Posted by Elizabeth on April 23, 1999, at 21:41:17
In reply to Re: effexor and GAD, posted by Bruce on April 23, 1999, at 16:01:59
Hi Bruce. You bring up an interesting point. A lot of people with panic disorder find that when they first start taking antidepressants, they feel very activated and jittery (for some reason, a lot of people will independently say they feel like "I'm jumping out of my skin"). It's therefore suggested that people taking antidepressants, especially SSRIs (probably Effexor (which is not strictly an SSRI) as well), for panic disorder, should start out on very low doses and increasing them gradually. I expect the same will prove true of GAD. Note that this may necessitate starting on the immediate-release Effexor and then switching to the XR when you've gotten up to an effective dose. Some people start out at 9 or 10mg or so (1/4 of a 37.5mg Effexor tablet) per dose (twice a day is appropriate).
I don't know how they manage to divide the tablets so precisely, as Effexor is shaped kind of funny.)How much BuSpar are you taking? Depression (and probably mixed depression-anxiety) tends to require higher doses than straight GAD. I tried BuSpar with no success but would consider taking it again and going to a higher dose, since it didn't seem to have any side effects to speak of.
poster:Elizabeth
thread:4891
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990401/msgs/5245.html