![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by pellmell on August 22, 2001, at 13:52:37
Is anyone else on this ride?
At first Effexor drained me of my energy, then after a few weeks it became a bit activating (or at least not sedating anymore), and now in the past ten days I've had close to zero energy again. I'm also feeling depression return. This has happened to me over a 2 month period on 150mg. I'm disconcerted because at around the 6 week mark it seemed to be really working...
Has anyone else had this experience with the drug? Or is it likely something else in my life?
Thanks for your responses,
-pm
Posted by Beanie on August 22, 2001, at 14:10:14
In reply to Effexor energy roller coaster , posted by pellmell on August 22, 2001, at 13:52:37
move over pellmell, you have someone that is riding the roller coaster with ya :)
I am in my 2nd week of Effexor and each day is new to me. The first week I was on 37.5 mg and had no reaction. Second week (this week) I moved up to 75 mg and can't seem to stop staring at the walls, no sleep, can't eat, sex ? what is that?, nervousness, you name it! Is this drug worth it ?
I did have an UP day yesterday...life could not have been better :) BUT today is a DOWN day and I see no reason to live..
So pellmell, you are not alone.
Gena
Posted by Janelle on August 22, 2001, at 14:19:21
In reply to Effexor energy roller coaster , posted by pellmell on August 22, 2001, at 13:52:37
I've been on an interesting ride with EffexorXR also. And it has not been pleasant.
At first Effexor (37.5 mg) didn't seem to do much of anything except some increased activation, but as I titrated up gradually, the activation got worse - I was jittery, shaky and felt caffeinated. I got to 150 mg, and that was my worst day; called pdoc and she had me go back to 75 mg/day where I'd been holding for weeks, while we fine tuned Lamictal. Now, I'm at the point of tapering OFF the EffexorXR. The first day I went down to 37.5 mg, activation and feelng caffeinated returned! Geez, what was that about! Thankfully, it only lasted that one day. Now, I notice that my mind is less foggy and the jitters seem to be gone. I'm going to hang at 37.5 for awhile before going off, as I hope and pray to avoid withdrawal symptoms (been there, done that - all of them with paxil withdrawal and it was HORRIBLE).
I would ask you this - what DOSE were you at when you recached the 6 week mark, when you said the Effexor was really working? I ask because I've read that at low doses (75 mg/day and below), it works primarily on Serotonin, and at higher doses (above 75 mg/day), it works more on Norephinephrine, and the latter can be "too much" for some people (like me!)
-Janelle
Posted by Andre Allard on August 23, 2001, at 0:12:31
In reply to Effexor energy roller coaster , posted by pellmell on August 22, 2001, at 13:52:37
The first time I took effexor I found it to be stimulating at a dose of 225mg. The second time around on 225mg I did not get the same response and the dose was not as stimulating. I then increased the dose to 300mg and turned into a god damn zombie. My days were spent sleeping, relaxing, sleeping, yawning and then sleeping some more.
The third time around, 75mg put me on my ass for most of the day. At 225mg it became activating again but did not seem to give the same response. My pdoc suggested cranking the does up to 375mg and now I am at 450mg.
At this dose I can definetely feel the effects the drug has on norepinephrine.
What used to take 225mg to work now takes almost twice the dose. I cannot keep on cranking up the dose or sooner or later I will be close to a gram.
The response from the effexor is not the same unless I take trazadone at night. I find that trazadone cancels out any irritibility and agitation. I also to 3g of tryptophan.
Good luck!
Posted by Beanie on August 23, 2001, at 8:25:29
In reply to Re: Effexor energy roller coaster , posted by Andre Allard on August 23, 2001, at 0:12:31
I too am on Trazodone at night. Thanks for your input because I was affraid to take both Effexor in the morning (75 mg) and then Trazodone at bed time (50 mg).
Monday I was in a bad mood, very angry.
Tuesday came and the world was at peace. Wednesday was a big crying party for me.
What today brings has not been revealed to me just yet, but it's only 8am...there is still time.
Why can't we all be normal?
Why do we have to live each day wondering what the mood will be?
I give thanks to my wonderful husband for his patience and support. Bless his heart, he never knows what kind of wife he will be coming home to.
Posted by wendi on August 23, 2001, at 12:01:04
In reply to Re: Effexor energy roller coaster , posted by Andre Allard on August 23, 2001, at 0:12:31
> I also take trazadone at night and effexor during the day. I was never told what the trazadone did. How much do you take? I have taken anywhere from 50mg to 150mg at night but haven't figured out which dosage works best. Any suggestions?
The first time I took effexor I found it to be stimulating at a dose of 225mg. The second time around on 225mg I did not get the same response and the dose was not as stimulating. I then increased the dose to 300mg and turned into a god damn zombie. My days were spent sleeping, relaxing, sleeping, yawning and then sleeping some more.
>
> The third time around, 75mg put me on my ass for most of the day. At 225mg it became activating again but did not seem to give the same response. My pdoc suggested cranking the does up to 375mg and now I am at 450mg.
>
> At this dose I can definetely feel the effects the drug has on norepinephrine.
>
> What used to take 225mg to work now takes almost twice the dose. I cannot keep on cranking up the dose or sooner or later I will be close to a gram.
>
> The response from the effexor is not the same unless I take trazadone at night. I find that trazadone cancels out any irritibility and agitation. I also to 3g of tryptophan.
>
> Good luck!
Posted by Andre Allard on August 24, 2001, at 18:19:35
In reply to Effexor energy roller coaster , posted by pellmell on August 22, 2001, at 13:52:37
I have taken 50 - 150mg of trazadone. When I take 150mg I need to sleep a min of 10hrs or else I am groggy almost the entire day.
100mg works best for me.
Posted by Firebabe on August 26, 2001, at 18:37:46
In reply to Effexor energy roller coaster , posted by pellmell on August 22, 2001, at 13:52:37
> YES...!! Same thing happened to me. My doc just upped my dose to 300mg in the morning, and its terrible! I was good on the 150mg, but she felt the need to increase it! now i am tired, nauseous, dizzy, sweating, did that happen to you too?
Posted by indigo on August 27, 2001, at 13:58:50
In reply to Re: Effexor energy roller coaster » Andre Allard, posted by wendi on August 23, 2001, at 12:01:04
Folks,
I too have had weird variations in mood on effexor! Trying hard to figure it out. Can I ask whether those of you experiencing the roller coaster-like fluctuations in energy and mood were taking more than one pill a day, whether you were taking your pill(s) at the same time each day, and any other timing related details you can remember? I am taking effexor xr, and really think it is designed to go in cycles that produce energy (which can be anxiety and irritability), then calm (which can be somnolence and fatigue). My theory is that if I time it just right, I can get the cycles in tandem, so that the energy is balanced by the calming effect. Does anyone agree or disagree?
Posted by wendi on August 27, 2001, at 14:53:28
In reply to Re: Effexor energy roller coaster, posted by indigo on August 27, 2001, at 13:58:50
> I was really looking forward to taking the effexor xr so that I would only have to take one pill a day. Unfortunatly after 1 1/2 weeks of the rollor coaster, I had to go back to the effexor immediate release tablets. The xr works really good for some people but it just didn't work right for me. I now take 150mgs in the morning at 7:00 and 150mgs at 4:00 and I'm doing great. I really like effexor and don't want to change to a different anti-deppresant. The xr just didn't release the medication when I most needed it.
Folks,
> I too have had weird variations in mood on effexor! Trying hard to figure it out. Can I ask whether those of you experiencing the roller coaster-like fluctuations in energy and mood were taking more than one pill a day, whether you were taking your pill(s) at the same time each day, and any other timing related details you can remember? I am taking effexor xr, and really think it is designed to go in cycles that produce energy (which can be anxiety and irritability), then calm (which can be somnolence and fatigue). My theory is that if I time it just right, I can get the cycles in tandem, so that the energy is balanced by the calming effect. Does anyone agree or disagree?
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.