Posted by Sad Panda on July 30, 2004, at 10:21:03
In reply to Been on Effexor XR for 1 year now, posted by eastbay on July 29, 2004, at 22:31:01
> I just wanted to say that I'm very content with my experience thus far with Effexor XR. I had been suffering with chronic depression for 6+ years, compounded by lifelong seasonal depression in the fall/winter. Tried Zoloft and Wellbutrin with limited success. Something was still missing. Effexor XR had whatever it was. I've now been on 150mg daily for a year, and feel about 80-85 % of the way I used to remember feeling before my troubles. I wanted to wait until summer when I would normally be my best before seeking another doseage increase, which I just got today. So, now 225mg day.
>
> As far as side effects, I did experience some, most of which have dissapated over the duration of treatment, but some did take a while to go away.
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> Severe nightsweats were common.
> It took the digestive system a while to stabilize, but is better now than it has been in years as far as knowing what to expect when its time for things to exit, lol.
> I did/do experience sexual side effects of difficulty in reaching orgasm. No loss of desire, or in gaining erection it was solely in being able to reach orgasm, which is because part of an orgasm involves the flushing and re-uptake of seratonin, which is exactly what we are inhibiting. Viagra was able to eliminate the problem there.
> I do find I sleep an average of 4 hours a night, no matter when I adjust my dosing period to. But I do not wake up feeling like I need sleep. I've found the best time for me to dose is immediately before bed, which assists with me being able to get to sleep right when I lay down, as my dose for the day is pretty much spent by then.
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> I travel on business and have forgotten to take it with me a couple times, and I would say that the effects of not having it become pretty bad at day three. Nervousness, dizzyness, poor thinking/judgement.
>
> The best way for me to describe what it feels like for me personally, being on Effexor, is like being on top of a lake with a floatation safety device on. It's not impossible for you to get under water, but it takes a lot of focus and work to make it happen.
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> So, when I want to think deeply, I can get there just fine, but, I'm not going to be staying down there if I start. You "head back to surface" when you are done.
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> I personally would recommend it to anyone who is unhappy with their other treatments as treating two separate neurotransmitters seems to have made a big difference for me.
>
>Effexor works for me too. I am pleased that it hasn't altered my feelings or cognitive ability at all. I have the same side effects, but I found that Remeron is great to combine with it as it eliminates the side effects.(Insomnia, Nausea, Anorgasmia & probably night sweats too.)
Cheers,
Panda.
poster:Sad Panda
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040730/msgs/372311.html