Re: Lex (switching to Effexor)

June 23, 2004

Just be forewarned: Effexor can be HELL to get off, although it will make you

feel better initially and usually does not cause weight gain. My best friend

just weaned off it and nearly had a nervous breakdown and broke up with her

boyfriend (I think she sort of flipped out: maybe she was weaning off it too

fast). But, you should join up an Effexor list at . I did one,

when I was considering going on Effexor, and the posts on that list (mostly

people having hell weaning off it!) scared me off from trying it. My doctor

told me that Lexapro would not make me gain weight (ha!) and was easy to wean

off should it not work all that well for me. It did at first, but I feel it's

pooping out on my now (I've been on it since early January of this year).

--Diane

-----Original Message-----

From: thea ramsay <theethers@...>

Hi, everyone.

Thea here from Maui, Hawaii.

Lexapro worked like magic for me and then suddenly started pooping out badly. On

10 mg, I had serious panic disorder--and I've been off caffeine for a week so

I'm not taking any stimulants at all to induce the panic.

A while ago, I was increased to 20 because 10 had stopped working, and on the 20

I felt nauseous all the time. So I was told to go back to 10, with the aim of

going to 5 mg, and discontinuing the drug altogether.

So this mroning when I had that nasty attack on 10 mg, I called the doc's office

in tears--something I've never done. Now he's going to try me on Effexor.

I asked him about the possibility of going off meds altogether and he said I

could do that, but that he didn't advise it.

Thea

June 23, 2004

Effexor was a VERY effective med for anxiety and depression for

me.....until I decided to SLOWLY wean off! It was a living hell and

I thought I had contracted some sort of rare disease. I rarely go to

my GP, but the extreme flu like symptoms (over 60 days worth) were

terrible (almost unbearable and I was always dizzy to boot!).

The GP pegged it right off the bat as Effexor withdrawal (at least

that made me feel better). As mentioned Effexor is not an SSRI

(forgot the actual term) but I switched to lex during the Effexor

taper and it did no good. Also if you do go for it....do not forget

to take your doseage either!!!

Hopefully that was just my own personal reaction but there has been

alot written about withdrawal from Effexor. Use google to study for

yourself and do ask your Doc....mine never warned me!....Best of

luck in any case!

Jeff

> Just be forewarned: Effexor can be HELL to get off, although it

will make you feel better initially and usually does not cause

weight gain. My best friend just weaned off it and nearly had a

nervous breakdown and broke up with her boyfriend (I think she sort

of flipped out: maybe she was weaning off it too fast). But, you

should join up an Effexor list at . I did one, when I

was considering going on Effexor, and the posts on that list (mostly

people having hell weaning off it!) scared me off from trying it.

My doctor told me that Lexapro would not make me gain weight (ha!)

and was easy to wean off should it not work all that well for me.

It did at first, but I feel it's pooping out on my now (I've been on

it since early January of this year).

>

> --Diane

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: thea ramsay <theethers@h...>

>

> Hi, everyone.

> Thea here from Maui, Hawaii.

> Lexapro worked like magic for me and then suddenly started pooping

out badly. On 10 mg, I had serious panic disorder--and I've been off

caffeine for a week so I'm not taking any stimulants at all to

induce the panic.

> A while ago, I was increased to 20 because 10 had stopped working,

and on the 20 I felt nauseous all the time. So I was told to go back

to 10, with the aim of going to 5 mg, and discontinuing the drug

altogether.

> So this mroning when I had that nasty attack on 10 mg, I called

the doc's office in tears--something I've never done. Now he's going

to try me on Effexor.

> I asked him about the possibility of going off meds altogether and

he said I could do that, but that he didn't advise it.

> Thea

June 23, 2004

Did Effexor stop working for your friend?

Lexapro was the fastest pooping-out med I've ever been on. Like a brief love

affair, it was wonderful at the start, but boy when it died, there was no

way to bring it back again. So the doc put me on Effexor XR, and I took my

first 37.5 dose this morning, along with 5 mg of Lex. I've been kind of

groggy all day--slept alot, which wasn't too bad.

Where my first dose of Lex was kind of trippy like an acid trip, kind of

psychedelic and then very tired, my first dose of Effexor was dreamy. I

found myself having reverie like thoughts but feeling very sleepy. When I

did go to sleep, I don't really remember what I dreamed about. Normally I

have vivid great dreams or vivid weird dreams or vivid nightmares. I would

hate to see my dream life blanked out.

Ah well. I'm still feeling some anxietym, but heck this was my first dose,

but the anxiety seems as if it's been quietened somewhat.

I did join the Effexor group on but I think Yahell is up to its

tricks. I sent my intro message six hours ago, and haven't received a

thing--not my intro message, even.

I was speaking to a friend, describing the panic disorder--the voices, the

sense of movement in inanimate objects, the thoughts that don't seem like

mine, the tactile semihallucinations--and she said I was probably being

misdiagnosed.

She felt perhaps I was borderline schizophrenic, and that perhaps I should

be on meds for that, even if I remained on an antidepressant.

I wonder if she could be right? When I described the symptoms at first to my

doc, he didn't call them panic attacks, or at least not typical panic

attacks. He didn't know for the life of him, for sure, what they were.

I've been plagued by these things since I was eleven. Could it be some form

of schizophrenia?

Thea

Re: Lex (switching to Effexor)

> Just be forewarned: Effexor can be HELL to get off, although it will make

you feel better initially and usually does not cause weight gain. My best

friend just weaned off it and nearly had a nervous breakdown and broke up

with her boyfriend (I think she sort of flipped out: maybe she was weaning

off it too fast). But, you should join up an Effexor list at .

I did one, when I was considering going on Effexor, and the posts on that

list (mostly people having hell weaning off it!) scared me off from trying

it. My doctor told me that Lexapro would not make me gain weight (ha!) and

was easy to wean off should it not work all that well for me. It did at

first, but I feel it's pooping out on my now (I've been on it since early

January of this year).

>

> --Diane

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: thea ramsay <theethers@...>

>

> Hi, everyone.

> Thea here from Maui, Hawaii.

> Lexapro worked like magic for me and then suddenly started pooping out

badly. On 10 mg, I had serious panic disorder--and I've been off caffeine

for a week so I'm not taking any stimulants at all to induce the panic.

> A while ago, I was increased to 20 because 10 had stopped working, and on

the 20 I felt nauseous all the time. So I was told to go back to 10, with

the aim of going to 5 mg, and discontinuing the drug altogether.

> So this mroning when I had that nasty attack on 10 mg, I called the doc's

office in tears--something I've never done. Now he's going to try me on

Effexor.

> I asked him about the possibility of going off meds altogether and he said

I could do that, but that he didn't advise it.

> Thea

>

June 23, 2004

It was still working for her, but she decided to wean off Effexor (which was

hellish, she both told me and I sort of witnessed) coz she lost her job and

couldn't afford health insurance on her own OR expensive prescriptions. She's

now off ALL meds, and doing okay. Has ups and downs, but no more than you would

expect in a normal life with " normal " sorts of problems that crop up. She's

taken to walking every day for 45 minutes, which has helped alleviate some of

her anxiety *and* taken some extra weight off. I, too, am a huge proponent of

walking as a natural anti-depressant. The trick is to find a route you enjoy (I

have access to lovely parks and trails where I live, close to Mt. Diablo State

Park, so I'm lucky that way). I also commute to work in a big city (Oakland,

CA), and I walk there on my lunch hour (over to, and around, a lakeside park and

back).