Efexor - Anxiety Medication

Nalced_irl

Hey, i was just wondering has anyone any experience of this drug? Im starting a prescription of it on Monday and i must say there is a list of possible side effects and the dosage is very high (75mg) which has me a little concerned.

sidneykidney

Was on efexor for 6 months and sufferd no side effects. All drugs have to list the side effects,most people dont experience any. Btw the drug worked great.

Nalced_irl

ah right. Good to hear. Its just that this particular one had alot more on the list than anything ive had before. How long did it take for the affects to start working for you actually? Im guessing it takes a week or so?

sidneykidney

It takes a week maybe a week and a bit to really kick in.

Nalced_irl

Cool, thanks. Fingers crossed that these will do the trick anyway. Was on Lexapro but they did nothing for me so by the laws of averages these hopefully should Actually just started to see a new psychologist who was recommended to me. She uses acu-pressure which is quite interesting. Only seen her once so far tho so dont know if it will work for me or not.

nesf

The side effects for me didn't really kick in until I was on 300mg (blood pressure and pulse problems, but these don't happen for people outside of high enough doses around 300mg or so). Before then I had no real problems outside of the usual side effects you get at the start with anti-depressents. At 75mg I had no problems at all, but I didn't spend much time at that dose. I spent about 2 years at the 300mg dose.

I can't tell you about how long it took for the effects to begin since I wasn't being treated for anxiety.

Esel

75mg is not a very high dosage. Expect nausea after first dose or after first dose following a gap (nausea does not normally occur with XR version - extended release). Expect rebound symptoms after stopping drug, unless you taper off slowly. These rebound symptoms can be severe, but do not last long (a week or two).

Filan

Going to see my G.P. tommorrow...a lot of frightening symptoms today..palpitations...fast heart beat...and briefly felt faint....probably more of what went before..but for peace of mind I'm going to my G.P...anxiety symptoms are worringly similar to a heart attack..however every symptom would lead me to belive that anxiety is more likely...all over tingling ..history etc..but best to tell him

Nalced_irl

All sounds very familiar Filan. First panic attack i had was terrifying! Sort of knew what was going on but doesnt stop your thoughts of what it could be from running riot. If it will help calm you then definately see your GP. Started on Efexor today. Feel kinda ill but i was out all day yesterday at Croke Park so dont know if its hangover, sideaffects or just my head creating sideaffects that arent actually there. Either way, gonna stick with them and see how they go.

nesf

The first few weeks with any of these meds can produce odd side effects. It takes the body some time before it gets used to taking them and so on.

Esel

Also, it can take a fair bit more than a week for this (or any other SSRI-type med) to 'kick in'. Don't write it off if you don't notice any improvement in a few weeks. Your doc may increase the dosage if necessary. Don't be concerned if this happens.

lucernarian

A relation of mine was on it. It seems to work pretty well, though IIRC it will use up the full €80 per month limit for the drugs payment scheme. No side-effects ever mentioned.

Victor

Nalced_irl wrote:

the dosage is very high (75mg) which has me a little concerned.

Imagine the daily recommended amount of water for an adult is 2,000,000 micrograms (2 litres). The number of mg is very much substance dependent.

AFAIK the dosage starts at 37.5mg and goes up to 300mg.

Esel

Victor wrote:

Imagine the daily recommended amount of water for an adult is 2,000,000 micrograms (2 litres). The number of mg is very much substance dependent.

AFAIK the dosage starts at 37.5µg and goes up to 300µg.

Sorry for correcting you Victor! That should say '37.5mg and goes up to 300mg'. Isn't 1mg = 1,000µg?

BTW, it's unusual, but the max dose on the XR (extended release) version of Effexor is 225mg. I would say XR is the norm now, due to the nausea issue with the normal tablet - but I may be wrong.

nesf

225? I was on 300mg of Effexor XR for ages. Maybe they've changed things since then considering the heart related side effects at the higher doses (it was 350mg I think when I was taking it).

DrIndy

nesf wrote:

225? I was on 300mg of Effexor XR for ages. Maybe they've changed things since then considering the heart related side effects at the higher doses (it was 350mg I think when I was taking it).

Getting the old serotonin effect......

Different doses work for different people, don't be worried about the actual quantity, some drugs work on microgram quantities, others need grams - depends on the sensitivity of the receptor and the ability of the body to break down certain drugs.

Example - anti-epileptic medicines are frequently prescribed in gram quantities a day in severe cases.

Digoxin in atrial fibrillation can be controlled on 0.125mg a day

nesf

DrIndy wrote:

Different doses work for different people, don't be worried about the actual quantity, some drugs work on microgram quantities, others need grams - depends on the sensitivity of the receptor and the ability of the body to break down certain drugs.

Definitely. People can only tolerate certain quantities and all that. I was more surprised that the recommended maximum dose had gone down than anything else.

DrIndy wrote:

Example - anti-epileptic medicines are frequently prescribed in gram quantities a day in severe cases.

Yeah, I found it odd saying 1800mg and not 1.8g. Though for the drug I'm on that's barely a "therapeutic dose" for epilepsy (I don't have epilepsy). I've noticed, especially with stuff being prescribed "off label" that the therapeutic doses for different illnesses can be quite different. The "bipolar dose" of a certain anti-epilepsy drug might be a fraction of the "epilepsy dose" etc.

hamsterboy

Knew someone that was on this drug for 3 years and it turned them into a zombie, devoid of all feelings and emotions (besides extreme depression). Their doctor insisted they were the most suitable medication for them. After 3 years they went to a different doctor who immediately took her off them and put her on another medication (think it was Affex) and they're like a new person.
Not saying of course that this'll happen to you but Effexor have been known to affect people differently

Best of luck in the future

Victor

The Irish Pharmaceutical Society estimate that 40% of people on anti-depressents are on the wrong (I take this to mean not the ideal, not that they are prescribing Vitamin B instead of anti-depressents) medication.

esel wrote:

Sorry for correcting you Victor! That should say '37.5mg and goes up to 300mg'. Isn't 1mg = 1,000µg?

BTW, it's unusual, but the max dose on the XR (extended release) version of Effexor is 225mg. I would say XR is the norm now, due to the nausea issue with the normal tablet - but I may be wrong.

You are correct. My fault.

nesf

Victor wrote:

The Irish Pharmaceutical Society estimate that 40% of people on anti-depressents are on the wrong (I take this to mean not the ideal, not that they are prescribing Vitamin B instead of anti-depressents) medication.

Well there was a lecture by Prof. Pat McKeon from St. Pat's a while back talking about how the incident rate of bipolar has increased from 1% to 5% while he was in the field and how most of this came from people who were initially diagnosed with depression (ie the patient either only ever complained when they were in a depressive episode or when they were in a dysphoria they described it as "being down"). The lecture notes are up on the Aware site.

That, and whether a GP can actually accurately diagnose depression is questionable and there's the perennial complaints of (some) GPs handing out anti-depressants far too readily to people who really don't need to be medicated.

9th

I was on 75mg of Effexor p/d. Effexor made me put on 20lbs in 14 days. Followed by 7 days where my apettite returned to normal. After that I then went 10 days without sleep, before going to get my script refilled. I was trembling in the doctors surgery. He decide to take my BP. When he say the reading he calledan ambulance. It was 192/63. 6 weeks earlier it had been a healthy 109/71.

eth0_

DO NOT GO NEAR THIS STUFF!
I don't know how it got licenced because it's a horrific drug.

I was prescribed it last year for anxiety attacks and depression. I took it for two months. I stopped because I started to feel suicidal - I had never ever had this feeling before in my life. I constantly had the most horrible feeling of restlessness and excess nervous energy, and my pupils were often very dilated. Imagine all the bad parts of taking E and speed, that's what it felt like.

I slept really badly. Maybe three hours a night because I would wake up with my mind racing. I lost a lot of weight quickly because I had no appetite, and what I did eat made me feel really nauseous. I had visual disturbances as well. My GP took me off it when I told her I felt like I could not handle living with the effects of this drug.

My experience with this drug was hellish. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. Take it as an absolute last resort. Go to see a therapist and find alternative ways of managing your condition.

nesf

I'd draw a distinction (and some may disagree with it) between a GP prescribing you this and a psychiatrist prescribing you this. That and it works for some people and not for others.

Victor

eth0_ wrote:

DO NOT GO NEAR THIS STUFF!

While it didn't work for you, it does work for others. We are not medical professionals. It is for patients and their professionals to agree a course of therapy.

eth0_

Victor wrote:

While it didn't work for you, it does work for others. We are not medical professionals. It is for patients and their professionals to agree a course of therapy.

This is true, however, there are far more horrific stories about this drug than any other anti-depressant medication out there. I told the OP to use it as a last resort and that is exactly what this drug is MEANT for. It is for people who have seen no results from SSRI medication and therapy. It is instead doled out to people who have never even taken an anti-depressant before, which I cannot get my head around. It's a very hardcore drug.

Esel

eth0_ wrote:

This is true, however, there are far more horrific stories about this drug than any other anti-depressant medication out there. I told the OP to use it as a last resort and that is exactly what this drug is MEANT for. It is for people who have seen no results from SSRI medication and therapy. It is instead doled out to people who have never even taken an anti-depressant before, which I cannot get my head around. It's a very hardcore drug.

eth0_, what condition were you prescribed this drug for? Were you misdiagnosed?

nesf

eth0_ wrote:

This is true, however, there are far more horrific stories about this drug than any other anti-depressant medication out there. I told the OP to use it as a last resort and that is exactly what this drug is MEANT for. It is for people who have seen no results from SSRI medication and therapy. It is instead doled out to people who have never even taken an anti-depressant before, which I cannot get my head around. It's a very hardcore drug.

It has it's problems, and few people contest that, but it is a very effective drug and this needs to be remembered. Some people have bad reactions to it, but you can say that about almost any anti-depressant given at moderately high doses. Other people have very few side effects and find the drug literally a life saver and compared to some anti-psychotics it's a relatively benign drug (not that that mitigates anything but it's useful sometimes to keep things in perspective).

Advising people not to take this drug isn't a good idea. It really is something that needs to be looked at on a case by case basis and untrained people, and often the patient themselves, are not in a position to actually judge whether this drug is suitable or not before it has actually been tried. The OP find this drug works for them, none of us can actually say anything to say she definitely will or won't, only time will tell.

eth0_

esel wrote:

eth0_, what condition were you prescribed this drug for? Were you misdiagnosed?

I wasn't misdiagnosed. It was for a mixture of depression and anxiety attacks. I had been on SSRI's several years previously.

The biggest issue I have with Efexor - and I have seen others point this out - is that the side effects can be very frightening and dangerous (thoughts of suicide), and this is not routinely pointed out by GP's. My own GP didn't prepare me for this drug at all. The risk of something going terribly wrong while on this drug are greatest in the first two months of administration, and I think patients should be closely monitored, perhaps seeing their doctor on a weekly basis to check BP and their state of mind.

IMO a drug like this should be prescribed by a psychiatrist, not a GP. A GP doesn't usually prescribe lithium or risperdal, and IMO efexor can be as dangerous in the wrong hands.

Nalced_irl

eth0_ wrote:

This is true, however, there are far more horrific stories about this drug than any other anti-depressant medication out there. I told the OP to use it as a last resort and that is exactly what this drug is MEANT for. It is for people who have seen no results from SSRI medication and therapy. It is instead doled out to people who have never even taken an anti-depressant before, which I cannot get my head around. It's a very hardcore drug.

Trust me man, at this stage it is near a last resort, apart from CBT i have tried everything but not only is it not getting any better, it seems to be getting worse. Ive been on them for about 3 weeks now and have had no bad side-affects but the good affects are kinda small. I went to my GP today to see if he knows anyone thats good at CBT and he is hopefully setting me up with someone who knows what theyre doing. I just wanna see even the slightest improvement and im happy for now. At present i cant even work so its pissin me off no end.

PS. I had more to type but its late and im tired so ill do it tommorow

Victor

Nalced_irl wrote:

Trust me man, at this stage it is near a last resort, apart from CBT i have tried everything but not only is it not getting any better, it seems to be getting worse. Ive been on them for about 3 weeks now and have had no bad side-affects but the good affects are kinda small.

A couple of weeks are needed for the medication to kick in properly.

Their purpose is to take away the worst effects - you won't wake up feeling deliriously happy for the rest of your life.

solas

anyone any experience with paroxetine? effexor seems to be a newer generation of ssri's and I would have thought they would be more effective or at least with lesser side effects. Are these basically the same drug?

nesf

solas wrote:

anyone any experience with paroxetine? effexor seems to be a newer generation of ssri's and I would have thought they would be more effective or at least with lesser side effects. Are these basically the same drug?

Effexor is an SNRI not an SSRI, they are different classes of drug iirc. SNRI's act on serotonin and norepinephrine while SSRIs act only on serotonin.

solas

ah ok

Esel

At higher levels, Effexor (venlafaxine) also acts weakly on dopamine.

Terry

I've been on efexor for a few years now.
I found that it works fine for me.
These drugs will have a different effect on each individual because of differences in brain chemistry.
I started on 35mg (not 37.5 ), went up to 75 and am now on 150.
I felt crappy for the first few days with each dosage increase, but was fine afterwards.
Just avoid alcohol at all costs if you want the drug to work properly. Otherwise you are pissing into the wind.


yes, do as i say and not as i do

catho_monster

Ok, I really want to add my 2c to this debate, because my life was totally made a mess of with effexor.
I have been on it for nearly 5 years now. Usually I'm on 75mg, top i was ever on was 150. I have been weaning myself off (with the doctors approval) for months now and im currently on 18.75.
I am coming off them, because i believe that they have prevented my digestive system from functioning properly. I have been nauseus since I started taking them, and it has gotten progressively worse. I have been to every specialist in dublin to find the case of my nausea, bloating, sickness to no success, only to be told that these antidepressents could be the cause. The difference since cutting down in marked.
WARNING: the withdrawl symptoms, when anyone here that is on the drug wants to come off them, are worse that the original symptoms in my case. I have been dizzy now for 6 weeks. Crazy dizzy for the first two weeks when i dropped from 75 to 37.5. couldnt move my head without losing all sense of barings. and dizzyness is not the only thing. google ssri withdrawl syndrome if anyone wants to know more.
and one more thing. i thought i was going dyslexic. genuinely, my brain couldnt process numbers right. i found myself not being able to hold conversations becuase i couldnt find the right word. im in academia and this really affected me. now i could totally be wrong, but i've checked with other people i know on antidepressents and this has happened to them too.
i believe 100% that effexor has messed up my brain, and has poisoned my body.
yes, it does help fix you when your broken but this withdrawl, and what it did to my body while i was on it = i'd rather be depressed.

there is more to this to emphasise my point, but i think i might cry if i have to go through my memories to relive all the things that have been going on the last while. i'll get back to you on it if anyone wants to know more...

solas

catho_monster wrote:

WARNING: the withdrawl symptoms, when anyone here that is on the drug wants to come off them, are worse that the original symptoms in my case. I have been dizzy now for 6 weeks. Crazy dizzy for the first two weeks when i dropped from 75 to 37.5. couldnt move my head without losing all sense of barings. and dizzyness is not the only thing. google ssri withdrawl syndrome if anyone wants to know more.

This is what I was concerned about. Tbh, my own doctor wouldn't prescribe medication for me and I learned to cope with my own issues over the last few years, which hasnt been easy. I ended up quitting my job and was out of work for three of them and the emotional pain at times was unbearable...but I'm stil here. I did resort to taking painkillers but only in order to knock me out at night less I wouldnt have had a decent nights sleep. eventually they started giving me headaches during the day and when I stopped taking them it was a migrane for three days scenario which landed me at an emergency doc who once I explained practically threw a prescription of effexor at me, no questions asked.
I knew my doc would be really pissed off had I taken them so I decided not to until I found out more about the stuff and had his consent.

and one more thing. i thought i was going dyslexic. genuinely, my brain couldnt process numbers right. i found myself not being able to hold conversations becuase i couldnt find the right word. im in academia and this really affected me. now i could totally be wrong, but i've checked with other people i know on antidepressents and this has happened to them too.
i believe 100% that effexor has messed up my brain, and has poisoned my body.
yes, it does help fix you when your broken but this withdrawl, and what it did to my body while i was on it = i'd rather be depressed.

honestly, these have been my symptoms anyway and as far as I can figure out a result of supression that i had endured over the years. I was physically unable to hold a conversation, just couldn't produce the words. I was given a job start about eight months ago and have been slowly making progress. As a back to work program the people I was working with with understanding of our personal situations and as part and parcel of the program, we were offered several variations of communications and social interaction based workshops designed courses which were helpful. As for academia, I've only just deferred for a year as I know I just wouldnt have the attention levels to contend with it.

there is more to this to emphasise my point, but i think i might cry if i have to go through my memories to relive all the things that have been going on the last while. i'll get back to you on it if anyone wants to know more...

Always here if you need to share too. best of luck

I've always had attention and coherency problems.
I found that I was able to get away with being a confused muddle until I got to college, and then my depression hit.
I took effexor XR 75mg for 2ish years, no side-effects, I came off it over a period of 2-3 weeks with no withdrawal.

As my problems in that department didn't leave with the depression, I have researched furthur and I feel that it is preety likly I have ADD and that this might be the cause of the depression in the first place.

Nalced_irl

Well, been on it now for a good few weeks and to be honest i dont know if they are working or not. I havent really got the balls to try to do something that would usually send me into a panic frenzy. Anytime im about to do something like that, i decide to go without any "crutch" but give in and take something to help anyway. Gotta try it sooner or later tho i suppose so hopefully ill find they are helping anyway.

nesf

Nalced_irl wrote:

Well, been on it now for a good few weeks and to be honest i dont know if they are working or not. I havent really got the balls to try to do something that would usually send me into a panic frenzy. Anytime im about to do something like that, i decide to go without any "crutch" but give in and take something to help anyway. Gotta try it sooner or later tho i suppose so hopefully ill find they are helping anyway.

There's no shame in a "crutch" if your quality of life is **** without it to be honest. Be careful about building up the "first test". You could accidentally wind yourself up so tight that you'd have a panic attack meds or no meds.

Esel

Nalced_irl wrote:

Well, been on it now for a good few weeks and to be honest i dont know if they are working or not. I havent really got the balls to try to do something that would usually send me into a panic frenzy. Anytime im about to do something like that, i decide to go without any "crutch" but give in and take something to help anyway. Gotta try it sooner or later tho i suppose so hopefully ill find they are helping anyway.

That's about six weeks then? You say you "dont know if they are working or not", can you expand on that a bit? Have you noticed any changes in your mood, thoughts, sleep, energy levels, appetite?

Have you been back to the doctor? S/he might recommend increasing the dosage. Don't be worried if so.

Best of luck with everything.

Nalced_irl

nesf wrote:

There's no shame in a "crutch" if your quality of life is **** without it to be honest. Be careful about building up the "first test". You could accidentally wind yourself up so tight that you'd have a panic attack meds or no meds.

Well, unfortunately ny crutch is alcohol so i dont wanna use it too often. Went to a pub today without drinking at all beforehand and was fine. Obviously its a Tuesday night so pub was very quiet so not a place i would usually "go mad" in but i would normally feel more anxious than i did. Plus i saw my counciler today and she really does have a calming affect. Dont know quite what she does but talk, but when i left her today, i was actually smiling and not worried about anything for the first time in years! She is the third have seen in the last few months and the first that actually makes me feel i may get over this.

Nalced_irl

esel wrote:

That's about six weeks then? You say you "dont know if they are working or not", can you expand on that a bit? Have you noticed any changes in your mood, thoughts, sleep, energy levels, appetite?

Have you been back to the doctor? S/he might recommend increasing the dosage. Don't be worried if so.

Best of luck with everything.

Well, its 5 weeks so far but i dont really notice any mood change to any great extent. (you do know im on it purely for anxiety and not depression btw. Dont know if mood changes are more common in depression or not) I have been a little less anxious going to places i usually avoid but not to the extent that i feel comfortable. For certain places, i can still feel an attack coming on hours before i even go there so the mind is still racing wildly!

Terry

I'll tell you now that the only way you are going to get better is to quit drinking for a while.
You don't have to quit altogether. 1 or 2 won't do you any harm, but any more than that and you are pissing into the wind.
I'm sure you know by now that when you wake up after drinking, you feel more nervous than normal.

Nalced_irl

Absolutely Terry, i have cut down alot compared to what i used to drink. Basically cant deal with the mixture of anxiety and hangover together very often.

Terry

Very few people can.

Nalced_irl

Well, i used to drink a hell of alot probably 4 days a week. Nowadays, with the help of being unable to work so crap finances i only go out once a week. I do go out other nights but ill only have 3 pints or whatever. Only go out for a big session once a week tho.

Filan

Actually I've gone onto decaffinated coffee the past 5 weeks...and the difference has been huge.

Also quit the occasional cigarette..even occasional caused my heart to race

Terry

Contrary to popular belief, smoking does not relax you.
If I'm any way nervous, I can't smoke. I can't even be around a lit cigarette.

Nalced_irl

I would be the opposite Terry. Mentally it does relax me but only while im actually smoking it. As soon as im finished, it all comes back and for a few mins is alot worse. When im out tho, going for a smoke is a good excuse to go outside if im feeling sh1tty and ill usually barely even inhale the cigarette, just want to get outside and calm down. I have been advised to quit smoking but havent managed to even try yet. With the anxiety and all, to add withdrawals from smokes seems too much tbh.

IncredibleHulk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Healy_(psychiatrist)

http://www.healyprozac.com/default.htm

Prozac is somewhat similar to Effexor

Hope this is of some help. Note I am not giving medical advice.And don't give them up suddenly without doctors advice

Best of luck