Effexor: Classic Or Dud?

After that it works quite well. it keeps you very much on the same level through the day. I dont't know what the non-ILX person 's problems are, and it's different with everybody.
I will keep using it at least till the winter is over. that's going to be the real test case.

Yeah, I experienced some sexual problems while using it. I'm still not completely satisfied with that. it's getting better, like having orgasms again, but especially in the first month that was very bad.

anyway, apart from the sexual stuff, i'm pretty much satisfeid with it. it's not that you go tralalala whole day long and dance on the ceiling or something, sometimes I feel depressed (I had some bad experiences lately in relationship and family matters) but I noticed that it was more in proportions with what was going on at that moment, it kept my mind clear to think abt it and not sink into a complete state of lethargy and doom.

Plus the complete lack of libido / ability to orgasm was tiresome.

yeah, anthony, you get all these placebo songs playing in your head and that's a side effect, not a bonus.

(who wants their libido anyway? complete loss is even better than the 99% loss depression brings anyway! win back precious minutes otherwise wasted by thinking about sex. just a shame that, for me at least, depression = not getting anything done no matter how much time you have anyway. oh well.)

HA HA HA HA!!! what happens then, Queen?

btw, I'm growing a little bit of a stomach lately, which with my ultra thin figure is not bad but I think that's also effexor related.

also efexor is renowned for giving you chocolate cravings. hence the tummy growth. enjoy it.

http://www.conagra.com/images/brands/product_jpgs/peterpan.jpg

goodbye effexor, hello pixie dust!

http://www.kgtf.org/images/kids/stories/2nd6.jpg

very far failed

Also, DO NOT go cold turkey off of Effexor (and probably any anti-depressant, for that matter). I felt horrible for a few weeks.

Whining. sorry. but reaching i s'pose

Sorry everybody.

yes. First b/c drinking is a depressant it goes against what you want the meds to do. Second, and more accurately, when medication and alchohol are both present in your system your liver will metabolize the alcohol first and the medication passes on without you reaping the benefit. Kind of like flushing them down the toilet.

i have nothing to add to this thread right now, but i will in time.

anyone have anything more to say of their experiences with it?

...

UGH

I've been on so many pills it's not funny but the only AD I take now is Lamictal (doses up to 200mg for depression; higher for mood stablizer). I've taken it before for mood stablization and didn't really dig it (take lithium for that now) but as an AD it's been wonderful. Hardly any side effects.

good luck with the Effexor.

oh my god. I forgot about those.

Although having read Sunny Successor's post, YMMV.

I've been putting off refilling my effexor prescription cuz I was broke and couldn't afford the copay
went down to taking it every 36 hours when I started running low

yesterday I took my last pill
but I also got paid
so it's all good right

except I just found out I have to go out of town for a few days
(driving up to ohio with my mom for my grandma's funeral)
and it doesn't look like I'm gonna be able to refill it before I leave

how bad is this gonna suck?

and also
I found some prozac I had left over from when I used to take that
might help with withdrawal symptoms
... right???

you can't refill it in ohio?

maybe

probably not on a saturday or sunday tho? I dunno

problem is I was so worried about financial stuff that I didn't notice I had no refills left on this prescription. last time that happened, it wasn't a problem, I guess the pharmacist just called my doctor and had her fax over whatever forms they needed; but this time they can't seem to get in touch with her.

DUDE. Don't go cold turkey on effexor if at all possible. Get like five that you can split up at least.

Going off effexor cold turkey is brutal.

Try to get in touch with your doc, but also maybe an urgent care for a short-term prescription?

OK, I went off Effexor cold turkey once when I was living abroad and IT WAS AWFUL. If there is any way you can get even a small amount do so.

If not . . . cold medicine helps to ease the withdrawal a little (google it). I don't know why but it does. Other than that I don't have any tips other than while it'll suck it's also bearable. I mean I did it and managed to go to work and function etc. while going through it but I wouldn't recommend doing it unless you really have no choice.

DUDE. Don't go cold turkey on effexor if at all possible.

^^^

please be careful and if shit gets too real keep a good support system on speed-dial. don't mean to sound chicken little I just know a lot of people have had some wild rides coming off effexor. I am guessing that if your md will refill you on-call, you'll be able to find a cvs in ohio - he could call it into one you'd find ahead of time.

the thing that makes going off it unbearable for me is the dizziness.

thanks for all the advice dudes. luckily, after every attempt to contact my doctor failed, one of the pharmacists went ahead and gave me a week's worth -- Whitney from the Rite-Aid on Guess Road, you will probably never see this, but you rock.

guess road in durham?

u r a lucky man

what a relief!

dude you're in Durham?

I am surprised to see so many fellow depressed people on this board. It is oddly comforting, and yet sad at the same time.

it's okay, we're all better now

Oh shit Effexor withdrawl is hell in a fuckbasket. I haven't been through it myself, bit have witnessed an inordinate amount. If you need to go off of it (which seems to be pretty damn common), taper, taper, taper.

don't go cold turkey off effexor, it really sucks and will make you temporarily crazy. i'm not a psychiatrist, but if i was i would tell you to go down 10 mg per every 5 days, if possible (i'm going down off a similar medication right now and that's what i'm doing).

I was going to suggest asking your regular pharmacist asking for a week's worth or just an 'advance' (would that be the right term? english being my 983983938th language). Ours would for sure do that. But then I don't live in the states and I don't know how easy they are.

Question though; how does it mix with weed? I am curious. I don't take it myself but someone I know does and he (used to) smoke weed.

long-term marijuana use decreases your serotonin levels, so smoking too much pot is going to tend to cancel out the positive effects of your SSRIs

i'm probably just stating the obvious there

I've involuntarily gone without it for four days (on holiday, forgot to bring enough with me), and it felt like my brain short circuited all the time. Flipping back and forth in and out of reality. Like electric shocks to the brain, fireworks suddenly going off in my face, for a split second being out of myself completely. Not good.

Glad you're alright Bernard.

what about this new Prestiq shit?

i always felt like when i turned my head, my brain kept rotating for a split second after my head stopped moving, and then it would whip back and forth for a little bit. electric shocks is also not a bad analogy. one of the shittiest things ever, really.

Yeah I can relate to the feeling of having your brain rotating after you've stopped moving. Rotation in a weird slow motion style.

It's odd that this is being mentioned now, because I'm on an (unplanned) medication holiday at the mo. So, it's been a week without Effexor (though still taking lithium). Gonna start again tonight (my prescription ran out, and I just got it renewed yesterday). It is a horrible experience, in it's way, though I find my mind is a lot more versatile when I'm not on it - though it's hard to tell if this is a real improvement or a mania-style overestimation of profoundness.

And yeah, I really hate the brainshocks. When I described them to my doctor for the first time he said it was just tinnitus, which was affecting my inner ear somehow making me dizzy! Ah well.

OK, I went off Effexor cold turkey once when I was living abroad and IT WAS AWFUL.

This happened to me, too, when I was working in Germany for a time and a scrip ran out, and I thought I was going to die. Except you know what I found out? Venlafaxine, the generic name for Effexor, can be sold over the counter at the drugstore. I just went in and asked for it.

When I described them to my doctor for the first time he said it was just tinnitus

your doctor should probably look into the common side effects of the shit he prescribes, jeez

what about this new Prestiq shit?

It's desvenlafaxine, a metabolite of venlafaxine, it does absolutely the same thing with like a 1% lower instance of GI upset some bullshit. It is unequivically, 100%, without a doubt nothing more than the company wanting to retain their brand name patent.

This isn't my opinion, btw, it's house policy at my hospital.

What is my opinion, however, is that if a doctor tries to prescribe you Prestiq, get a new doctor, as s/he is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Had Venlavaxine for some time when it was the only thing covered by insurance, but it really did not feel the same as Effexor. I don't know why, but I'm positive it's not just a placebo thing. Venlavaxine made my heart race all day, Effexor doesn't. Can't explain it, but I've experienced it and it was all too real.

"Venlafaxine, the generic name for Effexor, can be sold over the counter at the drugstore."

Woha, I didn't realize this was possible.

i just spent 20 days going off of my celexa prescription (10 mg / 5 days) and now i have really bad withdrawal symptoms.

anybody had any luck treating these with any sort of OTC medicine or any sort of herbal / vitamin anything?

Venlavaxine made my heart race all day, Effexor doesn't.

But its the same thing! Isnt it? Thats just the brand name.

Yeah I know, but it still was the case! As I said earlier I can't explain it ~ and I don't believe it's a placebo thing either. My doctor understood and prescribed Effexor again. According to her it's possible that when you've had Effexor for years, switching to the Venlavaxine can cause this ~ I wasn't the first to have reported this (maybe because both are produced in different places, I'm guessing here). So I really cannot explain it, only that what I felt was real.

I am weaning off it again right now. It's OK. I don't think I've felt any side effects at all and I'm currently at 1/2 the dose I was taking. My heart feels a little racy right now but I've had a little too much caffeine and am excited so that's probably that. Thankfully this is so so much better than the time I previously stopped cold turkey.