Posted by sarahcat on August 21, 2001, at 23:25:40
Hi everyone,
I'm delurking after a few years of periodically reading and searching psycho-babble for true life information about various meds. I want to thank everyone on the board for being so open and honest about their experiences... it's very helpful to read.
Now for my question: I've been in treatment for dysthymia with superimposed major depressive episodes for six and a half years (I'm 24 now). Over the years, I've tried Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, and Wellbutrin; Depakote, Cytomel, Trazodone, Ritalin, and occasional Ativan have been tried as augmenters or adjunct meds. Now I'm on 300mg of Effexor XR, 900 mg of Lithium (300 tid), 1200mg Neurontin (300, 300, and 600mg dosing), and 2mg Risperdal (1mg bid).
I was in the hospital for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and while in the hospital the psychiatrist there had me on 450mg of the Effexor, which my regular doc promptly returned back to 300mg (my regular doc was on vacation while I was in the hospital, preventing communication between the doctors) for fear of potential side effects.
It's been a week since my Effexor was lowered, and I've steadily suck lower and lower each day. I know 450 is a high dose of Effexor (Walgreen's wouldn't even fill it without hassle), but I'm starting to believe that I need that dose to feel better. Does anyone here have any experience with taking that amount (or higher) of Effexor? Were your side effects increased? I don't really have any side effects with Effexor, but my doc is worried that it will increase my blood pressure. At this point I'm really starting to worry that I'm just treatment resistent.
Thanks in advance, and I look forward to becoming a more active part of psycho-babble.
Sarah
poster:sarahcat
thread:75868
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010814/msgs/75868.html