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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by fanni on May 27, 2003, at 17:29:11
im just after reading a load of posts on efexor and it just doesnt sound worth it,it sounds toxic! especially the bit about it messing with vision,im an artist and i certainly dont need crap like that? does it cause some sort of weird eye disease or something?scary!
anyway i want to quit while im ahead,ive tried lexapro which gave me a rash, any other suggestions? please dont tell me to ask my shrink,hes useless,he didnt even know what the new cymbalta was when i asked him!!! i trust you lot here far more,so any feedback would be much appreciated.
Posted by Mezz_tech on May 29, 2003, at 14:18:35
In reply to dont want2 tahe efxr,any other med suggestions?, posted by fanni on May 27, 2003, at 17:29:11
It depends on what you are taking it for... What are your symptoms? Depression or Anxiety? Both? Something totally different? It seems that the most widely prescribed for depression and anxiety together beside Effexor is Paxil. This , too has a very short half-life though and isn't guaranteed to be free of side-effects. If you have plain Depression and no anxiety, maybe Prozac? Basically because that has a very long half-life and tends to have less severe withdrawl symptoms if you ever decide to go off meds later on.
Posted by Tony P on May 30, 2003, at 8:48:38
In reply to dont want2 tahe efxr,any other med suggestions?, posted by fanni on May 27, 2003, at 17:29:11
> It depends on what you are taking it for... What are your symptoms? Depression or Anxiety? Both? Something totally different? [...clip...]
>If you have plain Depression and no anxiety, maybe Prozac? Basically because that has a very long half-life and tends to have less severe withdrawl symptoms if you ever decide to go off meds later on.I am also considering Effexor with my doc but am scared by the number of side-effects people here report. On the other hand, there is some research (manufacturer-supported, no doubt!) to show that it is much more effective in achieving actual remission ("cure") of depression, as opposed to mere "improvement". Taking that with a grain of salt, I have to wonder - since my depression is combined with a high anxiety level - what to think of a drug for anxiety+depression that has a high instance of anxiety as a side-effect! I see many people posting here finding it necessary to combine it with various benzodiazepines.
As a very different alternative, esp. if you have anxiety and imsomnia, consider Serzone or Serzone + Buspar - there are recent posts on that combo. Serzone is an SRI with an activating (NE) component like effexor but with almost none of the SSRI side effects. Both are also fast acting - relief of anxiety and insomnia is essentially immediate, and full A/D action typically takes only 2 weeks or less. Dosing regime for Serzone has to be worked out carefully for you personally to get maximum benefit / minimal side effects - I can post more on that if anyone's interested.
Good luck,
Tony
Posted by fanni on May 30, 2003, at 17:08:19
In reply to Re: dont want2 tahe efxr,any other med suggestions? » fanni, posted by Tony P on May 30, 2003, at 8:48:38
thanks for the suggestions!i may try prozac again,was on it when i was 15,and it made me sort of manic,but im older now so maybe itd work better.that efexor is way too harsh side effect wise.its mostly just depression no anxiety but i do get really hyper and paranoid sometimes and my shrink says this should go when the depression does. i dont want to be having to take two diffrent meds,one for deression and the other for side effects!im trying to dteox as much as i can.see i used to do a lot of e and i think that mightve frazzled my brain a touch!
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