Posted by justjustine on February 7, 2004, at 22:37:36
In reply to Point -Counter Point: Effexor, posted by Althea8869 on February 7, 2004, at 17:06:33
my thought is this: why not heroin?
the withdrawals i am only now getting over make me extremely wary of this drug.
i just can't recommend it other than as a last resort. i don't think there is any way you can adequately prepare someone for how hard it is to come off this stuff.
i'm glad it helps people, but i think it's awful that some people may be stuck on effexor for life. the horror stories of those who fell into hardship and couldn't afford it, or who wanted to have a baby and were forced through withdrawals, and the one woman who posted here stating that her baby was born dependent to effexor because her doctors told her it was okay to take throughout her pregnancy? a newborn baby with ssri (ssnri if you insist) withdrawals? who has any idea what that does to a child?
i have a 12 year old niece on effexor. i think it's wrong. sorry to those i might offend, it's just my opinion...
> I know this post will probably not be well received by most, but I think that it should be pointed out that Effexor is still, statistically, among the best AD's in the game. I took effexor for three years and I went through the utter hell that is effexor withdrawl, but in point of fact, of all the AD that I have tried, none compared, for me, to Effexor. It stopped working for me ultimately so I had to stop. But - if I could go back on effexor successfully again (i tried and it didnt work), I would in a heartbeat, despite what I know of the withdrawl, which for me lasted nearly three months. Further, of the ten or so psych doctors and psychopharmacologists that I have dealt with over the years, they have always said that effexor is their first choice because it simply seems to work better and more often than any of the other meds they prescribe. My guess is that this is still true now.
> I have, in the past, advised people against it because of its withdrawl issues, but now, looking back - and with all my expereinces behind me with these med's, I have reached the conclusion that: If someone is suffering badly from depression, I would make it my first choice remedy.
> I guess the point is that, for those new to this site, who are thinking they might need an antidepressant, dont look past effexor too quickly. This stuff works and it works very, very well and it works often. In fact, given all the reading I have done on the net on various sites, and in various books and many articles, including personal testimony, I think there are very few that could post similar success rates, on a percentage basis, overall.
>
> Anyway, those are my thoughts on this.
>
>
poster:justjustine
thread:310638
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040204/msgs/310765.html