Posted by workinonit on March 14, 2007, at 3:39:40
In reply to Re: XR: What Dosage Passes Serotonin Impact? » Hagbard, posted by SandyWeb on March 3, 2007, at 23:40:11
I have been taking Effexor for 4 years and only recently have come off it because it seems it has lost its effectiveness. I was up to 375/day. Just starting out the dreams and nite sweats and sleepiness happened to me too. They went away (unless I missed a dose- don't do it, especially when your dose gets high. The effects are magnified and it is actually difficult to function). The decreased libido and inability to orgasm- not so good. That never went away. Where previously I could orgasm once a day if not more, it just didn't happen, except maybe once every few weeks, and that is after really working at it. I accepted this as a payoff for feeling so much better on effexor.
Regarding withdrawl. It has taken me 6 weeks to go from 375 to Zero. Last dosage was 37.5 for a week. When I hit 0 mg (2 weeks ago), I had a week or so of the mind flashes/dizziness, crying spells and sadness. I had started 20 mg of Prozac concurrently. I still don't feel as well as I did but I think I need to get the Prozac dose up.
So:
For starting people, keep with it. The dreams/sweats/tiredness/ went away, esp at higher dosages. Unfortunately, the sexual side effects did not, even at higher doses. Don't worry about withdrawl. On a sensible, long term program you can do it.
For newbies, Give the med a while to kick in. Most of my side effects went away within a few weeks and when we upped my dosage to 150/dayBest of luck
poster:workinonit
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070308/msgs/740901.html