Posted by jrbecker on September 27, 2003, at 20:00:08
In reply to Effexor XR need advice from other users, posted by Robert Fairburn on September 27, 2003, at 3:39:49
hang in there robert.
yes, for many, including myself, you can feel worse before you get better when taking an antidepressant.
couple questions...
1) so if I'm correct, you said you only had anxiety and slight OCD tendencies but not majorly depressed?
2) what is your current dose of effexor?
3) when you say you're more depressed now, vs. before you started. how depressed are we talking here, are you speaking more to your energy or sense of anxiety/excitation (some get this on effexor). Or is the depression more of the common melancholy, emptiness, etc.?Unless, you feel you're doing substantially worse than when you started, I'd give it at least 5-6 weeks before you can fully start judging whether effexor is right. the side effects as well as the benefit of the drug will be leveling out all the way up until then.
as for the benzo's your doc gave you...he might have the right idea there. see, where effexor is great for mental anxiety, it can sometime exacerbate physical anxiousness (restlessness/excitability). this is due to the noradrenergic effect of the effexor. for me, this side effect dwindled with time, and was such a minor tradeoff to the pwerful antidepressant effect I was getting from the drug. However, I did benefit from taking a low dose of a benzo as well to help with the anxiousness. Just a quick caveat, keep the dose of the benzo as low as possible, since it can worsen your current depressive symptoms (by making you feel numb). secondly, make sure you are taking the benzo dosage consistently. for instance, if you are taking a short-half-life benzo like ativan (less than 12hr half-life). make sure you are not missing your doses (but keep them small). for some, especially those sensitive to meds, missing doses of a benzo can lead to a decrease in mood. think of it in terms of early withdrawal symptoms before the drug is fully out of your system and full withdrawal occurs. for me, it's either take a benzo on a regimented schedule or not at all. missing a dose leads to a slight depressive effect.good luck
JRB
> I have been taking effexor for 19 days and for the last 4 days I have been starting to feel a lot worse. I was taking effexor for anxiety but know Im feeling depressed and slightly OCD I cant seem to get worrying thoughts out of my mind. The docter has told me to hang on in there and given me some Benzo's to help calm me down. Is this a common experince for some people who still contined to take the drug and things got better, or the opposite the continued to take the drug and got worse and had to stop taking the drug.
>
> Anyones thoughts would be well appreciated
poster:jrbecker
thread:263682
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030923/msgs/263819.html