Posted by Jen2 on February 18, 2005, at 22:43:10
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by elka on February 18, 2005, at 11:40:17
> thank you so much guys for responding!!!
> jen2, are you still on effexor or did you quit after 1week? i just had another episode of severe palpitations coming from nowhere ( and i'm still on 37.5mg!) can't even think about what to expect if the dose will be increased?Hi Elka,
I'm still on effexor. Still at 75mg after, what, five weeks now I suppose. I'm starting to feel really crappy, however. My motivation is severely lacking (and I'm a grad student, so it isn't good) I can't get out of bed in the morning. I don't have other side effects, so that's good, but I'm starting to feel sad more often than at first. It's really taken care of my anxiety (perhaps more than is useful) but the depression seems to persist more than I'd hoped. My pdoc said that I can expect more benefits with more time, but I'm becoming increasingly skeptical.
I know what you mean when you say that you've tried everything else and just had to resort to meds to dig you out of that black hole. When I fell into my own black hole, no amount of exercise could do it for me. I really resisted taking the medication - I took a few weeks off, tried to rest and relax and make myself well, but in the end I was just spiralling out of control. I had had my prescription filled but it was about six weeks before I actually started taking the meds.
Since then, however, I have been going to the gym at least three times a week, trying to eat better, trying to not push myself so hard and working with the therapist on things like the negative self-thoughts and taking more control over my life. So I think that, when I do finally come off the medication, I will have a better orientation towards life that will be healthier, and I agree that that kind of approach to life is a much better way to go than medication. But for now, the medication is letting me be able to cope better than I would have otherwise. It has its own problems (some of which may be severe) but for me, it's working for now. I know that others have had better and worse experiences, and I honour them. Just wanted to add my two cents.
Jen
poster:Jen2
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050217/msgs/460206.html