Posted by HS on September 30, 2003, at 7:45:43
In reply to Re: Effexor Lawsuit, posted by salty_dog on September 27, 2003, at 20:15:29
Having suffered all life from generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder and depression, I finally reached the point where I decided that I didn't want the rest of my life to be this way - it's just too painful for me personally and it's too destructive for all the other aspects of my life. Living in the UK, you don't get referred to a psychiatrist/psycologist very easily (the National Health Service is free for ALL UK citizens, so there is effectively rationining of services, although any government would deny it), so it wasn't until I moved to South Africa (which has predominantly private medical care) for work that I was finally diagnosed. It was a huge relief for me to discover that I wasn't going mad (which, in the low moments, I had frequently wondered).
The downside of private medical care is that doctors seem to over-prescribe, prescribe much stronger drugs (my MD in the UK was horrified when I told her I'd been given a benzodiazapene)and much more expensive drugs, such as Effexor XR (which a free medical system is less likely to be prescribed). The upside was that I got referred much more quickly to a psyciatrist.
At first I thought the psy was great - I was so relieved to find out what was wrong with me. I am a scientist by training and profession, so I accept fully that we don't understand everything about the causes of mental illness or the treatment of them and that everyone's chemistry is totally unique - at the moment, we can't possibly have a "one-size, fits all" for this type of medication. Thus I was not daunted by the element of experimentation to try to find the right drug for me. I also accept that there are going to be side-effects from drugs - you can't mess around with brain chemistry and not expect there to be.
I had been on Seroxat before for about 18 months, which worked for depression, but wasn't that great for the anxiety and panic attacks - the initial side effects though had worn off after the first few weeks and then I was fine. I had all the usual problems coming off SSRIs, but was fine. Nothing could have prepared me for the problems with Effexor! At 150 mg, the anxiety got totally out of control - I had never experienced anything like this before - I've had bouts of mania (both up and down), night sweats, restlessness, memory impairment, cognative impairment (MAJOR problem for my work), insomnia, lack of concentration, no energy, lack of interest in life, constipation, flatulence (my husband's REALLY been having fun!). The package insert does list all of these as possible side-effects.
My complaints are with both my psychiatrist and with Wyeth: my psychiatrist did not explain the possible side-effects carefully enough and the package inserts did not give clear enough indications of the probabilities of the side-effects. Mostly I'm fed up with the psy - obviously Wyeth want to make money (over here, Effexor costs the about $125 US, which is HUGE money in South African terms or even British terms).
As a highly trained scientist, I understand and accept risks. My psyciatrist know's this. What I really resent is the arrogance of keeping telling me to perservere with a drug that was making my life a misery. I know that she must have seen hundreds if not thousands of patients with my type of personality disorders, but, as seems to happen too often with specialists, she forgot that I am an individual.
Reading through this website, it seems clear that this lack of respect for the individual is a problem that so many of us are experiencing. As a scientist, I understand the mentality of problem solving, but dealing with people is a bit different from fixing problems with drinking water.
Dr Bob - if you're listening - I don't want to stop using drugs to help me manage my mental health issues and I am also going to be starting cognative behavioural therapy next week - but I think that mental health professionals need to start looking more closely at how they interact with patients. I know there are MANY wonderful people out there helping people, but a lot of us are feeling extremely let down at a time when we are extremely vulnerable. I personally am left wondering who to trust.
Sorry for the long ramble folks, but, despite fantastic support from my husband, I am feeling EXTREMELY lost on where to go next.
Hetty
poster:HS
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030928/msgs/264421.html