Posted by Brainbeard on June 16, 2009, at 8:43:37
In reply to Luvox for Depression, posted by terrysb on June 12, 2009, at 13:58:15
I have been on Luvox for about half a year, which admittedly is not very long but long enough to get an idea of how it works. Earlier in life I have been on Paxil for a couple of years.
I also build the dosage up very slowly, going up in 12.5mg increments and usually waiting for at least several days before increasing the dosage. The initial physical side-effects were very bearable (mild nausea in the mornings before getting up, mild stomach upset), but the initial mental side-effects were a challenge: overall increased anxiety and sudden anxiety peaks.When I arrived at 125mg though, a definite antidepressant effect kicked in. The hightened anxiety disappeared, but Luvox never helped much with my OCD. I experimented with higher dosages. I found 150mg to be my most convenient dose. I even tried 300mg for a few days, but that disturbed my bowels too much. On any dose, Luvox caused significant flatulence with me - this is a well known Luvox side-effect (they might have called it 'Farthox' for that matter).
I also experimented with adding a small dose of clomipramine. Luvox inhibits clomipramine's metabolism, so this is a potentially dangerous combination. But I only took 10mg of clomipramine and had my blood levels monitored. Although its blood level was pretty low, the clomipramine made a huge difference since it countered the apathy caused by Luvox somewhat and also helped with anxiety.
That was my main problem with Luvox: it made me feel well but apathetic and unmotivated.
When I quit the drug I did have some withdrawal effects, mostly depression, but it was nothing compared to the Paxil withdrawal which was terrible.One thing. DON'T MIX THIS DRUG WITH COFFEE OR OTHER CAFFEINE-CONTAINING BEVERAGES! Luvox inhibits caffeine metabolization so bad that the caffeine of just one cup of coffee will stay in your blood all day. Believe me, it doesn't feel nice. And you could get caffeine intoxication.
By the way, what dose of imipramine were you on? Imipramine it said to have a curvilinear dose-response curve in some aspects, one of which is blood pressure: on higher doses, it's more likely to LOWER your blood pressure, causing orthostatic hypotension (getting dizzy when standing up to quick). Couldn't a higher dose of imipramine have worked for you? Or were you already on a high dose?
I think imipramine is a lot less apathizing than Luvox.Still, Luvox is not a bad drug. It's just that it's still an SSRI, and the SSRIs have their wellknown drawbacks, especially in the long term (loss of libido, weight gain, emotional flatness, apathy, possibly 'poop-out', and a withdrawal syndrome for desert).
poster:Brainbeard
thread:900636
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090611/msgs/901270.html