Posted by drac on February 22, 2006, at 17:37:47
Hi, I am glad I stumbled accross this website. Since I have been taking Effexor I had noticed some weird things. I tried hard to ignor them as they happened because my depression seemed to be waning.
Without going in to whole diatribe of why I ended up on Effexor suffice it to say I am taking in in lieu of Luvox for the treatment of Panic Disorder and Seasonal Affect Depression.
Since I have been taking Effexor I have also been waning from some other prescriptions to see if I can reduce the amount of drugs. Over a period of 6 months I have successfully reduced the amount of Clonazapam I take four-fold, and Wellbutrin in half. Having done this in the past with Luvox, I know what withdrawal normally feels like and let me tell you this ain't it.
I read through many of your posts and finally find that I am not alone in these feelings. Here is a list of things I am going through:
- no energy (I normally have reduced energy, but I have trouble getting up off the couch without losing my breath and heart racing - feeling like I'm gonna die)
- elevated BP. My Bp was slightly elevated before taking Effexor, but now it has been climbing despite my GP's efforts to reduce it with a angiotension inhibitor. Don't see any interaction warnings but I have to wonder.
- Nightmares,
- body spasms in my sleep,
- yelling/screaming, moaning in my sleep
- poor sleep
- restlessness
- memory problems - whoa can I talk about this
- feeling like I'm out of body
- inability to concentrate
- extinguished (not diminished) sex drive
- difficulty distinguishing dreams from reality
- suicidal thoughts (although not accompanied by depression)
- shaking
- sweating
- the list goes onLately the effect that is taking hold of me is the difficulty distinguishing reality from my dreams. I don't know what to do about this one. My memory seems to be toast. Although I have noticed this for some months, I thought it would go away. This morning (in a meeting) I couldn't even piece together thoughts from my co-workers. It was like every word out of their mouths was random. Reading has become the same for me. I don't retain anything. But more significant to me seems to be that when I try to recall things, I don't know for sure if I am recalling dream information or actual information. Several times I was caught talking about things in dreams with my partner as though they were reality. I was irritated with my partner because he did not follow-through with somethings I had asked him to do. Turns out I had never asked it, but dreamed it. yeah I know - spouses can be forgetful, but this has also happened with coworkers. It is geting kind of debilitating. I have to write down everything. This really is not like me at all - my peers have been jokingly saying that it's my turning 40 that is the cause. The fact that they have noticed gives me pause.
Ramble ramble - I'm really surprised that I managed to say as much as I did in this message. I guess the point I was really trying to get across is "thanks for posting" to everyone, I now know that I'm not alone. Where in the side-effects on the product does it describe the side-effects that we are feeling. Some of them are there. What about the others?
Maybe a "quality of life" study is needed.
poster:drac
thread:612156
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060219/msgs/612156.html