Posted by AnneL on August 11, 2001, at 21:36:02
Feel like I am caught between a rock and a hard place.
My pdoc increased my dose of Effexor XR from 150 mg. to 225 mg. He feels I was "undertreated". (Actually I feel that the birth control pill I had taken for one cycle was the culprit in a sudden "relapse" of my depression because I felt much better after I had been off of the Pill for 3 days). But never-the-less, I followed my pdoc's suggestion and increased my dose of Effexor about 2 weeks ago. I also take Klonopin 1 mg. at bedtime which was prescribed to help counter the insomnia and panic attacks that developed when I started taking Effexor about 6 months ago. I would really like to get off of Klonopin. But I keep taking it because (1) I know I shouldn't stop cold turkey and (2) I feel psychologically dependent on it to make me sleep. I don't like the way it makes me feel as I am drifting off to sleep. It's a strange feeling of being extremely "drugged" and at the same time feeling
anxious as I literally almost "pass out". (I don't know how some people take Klonopin during the day and function!) This sensation as I drift off to sleep seems to have gotten worse since I increased my dose of Effexor and last night I woke up with an anxiety attack that lasted for about 5 minutes (an eternity!).
Last night, I started feeling paranoid that I was having "seritonin syndrome" from the increased dose, but managed to talk some sense into myself. What could be the cause of my sudden anxiety attack? Is it from the increased seritonin levels? Is it from the Klonopin? I recall having a panic attack about 4 months ago when I increased my dose from 150 mg. to 187.5 mg. that hit on day 4 of increasing the dose. I had myself convinced it was "seritonin syndrome" and was ready to head to the nearest ER. The next day I reduced my dose to 150 mg. Please tell me if this increased dose of Effexor puts me at risk for developing seritonin syndrome and what the signs and symptoms of the syndrome are. Could this just be a "ramping up" effect of increasing my dose of Effexor or can Klonopin cause anxiety? Most importantly will it go away and do you have any suggestions for coping with this anxiety if I get it again? Should I reduce the Klonopin? By the way I can't take Xanax at bedtime because I wake up 2 to 3 hours later with horrible anxiety. Thanks for sticking with this, I feel pretty scared of it happening again tonight and just want to make sure I'am not really going to "die" of some overdose of seritonin, etc. :) Anne
poster:AnneL
thread:74698
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010809/msgs/74698.html