Posted by catherine1812 on December 30, 2001, at 16:36:59
In reply to Re: venlafaxine side effects, posted by OldSchool on December 30, 2001, at 12:22:47
> > I had my BP checked when I last went to the doctors(just before Christmas).It was fine.
I wanted to thank you for your advice and time.It means alot to me.Every-one on this site is so well informed and very, very helpful.I was not aware of most things I have read on here.I am shocked at some, but feel better knowing what's in store for me.I thought I was going mad until I read that other people have experienced similar side effects and withdrawel symptoms as myself.I am particuarly interested in this SPECT scan and the PET scan.I have often wondered, what exactly is going on in this head of mine?
I have suffered with depression for 10 years.I am 32 now and still suffering.Surely there has to be an answer.I have had so many different anti-depressents over the years, none of which have ever worked.I am convinced that the doctor really doesn't know what is the matter with me.
When I was prescribed the Effexor XR I think he stumbled upon it by accident and it just happened to work for me.I was not told about any of the side effects or with-drawel symptoms I may encounter.I was so frightened when I began experiencing some of them.
I know I am going to have to come off the Effexor XR 'cos of the headaches I am getting;they are incredibly painful.I have developed a muscle spasm in my neck now too.I look like I have a nervous twitch, this is very embarrassing and uncontrolable.I am also sleeping really badly, I am going to buy some of this valerian tomorrow.Hope it works for me.
Doctors here in England are reluctant to spend money on scans etc.So I think when I mention this to him he will have a heart attack and try his hardest to slide away from it.
When you are suffering with mental illness in England,and are mentally weak it is all to easy for the doctor to ease you out of the treatment room with a prescription for some more pills to pop.I always get the impression that they don't really care.
I am hoping to get to the docs tomorrow.I am armed to the hilt with info now which is great for me,but he won't like it one little bit.I am determined to be strong tomorrow and get to the bottom of this.Thank-you for your help.I'll update here tomorrow to let you all know how I get on.Thanks again.Catherine1812
I have been taking venlafaxine for 6 months at 150mg doses daily, and at 75mg for the year before that. I have had no problems with this drug until about a month ago.I suddenly began to experience severe headaches and neckache.These pains are so severe they make me feel sick and I am unable to function(infact I thought I had a brain tumour at first)My G.P prescibed me co-proxamol pain killers which frankly are not really helping.I tried to cut my dose of venlafaxine, aiming to wean myself off it.I took the normal 150mg dose 1 day then skipped the next day completely.I did this for 3 days.I wanted to get rid of my headaches.This had drastic effects for me.I became immediately severly depressed, weepy and suicidal.I was terrified.I had not realised that my mental state could deteriate so quickly without the venlafaxine.The headaches did however go away.I had to take the venlafaxine again though to get my mental state back to normal which it did after a further 2 days.I am now suffering with the headaches again.I am desperate to come off this drug due to the side effects, but am petrified of the effect it will have on my mental state.Has anyone else suffered anything similar to this? What can I do? Is the doctor able to prescribe something that will help me be able to wean off the venlafaxine safely? I cannot bare to go through that mental state again, yet I am going to have to stop the drug due to the side effects.My G.P surgery is closed at present as it is Christmas.I wondered if anyone had any advice or encouraging words.I can't bare to think that I am going to have to suffer either headaches constantly or be a complete mental wreck.
>
> Have you checked your blood pressure on the Effexor? Sometimes Effexor can spike BP, which could possibly cause headaches. High dosage Effexor, while being a fantastic antidepressant for me, it also mildly spiked my blood pressure.
>
> Old School
poster:catherine1812
thread:88146
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011222/msgs/88264.html