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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by javapanic on April 13, 2001, at 15:11:23
I've used the internet for quite a long time now, but i've never used the messaging boards. so bear with me please.
I've been on effexor for a little more than a year now. In the beginning, it was great.. the answer to many prayers. However, over the course of the past 6 months or so, i seem to be feeling worse and worse. At first i thought i needed a higher dose. The higher dose did not work so it was lowered again. mind you, i DID give enough time between swithing amounts of dosages for them to work. After lowering the dose again i began to notice a series of patterns and so forth. with the higher dose i had unbearable chest pain related to heartburn, it lessened with smaller dose. i've gained weight since taking this medication, had brain shivers, horrible dreams and nightmares, can't wake myself up, sleep all the time, no motivation, lots of aches and pains, tension headaches, migraines, and God forbid that I should accidently miss a dose.. the crying, the anger...
I'm not saying that this is definitely all the drugs fault. maybe i'm just getting way too old way too fast. But i have decided that I don't want this drug in my body anymore and I'm currently lessening my dosage. going very slowly. I'd like to hear from some other folks out there... Is this a unique experience just especially for me, or are you all having these same problems?? thanks!
javapanic
Posted by DarkWind on April 13, 2001, at 20:52:41
In reply to effexor xr, posted by javapanic on April 13, 2001, at 15:11:23
javapanic -
i've been on effexor for about five months, just went up to 300mg today. like you, there has been some problem with weight gain; which i had thought was not supposed to happen on effexor. the memory loss and confusion are things i'm having to deal with. examples of this would be scoring 100% on a 300-question final exam; but not being able to remember learning the material, studying, and finally not being able to remember taking the final exam. today, i just about caused a scene in a parking lot because i remembered parking the truck close to a tree; then found when i went out that it had moved. the people i was with swore that the truck was where it had been left - but i still do not remember parking there, i distinctly remember parking close to that tree.
skipping a dose - i've slipped up two or three times, i've noticed that each time i slip up and miss a dose, it's worse than the time before. you obviously appreciate what this implies; so i won't go into details.
i'm not sure whether i want to come off of this stuff or not. i know that i'm not "healed" and i know that this stuff is probably doing some pretty nasty things to my head - but i think that i'm at least a bit better off right now than i was before, when i was on zoloft, and prior to that when i was not on any medication. i feel like i may be trading one set of symptoms for another; but i haven't really figured out what i'm going to do about that just yet.
i've also noticed that the sexual side effects for this drug are no joke - they really bothered me at first (being "superman" is only entertaining for a little while, then it gets old). now, however, i could really care less - the thought of going celibate has crossed my mind more than once recently.
i've been told that the memory loss is more likely a side effect of the depression and not a side effect of the medication. i'm not really sure about that - i can't really bring my mind into the focus needed to make an accurate judgment. i figure at this point i'll ride it out another month and then go from there.
Posted by javapanic on April 18, 2001, at 7:03:45
In reply to Re: effexor xr » javapanic, posted by DarkWind on April 13, 2001, at 20:52:41
Darkwind,
I feel your pain. Coming off this med. isn't a walk in the park either. the crying, mood swings, fear of what i'll be like when i'm "clean".... you know the drill.
on the lighter side of things... speaking of memory loss. I put a soda in the freezer sunday night to get is extra cold for my supper... forgot about it naturally. Monday morning was a big suprise when i opened the freezer door. Talk about an explosion!! The soda exploded and sprayed everwhere and actually froze on the 'roof' of the freezer before it dripped down. It looks like a cave in there. ugh!
good luck with the future. i think you are playing it the best you can. one day at a time.. or one month at a time as you said. my doc appt. isn't for another week. i have no idea what he is going to suggest, as he is not the doc that originally prescribed the med. He's a very thorough doc.. so my hope is that eventually the two of use can figure this out.
btw, i completely understand the truck under the tree scenario. when i go to the grocery i always park in the same area... just for this reason.. so i won't forget where the car is. however, they've decided to play a big joke on the poor crazy woman (me) and remodel the store so that everything looks different. now when i come out of the store i don't know where i'm at...wondering up and down the parking lot with my groceries looking for my car.
i still fear that not being on the med will be worse than being on it... we shall see what happens.
This is the end of the thread.
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