Posted by Delma on April 28, 2003, at 14:52:08
I'm 61 year old female who started Effexor XR 37.5 mg. 6 days ago. I'm physically feeling pretty lousy and loosing a lot of sleep so far. My main complaint on the drug is a creepy crawly feeling in my muscles. It is hard to sit still because of it. Agitation, I guess. I've had some twitching and muscles moving on their own. I feel tired and sleepy most of the time, and it is getting harder to stay asleep every day that I take it so far. Last night I slept in 1 hr. segments. My ears are ringing so loud it's hard not notice it. There is thirst and constant potty breaks. The dizziness I expected. I've had an almost constant headache since the first day. I could go on, but my main question is WHEN DOES IT START TO GET BETTER?! How long should I wait to call the doctor and say this isn't worth it? She said it is an experiment, and she would probably have to try several things. I'm not a depressed person. My body seemed to react to even mild situations of anxiety with too much adrenaline. That causes my blood pressure to be too high, I'm too tense almost all the time. I also suffer from fibromyalsia, a neck problem that causes a lot of pain from muscle spasms. Evidently because of the anxiety reaction that causes my high BP, I have mild mitral valve and aortic valve regurgitation, thickening and some enlargement of the left ventricle and a fast heart beat. This is why the doctor whats to try a drug like Effexor. I'm not on BP medication, but just finished a 24 hr. BP monitor and probably will be. I tried Celexa for 10 days a month ago but stopped because it raised my BP and caused similar symptoms as this Effexor. Not sure if the Effexor is raising the BP yet.
I really need another opinion if this is what I need to be doing, and how long to wait on the trial??
poster:Delma
thread:222942
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030423/msgs/222942.html