Posted by Mark on May 10, 1999, at 2:09:47
In reply to Re: Effexor Tolerance - Mark, posted by Elizabeth on March 28, 1999, at 2:23:30
The difference between addiction/withdrawal and
discontinuation is important. Addictive
substances like Ativan and Dexedrine (very
often used in psychiatry) exhibit tolerance
(you need more drug for the same effect)
and nearly immediate withdrawal symptoms that
can be dangerous. SSRI's and Effexor
don't show clear tolerance, although they
may not work except at higher doses in some
cases or they may poop out at times. When you
stop them, they have some nuisance effects like
stomach upset, flu-like symptoms, and
insomnia as opposed to dangerous withdrawal
symptoms like can occur with Ativan---seizures,
for example. The other difference is that Ativan,
Dexedrine and other addictive medications/drugs
do not treat disorders--they only treat symptoms.
SSRI's and Effexor, when they work, seem to do a
good job treating depression and anxiety disorders.> > As far as "withdrawal." There is indeed a
> > phenomena known as SSRI discontinuation syndrome
>
> Discontinuation syndrome? There's a piece of double-speak I hadn't heard before. :-) Seriously, I do understand the need to dispell any belief that SSRIs might somehow be "addictive" (which doesn't mean anything in particular anyway), but the resulting word-play can be unwieldy. I take it that you consider "withdrawal" to be something that includes "cravings" as well as the substance-specific d/c syndrome?
>
> (Perhaps notably, perhaps not, DSM-IV just calls these substance-specific syndromes "withdrawal." :-)
>
> I've heard of people using Benadryl for the Paxil/Effexor/Zoloft d/c syndrome (don't see it so much with Prozac). Not sure which symptoms Benadryl is supposed to help with.
>
> >(Effexor is similar but slightly different).
>
> Yeah, this pretty much sums up the relationship between Effexor and the SSRIs - similar, except different.
poster:Mark
thread:3700
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990601/msgs/5822.html