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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by ty_webb on October 17, 2003, at 14:18:12
I've been on Effexor XR 75mg for about a year. I started out slowly from 1 capsule a day to 2 a day. Once I got to the 2/day regimen I started to feel a bloating sensation on the lower left quadrant of my abdomen. Along with this I had bouts of constipation or diarreha. My day was riddled with frequent trips to the bathroom to move my bowels. I also noticed that I would to get really itchy at times with no explanation.
I got fed up and decided to try and quit this stuff cold turkey. BAD IDEA! I was ok for about half of the day then I was hit with dizziness, a sort of zapping sensation, light sensitivity in my eyes, and more bouts of diarrhea. I immediately went back to my regular dosage. At my next doctor visit I mentioned the bloating that I had experienced prior to going cold turkey. He recommended that I cut back my dosage to one 75mg capsule a day. The bloating seemed to go away and I was feeling a bit better.Fast forward to July 4th of this year; I started to get itchy little welts in various areas of my body. Since it was summer I figured it must be mosquito bites. It wasn’t because the bumps started to get worse over time. I was popping benadryls like they were going out of style. On my next visit to my GP he sent me to a Allergist who did a quick scratch test and handed me three different antihistamine sample and prescription, an epi-pen and a diagonosis of Idiomatic Urticaria (Hives) and Angiodema. I settled on the Allegra prescription because that is the one the insurance would pay for. While on my honeymoon I legitimately forgot to take my 75mg of Effexor XR for a couple of days. I started to get the bouts of diarrhea, but since I was in Mexico I thought it might have been something I ate. Then it dawned what was causing the irritable bowels, no Effexor in my system. The one good thing that I did notice was that my hives were much less worse those days under the Antihistamine treatments.
Just last week I mentioned the lack of hives on the Effexor so he instructed me to wean myself off of the Effexor. I started splitting the capsules in half and taking a half a day (roughly 37.5mg). Today is my third day off of Effexor XR totally. I have slight zaps now and then, but it is nowhere near the drama of going cold turkey. The only problem is I still have the hives and they don’t seem to be getting better. I’m wondering if anyone else has had problems with hives or itchiness in general while on Effexor XR. I feel as though the Effexor has something to do with the hives.
Posted by Ron Jones on October 17, 2003, at 14:42:25
In reply to Effexor XR and Hives, posted by ty_webb on October 17, 2003, at 14:18:12
This is a prime example of what I am talking about .The doctor should have told you that effexor has a short half life and that you can not stop it cold turkey or your brain will go haywire.I have read that that effexor has very bad wtithdrall problems due to short half life.Here you have they strange hives problems.Look it up in the physcians desk reference as a side effect.Do you understand this?I have done tons of research on drugs trying to find out the cause of all thses strange side effects.SSri drugs seem to cause massive disruptions in normal brain function leading to strange side effects.I could not belive that people really had these side effects they were so abnormal.A lot of side effects are caused by ssri drugs blocking the release of actycholine and dopamine.I just want the truth about these drugs.What is it ?They do not work for everone and have bad side effects.Has enough testing been done.Do doctors really understand the side effects and what causes them?
Posted by ty_webb on October 17, 2003, at 14:57:50
In reply to Re: Effexor XR and Hives, posted by Ron Jones on October 17, 2003, at 14:42:25
I checked this site http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/rxdrugprofiles/drugs/eff1153.shtml and sure enough Hives was listed under the "special warnings about this medication". Not to mention that I seemed to have most of the side effects both common and less common to this drug.
> This is a prime example of what I am talking about .The doctor should have told you that effexor has a short half life and that you can not stop it cold turkey or your brain will go haywire.I have read that that effexor has very bad wtithdrall problems due to short half life.Here you have they strange hives problems.Look it up in the physcians desk reference as a side effect.Do you understand this?I have done tons of research on drugs trying to find out the cause of all thses strange side effects.SSri drugs seem to cause massive disruptions in normal brain function leading to strange side effects.I could not belive that people really had these side effects they were so abnormal.A lot of side effects are caused by ssri drugs blocking the release of actycholine and dopamine.I just want the truth about these drugs.What is it ?They do not work for everone and have bad side effects.Has enough testing been done.Do doctors really understand the side effects and what causes them?
Posted by Ron Jones on October 17, 2003, at 15:10:59
In reply to Re: Effexor XR and Hives » Ron Jones, posted by ty_webb on October 17, 2003, at 14:57:50
Another person cured by an SSRI drug.What the hell is going on here?Is this not just unreal?You have made my case for me .Thank you so much!Are there no reasonable ,sane,logical people with a mental illness?How could there be?maybe I am the only one.God help us all.Just little sheep.
Posted by NikkiT2 on October 17, 2003, at 15:51:42
In reply to Re: Effexor XR and Hives, posted by Ron Jones on October 17, 2003, at 15:10:59
I'm finding your posts pretty offensive Ron.. I am NOT a little sheep, or anything of the sort.. but if I didn't take medication, I WOULD BE DEAD.
And yes, there are alot of side effects, but its not just mental health meds that have side effects. Just about ALL medication has side effects.
And anythiing made of a chemical compound can cause hives if someone is allergic to them. I have recently found out I am allergic to my own sweat, they give me terrible terrible hives.. would you suggest I no longer sweat as sweat can be dangerous???
Maybe you would rather no one take meds to help their depression and just go off and kill themselves??
Posted by Dr. Bob on October 17, 2003, at 19:44:37
In reply to Re: Effexor XR and Hives, posted by Ron Jones on October 17, 2003, at 15:10:59
> Are there no reasonable ,sane,logical people with a mental illness? ... maybe I am the only one. ... Just little sheep.
Please be sensitive to the feelings of others and don't post anything that could lead them to feel accused or put down:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faq.html#civil
Thanks,
Bob
PS: Follow-ups regarding posting policies, and complaints about posts, should be redirected to Psycho-Babble Administration; otherwise, they may be deleted.
This is the end of the thread.
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