Posted by Racer on September 12, 2008, at 19:20:45
In reply to Re: Effexor side effects- help! (anyone?), posted by thinkingitover on September 12, 2008, at 7:31:17
My guess, which is all this is, has to do with the cross taper part -- Zoloft and Effexor are different enough I'd bet you're concurrently dealing with discontinuation symptoms from Zoloft while also experiencing adjustment phase effects from Effexor.
The Generalized Gnarliness is probably a combination of both factors. The sweating may, indeed, be from the Effexor, I seem to remember it could do that for some people. The derealization could be from either factor, so I'd say give it a couple of weeks to see if it goes away. (Do get your blood pressure checked, though, in case this is somehow lowering it.)
Most drugs require a bit of adjustment, and there's always the question of how fast to titrate up. For myself, I usually tell my psychopharmacologist that I don't want to start at microdoses and go up as slowly as possible -- yes, it can mean more adjustment issues, but I'd rather go up sensibly and avoid an interminable wait to see if the medication will help. (He'll offer me, for example, to start Zoloft at 12.5 mg, but then I'd have to suffer through a much longer adjustment than if I just go ahead and start with 25mg or 50mg.) Others go the low and slow route, because it works better for them. Which is best is really a personal choice.
The point of all those words is that you know what works better for you -- a shorter titration, with a slightly larger dose increase? Or a longer, smoother titration? For most medications, it's a personal comfort thing.
My overall advice is that you might do very well on Effexor. I don't think you've mentioned why you're switching, but Effexor is a very good medication for many people.
By the way, are you talking about the immediate release formulation? If so, you would do very well to discuss with your doctor switching the the extended release Effexor XR.
Best luck.
poster:Racer
thread:851526
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080903/msgs/851710.html