Posted by Cybele on September 30, 2004, at 7:49:41
In reply to Dosage? weight gain? weight loss?, posted by BethL on September 29, 2004, at 17:27:07
I took 37.5 for a week then upped to 75mg. I started noticing a difference after about 4 weeks on 75mg. It just occurred to me one day that I was no longer haiving "down" days. I took it June through mid-September and gained about 15 pounds. I was eating more carbs, but I was also exericising more. Normally I should have gained at most 2-3 lbs eating the calories I did in and exercising the amount I did over this period, so my metabolism was definitely slowed by the Effexor. I had no desire to up my dosage because 75mg seemed to help, but it also made me dehydrated while it was metabolising. If I had a single alcoholic beverage in the evening (I took my Effexor at bedtime) then I'd get terribly dehydrated. Between that and the weight gain, the benefits weren't worth it to me. I wasn't *that* depressed to begin with.
If you've had bad luck or no luck with other ADs and you're feeling pretty low, I think Effexor is definitely worth it. If you start gaining weight, then I'd think you'd have to cut back on calories by 10-15% to maintain your weight.
I ramped down in dose for 10 days, and have been totally off now for two days. I have a little dizziness and irritability which might be due to withdrawal, but that's it.
Just my two cents :)
poster:Cybele
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040927/msgs/397167.html