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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Chris Topher on February 2, 2001, at 7:35:50
Hi all,
I am on my third day of effexor and I cant take it anymore.The hot flashes are soooooo hot.I have a constant ache in my left elbow and im shaking like a leaf.I guess this stuff dont like me very much or is this normal.Am I the only one here who experienced these symptoms? By the way I turned red as a beet and Im very very nautious.This is worse than my anxiety attacks!
Posted by NikkiT2 on February 2, 2001, at 10:16:54
In reply to Effexor : I feel WORSE!, posted by Chris Topher on February 2, 2001, at 7:35:50
Perfectly normal I'm afraid... Effexor can be a wonderful drug, but the start up side affects and the withdrawal can be pretty rough!
BUT - the good news is, it DOES pass.... Just takes a rough few days.
good luck!
Nikki xx
Posted by Chris Topher on February 2, 2001, at 12:00:19
In reply to Effexor : I feel WORSE!, posted by Chris Topher on February 2, 2001, at 7:35:50
How long do these adverse reactions last in the begining.This is hell should I continue? Does it get better?. I basically had GAD and wanted something to relax me and stop this cycle of anxiety.I dont know why i get anxiety in the first place.Im a very optomistic and outgoing person and never try to dwell on the negatives and then WHAMO ! here I am.I tried to take the panic attacks head on but thats one hell of a battle.seems the harder you fight it the harder it fights back.Boy its a tough cycle once your in it and I hope it dont last long.I want my normal life back!
Posted by Racer on February 2, 2001, at 13:41:53
In reply to Effexor : I feel WORSE!, posted by Chris Topher on February 2, 2001, at 7:35:50
Effexor can be a wonderful drug -- if it works for you. My experience of it at first wasn't as bad as yours sounds, but then I was switching from Serzone which made me so sick I hadn't been able to eat for a couple of days, so it seemed much better on the Effexor. I do remember that I didn't sleep at all for the first two nights, and not much the third --BUT I rested better all three nights than I had in about a year.
In other words, it's all relative, and your mileage will vary.
On the other hand, once the initial side effects went away, I felt great: no side effects, except some that aren't really bothersome: dry mouth, slight insomnia, etc. Nothing worth calling a side effect, really. (That's the good news!)
For GAD, have you tried biofeedback type treatment? I don't know if that's the answer, I only know that one thing that helped me a lot was working with horses, since I had to learn to read my own body language around them. It all sounds very eastern mystical to my skeptical mind, but it's true that a deep breath will make my body fall into alignment and allows me to access strength and balance I didn't know I had. Please, someone, tell me that doesn't sound as touchy-feely as I think it does!
What I'm trying to say is that drugs are a great immediate help. But just like the lifesaver ring thrown to you from a boat, the next step is learning to swim. Maybe some sort of physical learning would help you, as well as psychological work.
I sure hope that makes sense?
Posted by Chris Topher on February 2, 2001, at 17:57:28
In reply to Re: Effexor : I feel WORSE! » Chris Topher, posted by Racer on February 2, 2001, at 13:41:53
makes very good sense Racer thanks!
Posted by JohnL on February 3, 2001, at 6:25:28
In reply to Effexor : I feel WORSE!, posted by Chris Topher on February 2, 2001, at 7:35:50
> Hi all,
> I am on my third day of effexor and I cant take it anymore.The hot flashes are soooooo hot.I have a constant ache in my left elbow and im shaking like a leaf.I guess this stuff dont like me very much or is this normal.Am I the only one here who experienced these symptoms? By the way I turned red as a beet and Im very very nautious.This is worse than my anxiety attacks!Hi Chris,
It's not uncommon to feel worse before you feel better. Even on some drug labels I have seen that stated in print. But of course, there's no guarantee either that it will get any better. Toss a coin. 50/50. A clinical trials comes to mind, where one patient was given Prozac+Zyprexa, since this combination is proving to have profound antidepressant potential in treatment resistant patients. But this one patient instead fell into a deep melancholic depression that required hospitalization. Removal of the drugs allowed recovery to the original baseline of dysthymia. You just never know.But it's a choice you can freely make. Do you want to stick it out and see what happens? Or do you want to move on to a different drug? It's a choice.
Personally I never stayed with a drug that made me worse for more than a week. My doctor wouldn't allow it either. He never liked the idea of pressuring someone to stay with a drug that started off bad. He said he got the best results with drugs that didn't start off bad in the first week. It's a personal choice.
John
Posted by gwen on February 3, 2001, at 7:36:09
In reply to Effexor : I feel WORSE!, posted by Chris Topher on February 2, 2001, at 7:35:50
I tried Effexor XR about three years ago but couldn't tolerate it. I stuck with it for a few weeks as I recall (my side effects weren't as bad as yours, Chris Topher). But in the end, I couldn't stand my mind racing, the hand tremor, feeling like I was zooming. I finally called my pdoc from work one day and said I couldn't stand it anymore.
This is the end of the thread.
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