Posted by Cindy W on March 6, 2000, at 21:08:01
In reply to Re: Effexor XR Questions? (newbie), posted by Robin on March 6, 2000, at 9:17:01
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> > > > Robin - Benadryl may not be the best hypnotic. It interferes too much with REM sleep and often causes a next morning hangover effect. Ask your doctor what he would like you to take as sleeping aid. Also, if you are taking the Effexor XR in the evening, perhaps switch to the morning. Godd luck - Cam W.
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> > > Am glad to report that Effexor-XR is really starting to help with my OCD and depression! My brain feels quiet (no counting, no worrisome nagging to check and recheck, no thoughts about suicide, etc.). Am now taking 375 mg/day and feel like I imagine "normal" people must feel. I cleaned part of my house, today, and plan to try to get rid of my hoarded clothes over the next month. Then maybe I can straighten out the rest of my life (I hope). Re: sleep...at first, Effexor-XR really made it hard for me to sleep, and I tried taking about 30 mg of Serzone at night. I stopped this after it didn't seem to help that much. When I got tired enough, I started sleeping right! And now feel more rested when I sleep. It seems to take at least 6 weeks, as people have said, for the Effexor-XR to start working. I still feel very anxious, but I guess that's OK, since at least I'm managing (so far) to resist going out and overspending and overeating, although that's what I've always done to feel better.-Cindy W
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> > Cam & Cindy,
> > Thank you for reponding to my questions. I can't take Benadryl it makes me very nervous. I am suppose to take Sonota as a sleep aid, but I don't like it at all. It isn't strong enough for me. I will go back to Temazapam.
> > Cindy, How long have you been takening Effexor XR? How did you work up to your current dose?
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> > Robin
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> When taking Effexor XR, How do you know what doseage is right for the individual, Do you know what the recommended dosage is?
> RobinRobin, talk to your pdoc about the recommended dosage. Apparently it varies according to the severity and duration of depression (I've read up to 225 mg/day is recommended, in the drug co. literature). For OCD, up to 375 mg/day is recommended (Dr. Michael Jenike, OC Foundation). I've been wondering the same thing: how to know when you achieve maximum benefit from a medication or whether to ask for an increase. One site (Dr. Ivan Goldberg) recommended as high as 500-600 mg/day, but I think that sounds excessive. I would imagine it is a trial-and-error process...try a small dose, increase it to a "normal" dose, and if it still isn't doing the trick, increase it to the maximum, as long as you don't have terrible side effects or serotonin syndrome or something. Let me know how the Effexor-XR works out for you! So far, it seems to be really helping (and I hope it lasts and gets better).--Cindy W
poster:Cindy W
thread:26031
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000302/msgs/26172.html