Posted by Pamela on April 19, 2001, at 8:39:57
In reply to Fibromyalgia and gastric lapband! , posted by hotlynau on April 19, 2001, at 1:24:52
> Hi I am a newie< my name is Lynne from Australia.
> Have had FM for 10 years. been on Paxil? for 2 years and due to loss of sexual libidio GP put me on Effexor_xr 75 mgs. and god have I been sick. gp DID NOT tell me about side effects getting started!! so I feel really cheated. I get enough pain from FM without getting more from this drug.
> SO just starting to get over a month of hell for this is and now discover that this drug can give you weight gain. This is the worst news as I was lapbanded in December last year for obesity. so far I have lost 14 kgs and no way do I want to put it on again. Again I am so angry with my GP for not knowing this and prescribing this drug for me. Now i will have to go through horrendous withdrawel to get off. Getting off Paxil was hell, makes me think that effexor will be much worse. Its not fair!!!!Lynne,
No it is not fair, the only thing we can do though is support each other. I personally do not feel that GP's should be prescribing ind altering drugs. If you read some of my previous threads you will see that I went to ER over the side effects and was told I had an inner ear infection and a virus, the following Monday I called my psychiatrist and he laughed and said, "No it is the Effexor." I truly believe even he did not know the magnitude of the withdrawls. I have since educated him with many print outs of the threads and Leo's research docs. He is a fairly humble man and has handled this pretty well.
As for the weight gain, I don't know that it happens to everyone, but I too have now gained about 22 lbs in 8 mos. (I am not sure how much 14kg's are) I was just reading last night about an herbal supplement from Canada that talks about Seratonin boosters (ie: SSSRI's being some) and that when you come off of them your Seratonin drops so quickly that you crave massive amounts of carbs which then stimulates the Seratonin. I can definitely attest to that. I have been eating carbs like a mad woman and yes it makes me feel physically better. I have always eaten pretty healthly and maintained a nice weight. Are you seeing the same doctor thst did the surgery? Might talk to him if not.
Last but not least, Effexor killed my sex drive and I had only been married for 1 month when I went on it. It has been quite a struggle as you can imagine. No problems prior to that.I don't want to sound like doom and gloom because I am almost off and feeling MUCH better, so you need to weigh all of "YOUR" facts and feelings along with hopefully a psychiatrist Then make an informed decision.
Prayers are with you.
Pamela
poster:Pamela
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010417/msgs/60418.html