Posted by sanfran on August 18, 2004, at 10:59:59
The problems Effexor was causing for me are listed below. I wish I could have stayed on it because it ended my depression & anxiety...but the flip side of it was the many seemingly innocuous side effects that I simply couldn't ignore. Now that I am off Effexor (as of 1 week), all of the nasty side effects are completely gone and I feel back at my base level. On the lookout currently for a new med.
NEGATIVE AFFECTS:
1) HAIR LOSS & THINNING: noticed this after 3 months. Severe enough that the complete texture of my hair just changed. Ratty, whispy hair was my style now. U-G-L-Y
2) NO MOTIVATION: I could barely get the motivation to mountain bike, which I usually did without thinking 4 times a week. I had no interest in anything really. Just a blah feeling...not good or bad, just no feeling.
Depersonalization: again, I just wasn't affected 'either' way on the spectrum. Never too happy or too sad. I had a hard time getting excited about anything.3) EXTREME FATIGUE: This side effect only popped up the last 3 weeks I was on it. I could sleep 11 hours and wake up, do some work on the computer, and feel this horrific impending fatigue. Not a tired feeling, but a feeling of being anemic and simply not strong enough to get up and move. Horrible to exist this way.
4) CYSTIC ACNE: Confined (weirdly enough) only to my jaw & neck. It scarred me in two places and the acne was painful and took weeks to de-flate.
5)TMJ: Grinding my teeth so severely in my sleep that I woke up unable to open my mouth... diagnosis was TMJ. I also found myself clenching my teeth (unknowingly) during the day.
6) WEIGHT GAIN: Intially, the med in it's first 2 weeks gave me zero appetite. I am by genetics, a naturally thin woman who has never battled food or weight. I gained 10 pounds, and my appetite was ravenous. My body had insane cravings that I couldn't control with will-power..they felt un-natural and obsessive, almost as if my body had to comply.
poster:sanfran
thread:379087
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040817/msgs/379087.html