![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Smeegle on August 23, 2004, at 22:10:23
My appt with my pdoc is a week or so away and I really need to vent. (Prob will end up requesting an earlier appt...much sooner). Anyhow, here it is. I have been on Effexor XR for a little over three years now. Current dose is 300 mg. Initially it was my wonder drug. I was myself again. Living life and loving it. I am not sure when it started, but it seems as though Effexor is sucking the life out of me. All I want to do is sleep and it's not the typical "I am depressed and want to stay in bed" kind of sleep. I know the difference. No matter how much sleep I get, it is never enough. Have done two sleep studies (only mild apnea) and just found out that I am now hypothyroid (listed as a possible side effect of Effexor). I feel sluggish physically and mentally. I have zero motivation for anything. (I actually joke with my pdoc about needing to get motivated to get motivated). I am dog-a$$ed tired down to my bones. Medical tests have ruled out any other explanations.
But those aren't even the main reasons I feel that I absolutely must get off this medication. It seems like dose increases are getting more and more frequent. I feel better initially but quickly it doesn't just get bad again, it gets worse and worse than ever before. I am now at the max dose that my pdoc will prescribe (thankfully...I feel like such a crack head that I wonder if i would actually agree to an even higher dose). I get panicky when the bottle starts getting low. It doesn't even take 24 full hours before my brain starts zapping. My dr and I have discussed that it is probably time to change and he wants to switch over to Celexa. I know nothing about this med and need to get some first person feedback. I am scared shitless about weaning off this stuff. I am all too aware of what is coming. I feel positive that I will be suicidal (though I was never suicidal before taking this stuff). Any time that I have missed a dose (or two), I start getting SI quite a bit. I don't want to get locked up, but am scared at how I will do. I know I have to be honest with my pdoc about what all I am thinking/feeling but...hmmm, I just hope I can be. I am okay as long as I am on it so don't think I am about to do anything crazy. I am just extremely anxious about this.
Thanks for letting me babble. My husband tries his damnest to be supportive but is incapable of understanding what it's like to be in my skin. To be so utterly depressed that one wishes to cease to exist. For years. and years. and years. No one around me understands what it's like to have a freaking chemical imbalance in your brain that makes me think/react differently to the world than them. There are two me's. The one that the world knows and the other one they wouldn't want to know.
Smeegs
Posted by crazychickuk on August 24, 2004, at 11:23:53
In reply to Feeling like a crack-head-Need to get off Effexor, posted by Smeegle on August 23, 2004, at 22:10:23
The best med to go on to after effexor is prozac.... wean of the effexor say get half way down then get on prozac whilst you are still tapering of effexor.. you never know prozac along with effexor could do wonders? have you ever spoke about taking 2? i wouldnt of thought celexa would be any good especially coming of effexor..
Posted by owensmar on August 24, 2004, at 12:48:54
In reply to Feeling like a crack-head-Need to get off Effexor, posted by Smeegle on August 23, 2004, at 22:10:23
My experience with coming off Effexor has been that if I switch from it to any SSRI the brain zaps, at least don't happen much. Then again, I'm on a very low dose of Effexor.
God bless and let us know.
Marsha
Posted by Smeegle on August 24, 2004, at 17:44:02
In reply to Re: Feeling like a crack-head-Need to get off Effexor, posted by crazychickuk on August 24, 2004, at 11:23:53
Prozac was the first AD that I was on. We gave it two months and didn't see any improvements so we moved on to Zoloft, which worked nicely for a couple of years (though did seem to be a bit manic towards the latter part). Remeron/Depakote was a nightmare. No relief, only an extra 50 lbs in six months. I will have to talk with the pdoc some more as to why he is specifically suggesting Celexa. Perhaps since Prozac didn't seem to help before. At least I know that my pdoc won't push anything on me that I am not comfortable with. For that I am thankful. Trying new/different meds is such a crap shoot and for the ones that take weeks to kick in, those weeks are very difficult. I have a very public job (city hall!) and don't need to be freaking out on the job. The boss knows I take ADs, but has no idea of the extent of it. (She's a nosey, busy-body, gossip monger so I don't tell her anything I don't want the entire building to know). Since I have only been there for a little over three years, noone there has ever experienced "me" off meds...what a treat for all.
Thanks for the replies!
Smeegs
Posted by Camille Dumont on August 24, 2004, at 21:38:41
In reply to Feeling like a crack-head-Need to get off Effexor, posted by Smeegle on August 23, 2004, at 22:10:23
Out of stupidity and perhaps stubborness (and also being tired of feeling like a drug addict ... actually, I ran out for 1 days and then I was such a wreck and freaking out that I decided to stop it right then and now) ... I quit Effexor 300 cold turkey ... I was also taking Celexa which was at 20 which is small ... I quit both but on the fifth day I was constantly puking and getting seriously suicidal ... so I partially gave in and popped a celexa 20 and went to bed. I woke up and the brain zaps were gone, the dizzyness was gone, the puking stopped and I basically felt great aside form a migrane ... and after full wack Effexor w/d, a little migrane its really nothing. I've been off Effexor for more than a month and Celexa has completely masked any and all withdrawal effects that might have occured ... so I hope this reassures you ... plus the Celexa is alot less horrible when you stop it (or so I hear .... I'll be able to tell you in a few months).
Posted by Smeegle on August 24, 2004, at 22:03:42
In reply to Re: Feeling like a crack-head-Need to get off Effexor, posted by Camille Dumont on August 24, 2004, at 21:38:41
I am seriously concerned about why the suidical thoughts are so bad when stopping Effexor. When I miss even one dose, the thoughts start up really bad. Under normal circumstances, it would never enter my mind to do such a thing. I wasn't suicidal before. Why now? What has Effexor done to my brain? Thanks on the input re: celexa. I was worried I would be going thru this again in another year or so. I cannot and will not go cold turkey off this stuff. How long were you on Celexa when you stopped your effexor? Should I be on it a couple of weeks before I start tapering?
Smeegs
Posted by crazychickuk on August 25, 2004, at 5:46:16
In reply to Re: Feeling like a crack-head-Need to get off Effexor, posted by Smeegle on August 24, 2004, at 22:03:42
Taper down to about 200 then add celexa at a small dose then come of effexor more and more..... keep benzo's to hand to help with any anxiety.. i dont know why the effexor had made you depressed maybe it could just be a one off... maybe it wont last long.. just keep thinking positive.. i know depression can make you not wanna feel anything.. and it will be hard.. have you got support at home at all?
Posted by laurie_lu on August 25, 2004, at 7:37:23
In reply to Re: Feeling like a crack-head-Need to get off Effexor, posted by crazychickuk on August 25, 2004, at 5:46:16
I was at 150mg Effexor XR. The last two months I was feeling worse. I was more depressed, having nightmares, hand tremors, and very withdrawn. There was no way I was gonna up my dose on this stuff. I am currently tapering myself down and getting off of the Effexor. I am at about 29mg at this point. The depression is lifting, nightmares are stopping, and I don't have the tremors anymore. There is something very strange about this drug and I can't put my finger on it.
Posted by Camille Dumont on August 25, 2004, at 8:40:49
In reply to Re: Feeling like a crack-head-Need to get off Effexor, posted by Smeegle on August 24, 2004, at 22:03:42
> I am seriously concerned about why the suidical thoughts are so bad when stopping Effexor. When I miss even one dose, the thoughts start up really bad. Under normal circumstances, it would never enter my mind to do such a thing. I wasn't suicidal before. Why now? What has Effexor done to my brain? Thanks on the input re: celexa. I was worried I would be going thru this again in another year or so. I cannot and will not go cold turkey off this stuff. How long were you on Celexa when you stopped your effexor? Should I be on it a couple of weeks before I start tapering?
>
> SmeegsI was on Celexa for a few months before starting as it ended up being the augmenting agent that did the job.
I tried Trazodone before : no effect, Seroquel : turned me into a zombie and Zyprexa : gave me petit mal seizures ...
I was seriously suicidal before starting the effexor so perhaps its just me ... or I think it may be related to how horrible you feel when the withdrawal hits. I remember getting hungry, eating, then puking then getting hungry again ... and puking again ... and I was all dizzy and generally felt like crap 24h a day so after a few days of this its hard to remain optimistic and think that it will end. It also made me feel very "disconnected" from my feelings ... I would only notice things once I had smacked right into them or they were painfully imbeded in my skin ... I kept dropping stuff and losing things and basically being constantly confused which is also very depressing.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]
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.