Posted by katekite on July 22, 2002, at 13:39:04
In reply to New to effexor, posted by xena on July 21, 2002, at 10:27:16
First of all, of course a pill can make you feel better. You've probably woken up in the past (just in normal life, not when depressed) and felt like a couch potato, and then you have some caffeine and presto, you are up and going. Caffeine is a drug and it could just as easily come in a pill. What you are looking for with Effexor is that one day in 2-6 weeks you will notice that everything is a little simpler, a little easier, that you aren't just going through the motions but actually enjoying things again. You'll notice, it's not something you could miss, because its a wonderful feeling to be ok again.
There are several things to keep in mind with effexor:
1. That the people on this website come here mostly because something isn't working, not because they are so happy they want to share. Which means if you read about people's experiences here it may scare you, but there are many many more people out there who had good experiences, no side effects, etc.
2. That when you do go off of it for whatever reason you need to taper slowly or you will have side effects. When you get ready to go off of it read up on how to taper at the right pace. This is more important for Effexor than for lots of other medications.
3. That if it doesn't work -- studies show people who weren't helped the first anti-depressant they tried or had bad side effects, were usually helped by the second one they tried. So if this one doesn't work it doesn't mean you should give up on pills altogether. Try to give it 6 weeks if you can, but if side effects like nausea etc are troubling you after the end of the first two weeks its probably time to try a different one.
Hope it works for you. Hang in there.
Kate
poster:katekite
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020718/msgs/113271.html