Posted by Fish on March 30, 2001, at 8:22:24
In reply to Started Effexor XR Today, posted by Cam W. on March 29, 2001, at 21:04:08
> CAM, just out of curiousity. Who are your colleagues? Are you in the medical profession? There is one thing that really upsets me. I have noticed that doctors and the medical profession listen more to pharmaceutical companies than they do their patients. I can't tell you how many times I have told my doctor of strange symptoms and he says "oh, that can't be the drug". What really gets me is I told my doctor of these symptoms and told him they began when I started the drug and he just didn't believe it so he did
FSH/LH testing and also tested my thyroid. Now here are lots of people writing in and telling of the same exact symptoms I have. It's a relief to know that I can verify that it is indeed the drug that is causing these problems and that I know going off of it will relieve them. Why are the people who take this drug and speak of the many SIMILAR side affects ignored and pooh-poohed off like we're idiots who couldn't possibly know what we are talking about because we don't have the "medical" knowledge that you have. Take the medicine, enjoy the ride, but don't tell us that we don't know what is happening to our bodies. I hope these emails keep someone else from taking it and ending up like some of us have. What scares me is how many people are out there who don't know enough to look on the web and read this information. Experience is knowledge and your medical research is wrong. The medicine will work for you in the beginning, it did for me, but I hope it is all worth it to you in the end. I am still on it and trying to figure out when I can ween myself off of it with minimal disruption to my life. I have to work full-time, take care of a 14 year old and finish out the semester. I am not looking forward to the struggle of getting myself off this stuff. By the way, another FACT. I attend college at night. Since I began taking this drug I went from an "A" student to a "C" student with even more effort on my studying. This is very real, so is the delay in being able to come up with the words sometimes when I am trying to get a thought out of my head. So is the memory lapses I experience at least 3 times a day. So are the hot flashes that make me feel like I am on fire and then the sweating. So is the fear when I wake up suddenly because I stop breathing. You see, it is NOT just the withdrawl that has patients upset, it is the side effects. I hope to God they go away after I stop taking the medicine. I'm not buying it, your medical knowledge, and I hope people read these emails before they start taking Effexor. I believe that drug is dangerous and should be taken off the market. People with depression don't need these added burdens, life with depression is hard enough without more struggle from a medication that is suppose to help.Fish
Today I start Effexor XR (37.5mg daily and increasing to at least 300mg or more - depending on response - over the next 3 months).
>
> Thank goodness I know the difference between case studies, case series, post marketing surveillance, restospective studies, naturalistic studies, randomized placebo controlled trials, and other types of articles written about medications and disease states. I also know the merits and limitations of each.
>
> Thank goodness I have extensively studied all aspects of all antidepressants available in Canada (and most of those available in other parts of the world).
>
> Thank goodness I understand physiology (physical and chemical processes in the body), pharmacology (preparation, properties, uses, and actions of drugs), pharmacodynamics (how an antidepressant acts in the body , including duration of response relative to plasma concentration), pharmacokinetics (including absorption, onset of action, distribution, biotransformation, metabolite action, and excretion route), and pharmacogenetics (including the effects and differences of antidepressant action in different people). Otherwise partial explanations of these factors involving a small subset of people who did not withdraw from the drug in a proper manner, might scare me into not taking this drug.
>
> Even if I do happen to get withdrawl symptoms while being weaned from this drug, I know of several strategies to minimize these withdrawl effects. Most of which have been posted several times on this site. In the past, this drug has not been understood as well as it is today, although I and my colleagues knew of the withdrawl syndrome and it's extent in a minority of people, for at least the past 3 years and we have dealt with it appropriately. Withdrawl syndrome still occurs in some of our patients, but this is almost always due to nonadherence to the treatment regimen.
>
> Since I know how to wean myself from this drug if and when need be, I am very confident the this drug has the ability resolve my depressive symptoms and PTSD so that I may be able to lead a more productive and "normal" life, again. I see this drug as a useful tool, not an evil demon.
>
> Sincerely - Cam
poster:Fish
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010327/msgs/58040.html