Posted by Racer on March 13, 2007, at 12:41:35
In reply to Effexor XR dilemma to take or not?, posted by valene on March 13, 2007, at 8:19:50
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> Now am extremely depressed, desperate no known reason, and my pdoc has prescribed effexor xr 75mg. increasing to 150mg after a week. I am scared to death, already being "hooked" on xanax and not successful in complete w/d.It's understandable that you'd be frightened, especially with all the bad things one hears about Effexor. The bottom line is that it works for some people, it doesn't work for others, and it requires a bit of planning to discontinue. It's not terrible, it's not perfect, but if it works *for you,* then it's a good choice *for you.*
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> She says that the SNri's are most like the trycyclic Elavil which helped me in the past. Is this true? (Can't take tricyclic due to heart condition).That's true. A lot of tricyclics affect norepinephrine, as do many (or most?) of the tricyclics. If Elavil worked for you, it's probably worth trying another noradrenergic medication. Like Effexor or Cymbalta.
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> I fear the effexor so much due to "discontinuation" and would rather try Lexapro which a famous psychpharmacologist recommended to me a year ago.I won't lie to you about this: during the time I was on Effexor, my pdoc wasn't very good about getting refills authorized, and I ran out a few times. (In fact, that's part of the reason I stopped taking it.) When I ran out, it was pretty hellish -- headache, dizziness, nausea, generally feeling as though I was about to die. But that was cold turkey from a high dose. When I actually went to stop it for real, I tapered down slowly, and didn't have any of those problems. And there are things you can do -- benedryl, low dose prozac, etc -- that reduce the discomfort even more. And when I stopped Cymbalta, it was a cake walk -- reduced the dose a bit, then stopped, no problem. Don't let fear of discontinuation stop you from trying it. It might be the right answer for you, and you'd hate to miss out on that, wouldn't you?
As for Lexapro, it's another good drug, for those it works for. It was not successful for me, so I'm probably biassed. What I can tell you, though, is that it's another SSRI, like Prozac. It may be more targetted, it may have fewer side effects, it tends to be more sedating than Prozac. It's pretty targetted at serotonin, though, so if you really do need some norepinephrine in the mix, it won't do it for you. It's also worth trying, though. Just -- a lot of doctors seem to call it a wonder drug, because it's more selective, because it's newer, because the drug rep's been by more recently, because they like the name, because of any number of things that may or may not have anything to do with your needs. Even if it's a big name doctor, keep in mind that what works for some may not work for you.
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> I have GAD, social anxiety and depression. Should I go with the effexor (can you ever get off it) or the lexapro?
> Thanks,
> ValWhat does your doctor say? Your doctor is suggesting Effexor, based on your history -- Prozac didn't help, Elavil did. I take it you're not seeing the famous psychopharmacologist? Did you consult him, or see him for a while and change? I don't know the story, but I think it's worth giving your doctor's prescription a try.
Good luck.
poster:Racer
thread:740654
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070308/msgs/740700.html