Posted by Terri C. on June 19, 2002, at 10:45:51
After watching the news media regarding the Andrea Yates story, as this is the one-year anniversary of her killing her children, I was curious as to which antidepressant she was on when she committed this horrific crime. I wasn't too surprised when I found that she was on Effexor. My own living nightmare with Effexor also happened one year ago. I experienced blackouts for periods of 24 to 48 hours, and I am still trying to clean up the mess I made during those blackouts. I'm not alleging that Effexor was the culprit causing Andrea Yates to kill her children, but I can certainly empathize more now than before I found out she was on Effexor.
In my opinion, based on my own personal experience, this drug is dangerous. After my life-changing experience, I started researching this drug on the internet and found that the side effects I was experiencing had been upgraded from "rare" to "frequent." In trying to discontinue this medication, I suffered through nightmares, night sweats, electric shock-like feelings, and the list goes on and on. It took four months of gradually decreasing the dosage and finally making it through the discontinuation process. Being on this drug was horrible, but getting off it was just as bad. Being depressed was a cake-walk compared to the ups and downs of being on the wrong medication. Because of those experiences, I will NEVER use another antidepressant medication.
I'm not saying that this medication doesn't work for some people. I'm not trying to discourage people from trying medications to help ease depression. I am saying that we need to be proactive in our own treatment and research the side effects. I am also suggesting that use of these medications should be followed by specialists, not just your primary doctor. MD's are not psychiatrists and should refer patients with depression/mental illness to specialists for diagnosis and treatment.
poster:Terri C.
thread:110267
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020617/msgs/110267.html