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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sastamour on June 14, 2005, at 14:10:12
Hi all, I am new to this board. I started taking Effexor XR 75mg 5 days ago and the side effects are really hard to take. Im sleeping 3/4 of the day and night, loss of appetite, nausea, some nervousness and shaky. I just was wondering what others experiences have been, and most of all how long this will last. Doc told me today to give it another week. Thanks for any help or comments.
Posted by jay on June 14, 2005, at 18:32:45
In reply to Effexor side effects, posted by sastamour on June 14, 2005, at 14:10:12
Hi...
Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time. Sadly we all have to go through the initial 'side effects' when starting powerful meds like Effexor. A couple of suggestions:
-Take Effexor with your biggest meal...seemed to help me.
-Go to your pharmacy and get a anti-nausea med like DRAMAMINE (in the U.S.) also called Gravol in Canada. It works *excellent*, and helped me with Effexor nausea.
-Use pain relievers for muscle aches or soreness.
-Make sure you figure out the best time to take the med. I used to take it with supper, or more towards bedtime...but you may be different and have to experiment with that.Well, that is a small list. Anymore questions I am happy to answerr. Oh...almost forgot...se if you can get a benzo from your doctor, like Klonopin or Xanax. This will *really* help reduce anxiety this med causes.
Best wishes,
Jay
Posted by blueberry on June 14, 2005, at 18:51:52
In reply to Effexor side effects, posted by sastamour on June 14, 2005, at 14:10:12
I hate to rain on a party, but it is only fair that you know going into this that as hard as it is to get started on effexor, it can be even more miserable to get off of it.
The side effects should subside over a couple or a few weeks as your body adjusts. Problem is, if it doesn't work out, your body has to readjust again, in reverse, getting off of it. All psychiatric meds are this way, but effexor is probably one of the worst for that.
My doctor hardly prescribes effexor anymore due to these problems. In his words, the risks outweigh the benefits, especially when there are so many other meds to choose from. He still likes prozac the best, zoloft or celexa second best.
I do hope it works out for you though. Effexor has been very helpful to a lot of folks here.
I've tried probably 80% of the psychiatric meds out there. I have found that whenever a med gives me a very difficult time with side effects in the first week, the side effects do get a little better but the med never worked well over time. In contrast, meds that had easy side effects tended to be the most successful with me. I just listen to my body. If it doesn't like a particular molecule, it will let me know.
Posted by Phillipa on June 14, 2005, at 19:18:14
In reply to Re: Effexor side effects, posted by blueberry on June 14, 2005, at 18:51:52
So is that why I have no side effects from luvox? My body likes it ? But will it work? Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by sastamour on June 15, 2005, at 9:59:03
In reply to Re: Effexor side effects » blueberry, posted by Phillipa on June 14, 2005, at 19:18:14
Thanks for all your suggestions. I am hoping my body will adjust before I get to far into this because I understand that getting off Effexor is really hard. Im going to give it til Friday at least. I can report that I feel a slight improvement, but still nauseous (sp) and a little jittery. Cant eat to much either. Not sleeping 20 hours a day either. Today I told myself Im going to fight the side effects and try to go on with my day. I think I will try the Dramamine, thats a good idea I wouldnt have thought off. And I do have Klonopin to take 2x a day but with the Effexor making me so fuzzy I had been laying off the Klonopin. Maybe I better go back to those too. Thanks again, its so hard to get a straight answer out of my doc, I thinks ones with experience like ourselves our our very best resources. I will keep you all posted. Susan
Posted by jen2 on June 15, 2005, at 14:14:44
In reply to Re: Effexor side effects, posted by sastamour on June 15, 2005, at 9:59:03
Hi,
It took me about 14 days to adjust to 75mg effexor. My side effects were really nasty. I felt like I was going to die most of the time, but I also felt like at least I was doing something about my anxiety/depression. And, with my sister-in-law's advice (she's been on many ADs) I decided to ride it out. It has worked out quite well.
I tried exercise, vitamins, relaxation techniques, etc. etc. before trying the effexor and none of them worked. I still do all these things, however, and psychotherapy too.
If I had to do it over again, I might have looked for another alternative - particularly with the adverse withdrawal effects that most people experience. But, in terms of the initial startup side effects, they do get better. At least in my experience.
Jen
This is the end of the thread.
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