Posted by lucylucy on August 27, 2003, at 9:26:23
In reply to Anyone had success on Effexor XR? , posted by jp on October 24, 1999, at 14:59:14
I first visited this board the day I took my first dose of Effexor, and all the terrifying reports made me think, what in the world have I gotten myself into? But I reasoned that most of us would be more likely to post comments about concerns or problems than to take the time to write about great results.
So that's what I'm doing now. This medication has been fantastic for me. I woke up the morning after the first pill and felt better. Not exactly not depressed, but I could for the first time in a while imagine not being depressed.
My side effects were minimal and nothing I couldn't live with. Dry mouth for a few days, loss of appetite, some slight difficulty sleeping. I also dropped four pounds of weird water weight immediately and now have a very easy time staying at my right weight without any effort.
But most importantly, I feel like myself again. I am no longer paralyzed in my work and social life. I'm able to connect with people easily, I have the energy and the gumption to tackle new work challenges, I don't seem to overreact to things that would have made me over-anxious or highly angry before I found Effexor. My emotions feel solid and real and like reasonable reactions to the events of my life, rather than feeling like I was reacting out of some weird chemical or hormonal cesspool.
My gynocologist prescribed Effexor over the phone, very casually, based on some symptoms (including depression and anxiety) that she attributed to perimenopause. Her office has also been very cavalier about increasing my dosage or extending the prescription, which is why I was cruisng the Internet to find out more about the drug.
And that's where I discovered that Effexor often seems to lose its effect after about six months, and that's when people frequently increase their dosage. After five months, I felt like it wasn't working and after a few weeks of hemming and hawing and feeling low and anxious and awful, I increased my dosage to 150 mg. After only a few days, I felt much better.
Today, I turned 42. It's my best birthday yet. I feel happy and satisfied with my life, darn lucky, in fact. And although it's easy to say my life just got better recently, the circumstances of my life haven't really changed. I think the Effexor has helped me be able to appreciate and enjoy the wonderful life I already had.
I say all this only because I want people out there who are considering the drug to know there are plenty of success stories with it. Like anything else, it's right for some people and not for others.
poster:lucylucy
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030823/msgs/254665.html