Posted by jackt on December 17, 2002, at 14:58:14
Larry and anyone else who wants to comment,
I suffer from severe GAD and possibly mild ADD. I would like to know your theory on why Effexor would work for anxiety.
I think I read that the down regulation of serotonin and norepinephine could be the action that makes it work. Of course we know that it is a SSRI and SNRI ... but one theory is that once you have extra S and N floating around in your brain that you will tend to produce less of it. Thereby, taking Effexor over time would actually reduce S and N in your brain.
My mind is always in a "fight or flight" mode. Extra N would only increase the anxiety rather than reduce it, right? Maybe the brain goes through a stage of increased N before it is decreased.
I've tried Effexor about 7 years ago, but I probably only stayed on it for 4 weeks. Maybe I didn't give it enough time.
Bottom line is that it will take a while for the brain to adapt and ultimately reduce the production of N and possibly S to alleviate the anxiety. Is this a valid assumption, or am I way off?
poster:jackt
thread:132186
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021217/msgs/132186.html