![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Letitia Shen on June 21, 2003, at 0:45:05
Hello all, 8 years ago I was diagnosed with clinical depression. For a year I took every antidepressant on the market. I bounced in and out of psychiatric hospitals. Finially Effexor entered my life and I was able to get out of the hospitals and on with life. 4 years ago I tried Effexor XR at the same daily dose as Effexor and almost landed back where I was 8 years ago. I went straight back to normal Effexor. Now it looks like normal Effexor is being discontinued. I am currently on 150mg Effexor once a day in the morning. This works really well for me.
Any recommendations for a dosage for Effexor XR?
Posted by kalyb on June 21, 2003, at 7:13:41
In reply to Effexor vs. Effexor XR, posted by Letitia Shen on June 21, 2003, at 0:45:05
> ....Effexor entered my life and I was able to get out of the hospitals and on with life. 4 years ago I tried Effexor XR at the same daily dose as Effexor and almost landed back where I was 8 years ago. I went straight back to normal Effexor. Now it looks like normal Effexor is being discontinued. I am currently on 150mg Effexor once a day in the morning. This works really well for me.
---------------------------------
Hi Letitia,I've been on normal Effexor for about 6 weeks now and found it to be really good. My pdoc started me at 75mg once a day, which I am still taking.
When I realised there was an Effexor XR version, I queried this with him, asking if the XR might be better than taking just one normal Effexor once a day because of its short half life. He replied that he has found less side effects with the normal Effexor at the dosage he gave me. I have to say he was right there, I only had side effects for a couple of days after starting it and I feel great now.
So, on the basis of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" I've stayed on the normal version, and he's given me permission to try upping the dose and experimenting with it to fine-tune things.
I have no idea if they are discontinuing the normal Effexor - I am in the UK not the USA. But I doubt they would, since it's very clear that some people do much better on the normal than the XR, and it's much easier to play around to find the ideal dose on the normal.
I sincerely hope they are not discontinuing it. The Effexor I take is imported from Italy, so they may continue to manufacture it in Europe.
This might be one occasion where writing to the drug mfrs could be of help. At the very least they would have some feedback that the normal Effexor still needs to be made.
Kalyb xx
Posted by Anton on June 23, 2003, at 0:22:29
In reply to Re: Effexor vs. Effexor XR, posted by kalyb on June 21, 2003, at 7:13:41
> > ....Effexor entered my life and I was able to get out of the hospitals and on with life. 4 years ago I tried Effexor XR at the same daily dose as Effexor and almost landed back where I was 8 years ago. I went straight back to normal Effexor. Now it looks like normal Effexor is being discontinued. I am currently on 150mg Effexor once a day in the morning. This works really well for me.
> ---------------------------------
> Hi Letitia,
>
> I've been on normal Effexor for about 6 weeks now and found it to be really good. My pdoc started me at 75mg once a day, which I am still taking.
>
> When I realised there was an Effexor XR version, I queried this with him, asking if the XR might be better than taking just one normal Effexor once a day because of its short half life. He replied that he has found less side effects with the normal Effexor at the dosage he gave me. I have to say he was right there, I only had side effects for a couple of days after starting it and I feel great now.
>
> So, on the basis of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" I've stayed on the normal version, and he's given me permission to try upping the dose and experimenting with it to fine-tune things.
>
> I have no idea if they are discontinuing the normal Effexor - I am in the UK not the USA. But I doubt they would, since it's very clear that some people do much better on the normal than the XR, and it's much easier to play around to find the ideal dose on the normal.
>
> I sincerely hope they are not discontinuing it. The Effexor I take is imported from Italy, so they may continue to manufacture it in Europe.
>
> This might be one occasion where writing to the drug mfrs could be of help. At the very least they would have some feedback that the normal Effexor still needs to be made.
>
> Kalyb xx
>
>I'm an aussie and have only started effexor, I don't even think we have effexor XR here yet.
Posted by Letitia Shen on June 23, 2003, at 13:26:50
In reply to Effexor vs. Effexor XR, posted by Letitia Shen on June 21, 2003, at 0:45:05
I called Wyeth (800)999-9384 they said that they are allocating a certain amount of regular Effexor to the wholesellers. Regular Effexor is still available. My "guess" is that there are significantly less people taking regular Effexor than Effexor XR, so the manufacturer is trying not to over produce and have a bunch of expired Effexor.
I am still interested in people who have switched from regular Effexor to Effexor XR.
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.