either. Instead of feeling better as she went on, she just got more agitated. You basically have to sit there and let her berate you, and it doesn't make her feel better. If you finally give in and snap back, then you make it ten times worse as she can't handle any criticism well at all. This happened once and it was total disaster. I was freaked out.
> >
> > This has all happened recently. I want her off this stuff, but I realize she may get worse from the withdrawals. In any case I am worried about the bruising and some of the other physical side effects. Are these common? What could they mean?
> >
> >
> > Thanks for any help.
> >
> >
>
> Sounds like she is due for an increase in dosage. For side effects I highly recommend Remeron especially since she is losing weight. Remeron is a great cure for SSRI induced insomnia, anorgasmia & nausea. It also is mildly anxiolytic. Bruising isn't too much of a worry, it is caused by platelets not recieving serotonin. I don't know what is causing her tender lymph nodes, it might be a good idea to get a white cell count.
>
> Cheers,
> Panda.
>
>
>
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.