Posted by chemist on May 1, 2004, at 22:04:44
In reply to Re: relative efficacy of Effexor to the SSRIs }} SLS, posted by seeknsolace on May 1, 2004, at 20:35:23
> > > I have been through the withdraral period (13 weeks of hell)
> > > after 5 years on Effexor. I was in a fog for all of that time.
> > > I am still not myself after almost a year. My site, dougtyler.com
> > > has a lot of information and a way to get involved if you're like me
> > > and want the idiots who make this stuff to pay us all back for what
> > > we've been through. I am NOT selling anything.
> > > Go to Effexor link at the bottom of the page. thanks and be well.
> >
> > ...and the fact that you were taking effexor for 5 years and did not discontinue earlier makes you a victim of idiots? you are selling something: it's called a class-action lawsuit and publicity, both which would benefit you - monetarily. regardless of whether effexor has helped you (and others) or not helped you (or others) does not let you off the hook for continuing to ingest it for 5 years and then suing your doctors and wyeth. do you smoke cigarettes. too? maybe you can get some $$$ from the tobacco companies....with the most sincere wishes for your crusade, chemist
>
>
> I agree with you chemist but at the same time understand the underlying anger doug has. However, monetary settlement isnt going to give any justice to the withdrawl hell we have endured or for those to have yet go thru with it.
>
> Life isnt fair for the healthy minded or for us, chronically depressed. Money isnt going to deliver any of us, taking effexor off the market isnt going to solve anything either.
>
> I'm sure no dr maliciously gave us effexor so that we would suffer its effects, they are human too and even if Wyeth knows of the withdrawal reactions, in some sense they have done a good thing in creating the drug. I mean it did help most of us right? Even if it was only in the beginning.. at least for a passing moment, we got to embrace life.
>
> I know in truth, if it wasnt for effexor, taking the edge off of being bipolar, having anxiety disorder/panick attacks and seasonal effective disorder, I wouldnt have gained the strength and knowledge I learned in understanding myself, my emotions, ways to cope, especially now with the dark seasons approaching, being that bipolar is forever and it hits worse come the late fall season.
>
> Ok just rambling now. To wrap this up, just saying there is no monetary value that give the dream and hope of being free from depression and I would give a billion dollars to know what it is to feel alive.. consistantly.
>
i concur. for those who have not picked up on my personal history, i have been on the development end and the receiving end of psychopharmaceuticals. and i don't mean marketing. improperly diagnosed as unipolar depression with agoraphobia and GAD over 10 years ago, i ran the gamut from luvox to remeron to celexa to parnate to paxil, and not in that order. additionally, there was tegretol, trileptal, topamax, neurontin, depakote. and then there were (concurrently) ambien, xanax, restoril, dalmane, halcion, klonopin, valium, and ativan. i am certain i missed a few, but it took a psychotic break while on parnate and a visit to a leading authority on bipolar (details for anyone who wants to know; involved with DSM-III and is a proponent of verapamil) to get things kind of straight. did i mention geodon and dexedrine? probably not.....or ritalin, come to think of it....you and the rest of us are not alone. and as you point out, effexor and countless other meds have helped many, and the last thing any drug manufacturer wants is for their product to fail, and that is for financial reasons. we, their target audience, also want success, because our lives can be (at least) marginally better if the right combination is found. it is not to anyone's benefit to go after drug companies, and citing a dearth of long-term studies is usually because the drug has not been on the market for long-term, randomized, controlled longitudinal studies. want a target? health insurance companies. preexisting conditions ranging from ``have you seen a mental healthcare practicioner in the past five years?'' to ``do you have high cholesterol?'' put you in the high-risk category. i am looking at the recent insert from a script i had filled yesterday for 60 2 mg generic alprazolam (xanax) tablets from a common pharmacy in a grocery store: my savings vs. the brand-name was $173.48, and i do not have prescription coverage. instead of being on the hook for $196.56, i strolled out for $23.08. yet i digress: doug's anger is misdirected, and i am no stranger to anger, but i know where to draw the line. if you don't like your therapist, try another. if your shrink is predisposed to prescribing for you a drug that is ineffective, try another. the greatest realization we have within ourselves is the ability to instigate change and not feel victimized by an industry that, on the whole, has done more good than harm. all the best, chemist
poster:chemist
thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040429/msgs/342335.html