Shown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by stressedout on July 15, 2004, at 9:26:50
I am on Effexor XR 75mg for the past 5 months to help me get through the stress and anxiety of my divorce. It has definitely helped in that regard; however, I have experienced the side effects of weight gain, no motivation and greatly reduced sexual desire. Is there any other drug out there that does not cause these side effects? I will still be going through the divorce process for another few months and need something to keep me together.
Posted by partlycloudy on July 15, 2004, at 10:21:13
In reply to Effexor XR --- Good and Bad, posted by stressedout on July 15, 2004, at 9:26:50
My doctor added first buspar and then wellbutrin to my effexor for energy and motivation. The buspar gave me headaches. The wellbutrin did the trick for me - weight dropped off, and energy returned. It does make me agitated although after a month or so it's much better.
I'm afraid that many of these medications have undesirable side effects. Everyone reacts differently, and for most of us (well, me for instance) you end up deciding what side effects you can put up with in order to get the relief from anxiety, depression, etc.
Check out the main medication board, too. Lots of smart folks with no end of advice!
Posted by stressedout on July 19, 2004, at 7:20:22
In reply to Re: Effexor XR --- Good and Bad » stressedout, posted by partlycloudy on July 15, 2004, at 10:21:13
Thanks for the info. Now I'm trying to wean myself off of Effexor and I feel like crap. I can't sleep at night and I feel shaky during the day.
Posted by partlycloudy on July 20, 2004, at 8:01:47
In reply to Re: Effexor XR --- Good and Bad, posted by stressedout on July 19, 2004, at 7:20:22
Effexor is notorious for being really difficult to withdraw from (which makes sense to me since the side effects were so intense). From what I've read, I think a really slow titration down is needed, like slower than reducing the dose one half at a time. And take it very easy - stay on the reduced dose for longer than you think before going down again.
Posted by Shar on July 21, 2004, at 13:52:12
In reply to Re: Effexor XR --- Good and Bad » stressedout, posted by partlycloudy on July 20, 2004, at 8:01:47
If you are withdrawing from Effexor, I strongly encourage you to read the medication board because there are some really good ideas and examples of what to expect. You've been on a relatively low dose for a relatively short time, if memory serves, so perhaps yours won't be a difficult process.
I strongly recommend an incredibly SLOW lowering of your dose; as slow as you can do it. Lots of people add Prozac at a moderately low dose toward the end (before the final few mg's of Effexor are lowered) because it seems to help with the lingering days/weeks of continued withdrawal effects. But, again, you may may only have a few slight effects that don't give you much trouble with it. People vary a lot in how they respond to different meds--I had almost no initial side effects when beginning Effexor.
I had read a lot about Effexor withdrawal, but never expected it to be as unpleasant or as long-lasting as it was (I was on a fairly high dose for years). It is good to be as prepared as you can.
Good luck,
Shar
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Newbies | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.