Posted by dave_b on August 8, 2007, at 14:52:23
In reply to SD -- great idea from 4WD, posted by Racer on July 7, 2005, at 23:26:31
> I hadn't thought of Effexor, although I'm not a fan of it, so that's probably why. (It conked out on me pretty badly, after about two years.)
>
> Effexor is an option, though, since it does seem to reduce anxiety for a lot of people. Including, to some extent, me.
>
> Cymbalta might be a good option, too, since it works on a similar mechanism, and is a bit calming. Plus, it's more weight-neutral -- in my experience, at least -- than Effexor.
>
> Hope that helps.
Oooh. Effexor is HORRIBLE stuff. The half life is about five hours, and my experience with missing a single dose was the most horrific flu-like symptoms and dizziness (what other people call "brain shivers", but more like vertigo to me). It took over six months for me to completely wean off it, and to be perfectly honest, I never though it did all that much for my anxiety. I'm still anxious as hell ever day.I have many of the same kinds of problems that you've described, except I was never a heavy drug user. People describe me as negative, and I have difficulty holding onto a job (which tends to increase anxiety). I've tried paxil, effexor, zoloft and wellbutrin, but the only one that worked for me was wellbutrin (the others had some really nasty side effects including the weight gain, sexual disfunction, and the wonderful "brain shivers"). I average about nine months on a job, and am constantly anxious about losing my job. I've tried therapy, self-help, education, constant self-improvement and skills enhancement, and I'm still constantly unhappy with my job or feel on the verge of losing the one I have. I'm chronically afraid of my boss (probably because of the number of times I've lost jobs). In short, I seem to have all the issues you have except the drug use in the past.
poster:dave_b
thread:524465
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070808/msgs/774829.html