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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sophia on November 6, 2000, at 11:06:11
Has anyone experimented with the best time of day to take this med? I find it makes my sleep so restless, yet I take in the morning. I also get very tired in the afternoons and must nap, which I hate.
Posted by Jen111111111 on November 6, 2000, at 11:29:57
In reply to Right time to take Effexor, posted by Sophia on November 6, 2000, at 11:06:11
I take 75mg in the morning just after I wake up. I'm fine all day long with no tiredness. A nice change from Celexa. Celexa made me very tired. I would be in bed my 9:00 every night. Also, with Effexor I haven't had ANY side effects, but I think my dose is a bit low.
Posted by noa on November 6, 2000, at 12:12:50
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by Jen111111111 on November 6, 2000, at 11:29:57
Regular or XR?
Posted by Jen111111111 on November 6, 2000, at 16:37:09
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by noa on November 6, 2000, at 12:12:50
> Regular or XR?
XR....I took 75mg plus 37.5mg today. I didn't notice any signifcant difference, but the important thing is still no side effects. I'm going to ask my doc to raise my perscription. I'm borderline at 75mg.
Posted by Shell on November 6, 2000, at 22:14:55
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by Jen111111111 on November 6, 2000, at 16:37:09
I usually try to take Effexor in the morning. The time that I take it seems to have no effect on daytime sleepiness, but I have trouble sleeping at night if I take it in the afternoon. It's too bad that no matter what time I take it, it doesn't make me more alert during the day.
Shell
Posted by Sophia on November 7, 2000, at 10:31:17
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by noa on November 6, 2000, at 12:12:50
> I think I must be taking the regular.
Posted by Noa on November 7, 2000, at 18:06:01
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by Sophia on November 7, 2000, at 10:31:17
> > I think I must be taking the regular.
Regular requires at least twice daily dosing, if I am recalling correctly. When I was on the regular, I found I had to be very consistent in dosing times, or I would feel kind of lousy as the dose wore off. The XR version has been a lot smoother for me. Still, although the span is longer, even with XR, it is not advisable to miss any doses. For example, I somehow forgot my dose today. I usually carry it in my pocket when I go to work in the morning, and then after I eat and drink something (I am not ready to eat first think in am and anyway, have to take my thyroid meds on an empty stomach), then I take the effexor. Well, today we had an all day meeting and at about 3 pm, I noticed I still had my effexor capsules in my pocket. Oooops. No wonder I had felt so drained after the meeting, and a bit cranky. Now, I am having some wierd feelings, but I am going to wait right until I go to bed to take the effexor, because I feel that if I take it now, I will never be able to sleep tonight. Then, I will count that bedtime dose as tomorrow's, I think, so I don't have too much of it in my system by dosing again in the morning.
Anyway, when I do it right, the xr version is a smoother effect than the regular, for me. YMMV, of course.
And once daily dosing with xr in the am is easier to handle, for me, than the 2x day dosing of regular.
Posted by Boots on November 8, 2000, at 8:29:06
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor » Sophia, posted by Noa on November 7, 2000, at 18:06:01
I was on 225mg of EffexorXR, time released kind and took
them as soon as I got up in the morning with no problems except
at beginning, I had itching and nervousness which went
away. I did have trouble getting to sleep at night if I didn't
take them very early. They helped me stay awake during
the day so I could get work done without taking a nap. I have
gone off of it, but I am very tired all the time, so I may have to
go back on it. Also have a terrible attitude about life
without medication, so I probably will have to go on something again.
I was doing very well. Boots
Posted by Missy on November 8, 2000, at 17:37:44
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by Boots on November 8, 2000, at 8:29:06
I'm on 150mg XR. I had been taking it first thing in the morning, but I have been SO tired. I need to nap during the day and I sleep for up to 12 hours at night. Over the last few days I have been taking it 3-4 hours later. (12noon yesterday, 4:00 today, 8:00 tomorrow) Hopefully on a night schedule I won't be so fatigued. If it doesn't work, I am going to try the 112.5 dose.Good luck.
Posted by Cindy W on November 8, 2000, at 21:36:33
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by Missy on November 8, 2000, at 17:37:44
> I'm on 150mg XR. I had been taking it first thing in the morning, but I have been SO tired. I need to nap during the day and I sleep for up to 12 hours at night. Over the last few days I have been taking it 3-4 hours later. (12noon yesterday, 4:00 today, 8:00 tomorrow) Hopefully on a night schedule I won't be so fatigued. If it doesn't work, I am going to try the 112.5 dose.Good luck.
I'm on Effexor-XR 375 mg/day, and take it all first thing in the morning, and find that it kind of energizes me (I take Seroquel now so I can sleep...otherwise, it's very hard for me to sleep). I really don't have any side effects or whatever from Effexor, since I don't feel tired or anything. I just feel less depressed and find myself more hopeful, and with the Seroquel and better sleep, am thinking more calmly and clearly (I think)! --Cindy W
Posted by noa on November 9, 2000, at 6:12:10
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by Missy on November 8, 2000, at 17:37:44
Cindy, how does seroquel feel as a sleep-aid? I am struggling at the moment with restless legs from the effexor, and my sleep has been disjointed for the past two months. I recently raised my serzone from 300 to 350 (I take 300 at 5:30-6 pm, and 50 at about 8-9 pm). It is better, but still not great---my feet and legs are still jumping around, making it hard to fall asleep and sleep soundly all night.
I have been thinking maybe I need to lower the effexor dose slightly, but I am afraid of losing AD effect. As it happens, last night I slept better because yesterday's effexor dose had been taken at around 2:30 am rather than 7 am, because I had forgotten to take it the day before. So, I started wondering if I should try taking the effexor before bed? But I think the activating effects would kick in mid-sleep, and that would be a problem.
I think you have taken Serzone for sleep. How does Seroquel compare? Have you taken trazodone? How does Seroquel compare to that?
Is it intensely sedating? How fast acting/long acting is it? How much before bed is it taken, and does it wear off by morning?
Thanks.
Posted by Cindy W on November 9, 2000, at 9:24:59
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by noa on November 9, 2000, at 6:12:10
> Cindy, how does seroquel feel as a sleep-aid? I am struggling at the moment with restless legs from the effexor, and my sleep has been disjointed for the past two months. I recently raised my serzone from 300 to 350 (I take 300 at 5:30-6 pm, and 50 at about 8-9 pm). It is better, but still not great---my feet and legs are still jumping around, making it hard to fall asleep and sleep soundly all night.
>
> I have been thinking maybe I need to lower the effexor dose slightly, but I am afraid of losing AD effect. As it happens, last night I slept better because yesterday's effexor dose had been taken at around 2:30 am rather than 7 am, because I had forgotten to take it the day before. So, I started wondering if I should try taking the effexor before bed? But I think the activating effects would kick in mid-sleep, and that would be a problem.
>
> I think you have taken Serzone for sleep. How does Seroquel compare? Have you taken trazodone? How does Seroquel compare to that?
>
> Is it intensely sedating? How fast acting/long acting is it? How much before bed is it taken, and does it wear off by morning?
> Thanks.Noa, Serzone wasn't as great for sleep as Seroquel is. I take the Serzone now in the AM (it makes me feel less edgy from the Effexor-XR). The Seroquel makes me sleep GREAT...I only wake up once, and just fall back asleep in seconds. It wears off totally by AM. It takes effect in maybe l/2 hour, so I can't take it and plan to do anything but go to sleep. It is pretty sedating, especially at first...One note: it takes a while to get used to it (a few days, at each dose); I had restless legs at first, with it, but this went away if I just went to sleep, and disappeared in a few days. I'd start very slow with it, and expect a few days to adjust. I think it is better than Seroquel for sleep, although Serzone certainly was quite helpful. I've never tried Desyrel. Hope you find the right thing for sleep!--Cindy W
Posted by Boots on November 9, 2000, at 9:36:44
In reply to Re: Right time to take Effexor, posted by Cindy W on November 8, 2000, at 21:36:33
> > I'm on 150mg XR. I had been taking it first thing in the morning, but I have been SO tired. I need to nap during the day and I sleep for up to 12 hours at night. Over the last few days I have been taking it 3-4 hours later. (12noon yesterday, 4:00 today, 8:00 tomorrow) Hopefully on a night schedule I won't be so fatigued. If it doesn't work, I am going to try the 112.5 dose.Good luck.
>
> I'm on Effexor-XR 375 mg/day, and take it all first thing in the morning, and find that it kind of energizes me (I take Seroquel now so I can sleep...otherwise, it's very hard for me to sleep). I really don't have any side effects or whatever from Effexor, since I don't feel tired or anything. I just feel less depressed and find myself more hopeful, and with the Seroquel and better sleep, am thinking more calmly and clearly (I think)! --Cindy W
Hi, I was trying to go off of Effexor-XR, but I got so tired I could not function and started having
very negative depressing thoughts, so I have decided to stay on it. I was going to see how I did since
my life seemed to be doing so much better, I thought I could handle things without meds. I have been on drugs for depression and panic attacks for at least 15
years. It is hard to accept taking these the rest of my life.I just want to agree with Cindy, that Effexor does
stimulate me enough to stay awake during the day in order to get work done.
Because my depression makes me almost immobile with extreme fatigue, Effexor-XR has been
good for me. I have been taking 225mg in morning and then 1 Elavil and 1 Vistaril at night.
These two were meds I had been on for a long time before I started the
Effexor-XR. My sleep patterns were very messed up before. I used to sleep until 2:00 or 3:00 p.m.
and go to bed about 5:00 a.m. or 6:00 a.m. My counselor got me to switch this
around, so I am sleeping in the dark - up about 8:30 a.m and bed about 11:30 p.m. or 12:00 a.m. This has
helped me sleep sounder and hopefully I am getting the REM sleep I need.
My mind is also clearer and I am able to get so much more done - things I couldn't do before for a long
time due to fatigue. I think the sleep patterns need to be stable and the EffexorXR seems to help this.
Boots
Posted by Joelle on November 10, 2000, at 12:40:22
In reply to Right time to take Effexor, posted by Sophia on November 6, 2000, at 11:06:11
I take 225 mg Effexor XR at 7:00 pm but find it hard to fall asleep. I also am very tired the next day and usually fall asleep if I have a meeting in the afternoon.
I think, after reading the responses to your question that I will try taking it in the morning. A pharmacist told me that you have to experiment what is best for you.
Good luck.
Joelle
> Has anyone experimented with the best time of day to take this med? I find it makes my sleep so restless, yet I take in the morning. I also get very tired in the afternoons and must nap, which I hate.
This is the end of the thread.
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