Posted by jujube on September 19, 2004, at 17:43:12
In reply to Anyone experience these side-effects from EFFEXOR, posted by sanfran on August 18, 2004, at 10:59:59
I, too, experienced all but #1 and #4. The lack of motivation accompanied with extreme lethargy has been the most difficult. It feels almost like break through depression. I was making plans and really wanting to be active, but just couldn't bring myself to do much. After 6 months on Effexor XR, I finally told my doctor that it was having a negative effect (including increased anxiety and apprehension) on me and I was going to try something natural. He wasn't too keen on that (since he is not familiar with natural remedies) and prescribed Celexa. It has been 8 days since my last Effexor (weaned off over 2 weeks) and 7 days on Celexa.
I have to say that, although there are many people who have great success on Effexor, I wonder just how effective it really is. I mean, it seems that every two or three months the dose has to be increased to maintain some level of effectiveness. I think when a person gets up to 375 mg or higher over the course of a year, it might be time to question whether the drug has the staying power. Perhaps Effexor XR is one of those drugs that has tremendous success bringing people out of the depths of depressive despair in the short term, but a switch is needed to maintain long term results. Who knows, I am just thinking out loud (probably because my own Effexor experience was so disappointing).
> 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.
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> NEGATIVE AFFECTS:
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> 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
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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poster:jujube
thread:379087
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040915/msgs/392714.html