Posted by Ritch on August 9, 2002, at 13:05:07
In reply to Effexor addiction vs. therapeutic benefit dilemma , posted by Mr.Scott on August 8, 2002, at 18:29:20
> I have been terribly depressed now for some time (the illness began 11 years ago, but this most recent flare up has been going on for a year). Anyways I find that within hours of raising my Effexor from 37.5mg to 75mg I first feel much better, then I feel agited and anxious but still better in terms of energy. Then over the course of a few days the agitation and anxiety really become unbearable and the benefit turns out to be too good to be true. I always return to 37.5mg
>
> 1) How could I respond so quickly? is that addiction relief or actual therapeutic relief? Or bipolar disorder??? What are your thoughts?
>
> 2) Should I just switch to a less agitating drug like Celexa, or try to use say 50mg a day in effexor IR tablets? What do you think?Scott,
It sounds like dysphoric hypomania to me. In people that respond to and tolerate SSRI's well, they tend to become rather calm and a little sleepy on them with time instead. Does the Effexor screw up your sleep? If you get a significant enough sleep disruption, the sleep disruption may be what is triggering the dysphoria. That is why I think that stimulants didn't cause any hypomania for me. They washed out so rapidly, I just crashed and had nice solid sleep. The 50mg IR Effexor might be the trick. That way it would be clearing your body more quickly by bedtime.
Just an idea,
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:115725
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020807/msgs/115820.html