Posted by sid on September 18, 2002, at 23:36:04
In reply to Effexor-Any Positive results, posted by lucky on September 18, 2002, at 18:49:51
Yes!
Aside from some side effects, which I've either learned to live with or which have gone away, I am feeling well, for the first time of my adult life (I'm 34). I had about 7 years of recurrent major depression, and I had had dysthymia most of my life - at least since I was 13. Last year (Nov.2001) I decided to try meds (I had not yet, but had done therapy and acupuncture, which all helped). I felt I had done all I could and I saw nothing more I could do, except perhaps pop a pil every now and then, hoping it would help. At that point, I had few symptoms left, but I definitely still had dysthymia, and I had anxiety problems. I could not cope well with stress.
10 months later, I'm still on only 75 mg/day, and I feel like myself. I can't say again, except, I kind of recongnized myself from when I was about 12 or even before. Weird. Great. Wow.One problem remained: my physical energy. I felt drained all the time, and it was not helping me be productive, do sports, meet people, etc. Last summer, I forced myself to either walk or bike to work each day, even though it was grueling at the beginning. I also did yoga, a somewhat difficult class, and at some point during the summer, I started having a lot more energy. I decided to continue my activities and registered to all sorts of classes for this fall (yoga, aerobics, swimming, badminton). So far so good. I found myself again and now I am finding my body again. I am moving and loving it.
I will continue taking Effexor XR for at least several more months, namely because I have very stressful things to deal with in the next few months. Perhaps next summer I'll go back down to 37.5mg/day, and perhaps I'll manage to stop taking it altogether. In the meantime, I just enjoy life and hope for the best.
I have some pelvic pain, which I'm not sure is related to Effexor XR. I'm investigating it with my docs. Other than that, my health is the best it's been in years, both mentally and physically. I love my job again (I can deal with the stress), I love myself (that's new!), I do my best to get along with people around me, I love nature and try to take it in as much as I can by hiking, kayaking, biking, etc. Overall, I feel good. I finally understand why life is worth living - it was not clear to me at all before.
So yes, my Effexor XR story is a successful one so far.
- sid
poster:sid
thread:120309
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020914/msgs/120334.html