Posted by Mercedes on January 4, 2004, at 12:57:34
In reply to re: sweating and heart rate SEs, posted by Lyrical13 on January 4, 2004, at 7:00:30
I started reading this site last April. At that time, I was on 225 mgs of Effexor. (I was actually researching another med from which I had severe dizzy spells, and abdominal pains) then decided to "just" look up Effexor XR. At that time I was feeling just fine with E, except for the sweating. But I didn't mind the sweating as I felt I was doing a 'work-out' and possibly losing weight. This occured when I would do yard work or vacume, etc. Again, I didn't mind. I never had the night sweats as Zinya had. I did have the pounding heart rate increases during these chores, which alarmed me somewhat. I'd lost my appetite on Effexor, which was a good thing for me, since I'm overweight anyway.
When I was increased to 300mgs, and from about June LY through around Sept, I felt free from my depression and actually smiled and felt 'happy'. There were still SE's that I was feeling, like insomnia but it was a releif to feel 'un'depressed.
My blood pressure seemed to go higher and higher each visit with my MD, and I finally decided that the Effexor was causing this. I was put on BP medication and spoke with my Pdoc about it. He wanted to lower my dosage of Effexor and I said "No", I want off. I was tired of sleepless nights, which also caused confusion during the day, fatigue, clouded thinking, and I would fall asleep during the day without realizing I was going to. I'd just wake up and wonder what day it was???
So off Effexor I went, titrating downwards, but at a much faster pace than I should have YET I was following my Pdoc instructions. Now off completly, BP normal again, and I didn't want another AD, but the crying started for no apparent reason (it was depression) and my body told me that I needed something, so off to Pdoc I went, and was put on Lexapro. I sleep good at night, and no sweats. I sometimes feel a bit depressed (could also be holiday blue's) so the dose may need to get adjusted maybe not.
My point is that I too agree that we need to listen to our bodies and let our Pdocs know what we are experiencing. I also know that everyone's situation is different. Minds and body's are all, sooooooo different. What works for one may not work for another. That's a given.
Thank you both, Zinya and Lyrical for sharing your experiences and wishing all a heathier and happier 2004!
Mercedes
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> Thank you for your post. Very good point about overgeneralizing, etc and listening to your own body. I think that is a very important thing to remember in any circumstance...listen to what your body is telling you, whether it be re: med effects and side effects or feeling run down in general. I've had a much healthier fall because I think I listened to my body...when it was telling me I needed more meds because the depression was so bad...and also when I was feeling kind of crummy and wiped out...I stayed home from yoga a couple times because I was so wiped out I felt I needed to just chill out and rest...that was a difficult choice..I had this inner dialog about deciding which healthy thing to do...yoga was good for me from a stress-reducing exercise point of view...but how smart would that be to go out in the crummy weather feeling icky already? I think I made the right choice by staying home and resting because I was able to avoid colds and flu when many others all around me were sick as dogs (I work in a school.. cold and flu central!) Taking that extra vitamin C probably played a role too.
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> I too experience sweating, though not to the degree that you experienced, thank goodness! It is very annoying though. I have tons of beautiful sweaters that I can't wear because I am so hot all the time. Long sleeve shirts are too much sometimes. I live in MI with its share of cold crummy weather..people all around me are in turtlenecks, sweaters and winter coats and I'm sweating in my long sleeve shirt. I will say that the sweating is much worse after increasing my dose and then abates some after a few weeks but it's still there. Also, my heart rate has increased some but not to the alarming rate yours did. Sounds like you're smart to get off of it (and slowly..your system seems VERY sensitive, at least to this med) I just keep tabs on my heart rate when exercising (10 second count at Curves...rate is usually up a couple beats more than usual) This helps me modify my amount of activity to stay within a safe zone. Luckily my BP and pulse are usually at the low end of normal so I don't have to be as concerned as someone with higher BP...just monitor and make sure it doesn't get too elevated. My resting heart rate and pulse are higher with Effexor than without based on stats at various dr visits.
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> But good point about the posts. I think it's very important for folks on this site to remember to not just blindly take the info as gospel...read it and think about it...do a little of your own research and/or read several posts from several different people to get an overall picture of how different body chemistrys react, then discuss with your pdoc and decide what's right for you.
poster:Mercedes
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031231/msgs/296359.html