Posted by Fuscia on July 14, 2002, at 16:08:37
In reply to Fuscia, please read, posted by hildi on July 9, 2002, at 21:01:03
Hi Hildi,
Sorry to be so late in returning your post.
The side effects you mentioned, the dry mouth is because of anitcholinergic effects. Other anticholinergic effects include rapid heart rate, inability to urinate, and constipation.
In my opinion, I would not take Zoloft since you don't want to be mixing two serotonergic drugs, especially since you are beginning the Effexor.
Split the Effexor tablet in half and take that twice a day. If you still have nausea then go to pharamcist and get the 25mg of Effexor and split that in half and take 12.5 mg twice daily until annoying side effects pass. Then if you need to you can increase. The secret to starting Effexor is to start out very low. In my opinion, I tend to dislike the short half-life drugs, such as Effexor, Paxil, and Xanax. The shorter the half-life, the more difficult time (as in side effects or withdrawal symptoms). I wouldn't take the Zoloft, though, with the Effexor. You might cause side effects of which you wouldn't be able to figure out which drug or what dose was the culprit.
Consider taking Natural Nutritional Yeast by Twinlabs. There are other brands of yeast drinks, as well as Brewer's Yeast, but I like this brand for it tastes the best and the amount required is only 1 tbsp. mixed with liquid. This way, you'll be getting many of the amino acids, including those that increase dietary dopamine, and you'll be getting complex B vitamins that may help with the dry mouth problem.
The sleepy effect will probably go away as your brain adjusts to the effects of the drug, or especially when dosage is increased, since Effexor acts mainly as a serotonin reuptaker at low doses, whereas at higher doses, norepinephrine and to a small extent, dopamine, is increased. This can counteract the sleepy feeling.
Also, since you are premenopausel you'll want to consider taking a progesterone creme. You can read much about it using a search engine. I use Fem Gest by Home Health from vitaminshoppe.com. It does contain progesterone. Wild Yam extract does not convert into progesterone in the body, so avoid products that claim they increase progesterone that only contain wild yam. It needs to say "progesterone" on the ingredients list. Go to your library and check out the following books: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause, by John R. Lee, M.D., Jesse Hanley, M.D., and Virginia Hopkins. I have their book, What Y.D.M.N.T.Y.About Premenopause, and it is an excellent source of information for women of all ages.
Here is a link you'll find very interesting:
http://www.all-natural.com/estrog-1.html
Hormone Heresy by Sherrill SellmanTake care Hildi, Fuscia
poster:Fuscia
thread:111095
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020709/msgs/112335.html