![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Ronny on January 9, 2002, at 12:11:57
I got my bill from my neurologist for 2 visits and blood tests after having gone to him because of the PERMANANT DAMAGE I've got due to EFFEXOR(2 years off the drug).Just short of a $1000.There will be more visit's when I can afford it.The doctor couldn't find anything wrong..of course, but did put me on a mild dose of clonipine which seems to help greatly, but not completely.It's simply masking the problem.I'll be checking for lawsuits,but all three of my doctor's say.."Duh,the sideffects should have worn off by now".
And of course they charge they're usual fee for doing nothing!!
The Neurologist did joke that shrinks are beginning to refer to effexor as side-effexor.ha..ha..very funny.
Posted by cmcdougall on January 9, 2002, at 12:43:09
In reply to side-EFFEXOR!!!!!, posted by Ronny on January 9, 2002, at 12:11:57
Hey,
Did your neuro do an MRI? Curious because I took EffexorXr for 18 months and my MRI has funny white spots on it. Read my post above for more details....
What permanent damage do you have? What are your symptoms? What was your withdrawal like? Maybe we should start a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer.... I have a real good lawyer. :-)
Carly
> I got my bill from my neurologist for 2 visits and blood tests after having gone to him because of the PERMANANT DAMAGE I've got due to EFFEXOR(2 years off the drug).Just short of a $1000.There will be more visit's when I can afford it.The doctor couldn't find anything wrong..of course, but did put me on a mild dose of clonipine which seems to help greatly, but not completely.It's simply masking the problem.I'll be checking for lawsuits,but all three of my doctor's say.."Duh,the sideffects should have worn off by now".
> And of course they charge they're usual fee for doing nothing!!
> The Neurologist did joke that shrinks are beginning to refer to effexor as side-effexor.ha..ha..very funny.
Posted by IsoM on January 9, 2002, at 14:50:18
In reply to Class action lawsuit? » Ronny, posted by cmcdougall on January 9, 2002, at 12:43:09
Actually, there are a number of class-action lawsuits being filed now in Britain & the States. I know two that involve Paxil & Prozac. Here's just one link to an article about these lawsuits:
http://society.guardian.co.uk/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,547606,00.html
with further links at the bottom of the article.
>
> What permanent damage do you have? What are your symptoms? What was your withdrawal like? Maybe we should start a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer.... I have a real good lawyer. :-)
>
> Carly
>
> > I got my bill from my neurologist for 2 visits and blood tests after having gone to him because of the PERMANANT DAMAGE I've got due to EFFEXOR(2 years off the drug).Just short of a $1000.There will be more visit's when I can afford it.The doctor couldn't find anything wrong..of course, but did put me on a mild dose of clonipine which seems to help greatly, but not completely.It's simply masking the problem.I'll be checking for lawsuits,but all three of my doctor's say.."Duh,the sideffects should have worn off by now".
> > And of course they charge they're usual fee for doing nothing!!
> > The Neurologist did joke that shrinks are beginning to refer to effexor as side-effexor.ha..ha..very funny.
Posted by Ronny on January 10, 2002, at 11:25:22
In reply to Class action lawsuit? » Ronny, posted by cmcdougall on January 9, 2002, at 12:43:09
Carly,
I haven't had my MRI yet. I have to get enough money to pay my deductible so I can go back to the Neuro.I'm on disability so that won't be for awhile.Anyway, here's my story.My symptoms have gotten worse since I posted this about 4 months ago.I'll read your story too.Ok,below is my old post.About Aug.1998 my shrink put me on effexor. On the very day I took it I realized that my toes were moving around like crazy.I couldn't stop them. I got hot flashes that were so bad that I had to sleep on the floor downstairs where the air-conditioning was freezing, nervous legs, an occasional severe seizure like movement,and a mild buzzing on the bottoms of my feet,accompanied by what could be described as itching.
I told the shrink, he told me not to worry about it.So I didn't. I liked the deadness that effexor caused and I continued on the drug for another year, and during that time the good doctor told me to increase the dosage. So I did. After a while I felt as if I was being poisened, literally chemically saturated.
I started weaning myself off slowly,until I was down to one capsule.From there I asked the shrink to put me on something else. He tried Paxil,zoloft,finally prozac. All of the drugs agitated me,(the Paxil made me want to KILL people, so I quit after one dose. Paxil is REALLY wierd.
Finally after I was down to 20 mg.of Prozac I was able to withdraw and quit anti-depressants,(with the help of a tiny dose of St.John's wart.)
I was only on the zoloft and other drugs for a short time before quitting completely.
I expected the twitching and so forth to stop. But it didn't. The itching was beginning to slowly turn into slightly painful pricks.They eventually became very painful and frequent. Sometimes I felt like I was being jabbed in the eyes,the tongue,and everywhere else with an electric needle.The mild buzzing that had initially starting on the bottoms of my feet became an intense burning,and had spread to my legs and arms. My eyes always burned. I was totally agitated,yet constantly tired and paranoid.
Months later,after I had quit all anti-depressants, I still had been taking it in stride, sort of wondering if it was that serious. I went to my regular doctor three times,each time being given some trial and error medicine that never worked. ( Of course I was still charged by the good doctor,even though he failed to help.Doctors are immune to that sort of thing you know).
What got my attention was when I was at the doctor,(m.d.) for the third time and my wife came along to have her fibro-myolgia treated. He gave her CELEXA.
After the first two doses she told me it was working pretty good.
However,after waking on the third morning,her toes had also began to move around.She had the exact same symptoms that I had after only two doses.
Now you may be thinking, she's a bit nutty and she wants attention,or some such thing. But there were many
subtle details that I had never told her, and that she described to me to a T.
She had her last dose 2 weeks ago and is still experiencing the symptoms which are gradually getting worse.
Then we found the anti-Prozac site which explained why we are still having the symptoms occur.My shrink and medical doctor said that we couldn't be experiencing these problems,but this web-site not only acknowleged that we could,but explained why. The symptoms that I have described have continued two years after getting off effexor.
If any of you are plagued by simalar symptoms please write me and tell us that we're not alone!!
Posted by Niomi on October 26, 2003, at 15:07:45
In reply to Re: Class action lawsuit?, posted by Ronny on January 10, 2002, at 11:25:22
Hello everyone. My name is Niomi and this is my first posting on this site, and I found it looking for questions to my Effexor problem. I visited my uncle and found a local news paper that had information on new studies with Effexor. It said that it has been shown to make patients suicidal and more deppressed. I took Effexor for a year and two months. My doctor gave it to me after I told her about anxiety and low moods I had been going through. I stuck with it even though I felt little responses and some times episodes of explosive anger and mental anguish. It is not the first anti-deppressive medicine I take. I had in the past been given Celexa, and Paxil. All with in months or years of eachother. So I just stoped taking Effexor a month and a half ago. I did not stop cold turkey. It took three weeks of me taking smaller and smaller doses. But I read this article and I feel cheated by this medication. I attempted suicide twice with this medicine and thought about death seriously at least everyother day. I also had extream nightmares, being tired more, pains in my legs and feet that would come and go, and freak mood swings that I know are not linked to any other problem. After reading the article I searched and found this site. I want to know if there is anyone out there that has had this happen to them. And I want to know if there is anyone that knows if there is going to be a class action law suite against the makers of Effexor. If I did not have my friend there to talk and stop me, I don't know if I'd be here now. I have had deppression for years but never went as far as taking sleeping pills or breaking things around the house with what felt like uncontrolable rage. If there is anyone with info, let me know.
Thanks
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.