Effexor Side Effects-please Tell Me It Goes Away

[falling]

And how's the Vibryd?

 

[Didn't It Rain]

Right now, I can't really tell, honestly. I guess I keep waiting to just miraculously wake up some morning and feel totally different, but that's stupid of me to keep that in the back of my mind. I started on Viibryd on Saturday. I'm going through a lot of situational stuff at work so I am super irritable and downy clowny about things relating to that. I am not sure when I will be able to get an accurate feel on things.

 

[Jenfa]

Effexor seems to be more helpful in those with Bipolar disorder. It does feel like someone shoved an extension cord up your butt and flipped the switch, but it does get better. I've been on and off of it, and the side effects do go away. But it sounds like those aren't side effects, but perhaps direct effects :o Muscle weakness and sweating isn't something that sounds right at all. You might be having an allergy or med conflict. Keep an eye on the shortness of breath etc., anything that changes your vitals. I don't think I could take Effexor if I didn't also take Prazosin. I would need something to balance it out because it is such a strong med.

 

[Candleflames]

I think I might actually love my Effexor. I had symptom improvement almost immediately as well as some pretty intense side effects for a brief amount of time. Mostly my side effects were feeling very up, some light-headedness, nausea and vomiting (but only twice). All of that would go away after the first couple of days of upping my dose. I did the research on this med and my experience is quite unusual. I was expecting something closer to what you are experiencing.

You have one hefty list of side effects and they seem to be all over the place. A couple of things from your list of side effects stood out to me, the muscle weakness and the slurring. I seem to remember the muscle weakness from the list of possible side effects to report right away. I'm also very wary of anything that effects speech. It can be a first sign of something being off in the brain. Did you give a call to your prescribing doc? I know you are feeling a little bit better now but you should talk to your doc about what you've been experiencing, especially if you still need to go up on your dose to get to a therapeutic level.

Both of those might just mean you need to go extra slow in introducing this med back into your body or that this time it's not the right med for you. Good luck and be careful. Let us know how things progress for you.

 

[falling]

Thank you both Jenfa and Candleflames!

I'm moving into my 3rd week on effexor and the symptoms have greatly improved. YUPPIE!!!!!!
I still have some minor symptoms but they are more annoying rather than debilitating now. I don't know why I had the muscle weakness or slurring of words, etc. Both have gone now. I still sometimes feel unable/unwilling to talk and/or talk very low but I think it's due to depression? I struggle with self worth and I think it causes me to be unwilling to speak up. I dunno for sure.

The sweating continues tho that could be due to anxiety?Dizziness/virtgo has also gotten much better. All the other symptoms come and go. My mood if a little better one day and worse the next. I am willing to give it more time as Effexor worked so well for me before.

I'm so glad to hear that your responding well to it! :)

 

[Candleflames]

I'm glad the side effects are subsiding and you are feeling better. This experience show how strong you are that you can see this through despite having some awful effects.

Are you at the therapeutic dose yet or do you still need to increase the levels?

 

[falling]

Therapeutic dose-I dunno. I'm still very depressed and it's been over a month now. I'm seeking treatment by CBT and sexual assault therapy but I have never been this bad. I am trying so hard tho.

 

[Candleflames]

The minimum dose considered to be therapeutic is 75mg. I'm taking 150mg though. I started with 37.5 and slowly increased over about a month. The max for moderate depression is 225mg.

I'm sorry it's not having the effect you want. You should talk to your doc about it.

 

[falling]

I'm on 150mg but I had been taking twice that amt when I was first diagnosed with PTSD 12 years ago. Then when it was under control(about a year) I slowly went down to 75mg.

I'm more depressed now than I was then so I am going to ask about increasing the dose.

 

[mamachick]

Just started it last week. Have not been out of house since. I was on Pristiq and feeling very good, depression was controlled. Now I am crying. But I get a migraine every day a couple hours after taking and feel like I am going to stroke, dizzy and spins when I say down,light headed, blurred vision, feel like my head is on fire and my ears pop. I take a xanax then am tired and nap rest of day, in between the constant diarhia I have had since the start. Im not liking this. Im giving it another couple weeks. Glad to hear it got better for you. Im hoping because the one that worked is now $225 a month. I cant afford it. A hole insurance took it away and counseling. Changed the plan coverage. Im having surgery in a month so must get this straightened out.

 

[mamachick]

Yesterday I was doing errands and nose was numb in supermarket, felt lightheaded, etc. I went to the pharmacy where they have a blood pressure machine. My bp was 163/104. Went to ER. All labs, EKG, etc normal but bp hung at 150/100 for hours. I took a xanax on my own. They released me when it was down to 139/79. Dr thinks that it is related to Effexor. So I will not be taking any more and will see if symptoms stop. Then Dr will have to appeal to insurance for me to have my Pristiq back.

I have never had high bp before. They did say anxiety can cause high bp. Maybe pristiq helps with anxiety? I dont know, but it really angers me that the insurance and the administrators take away what is working and derail progress.Why do we need doctors, just let the administrators tell us what to take. I am just really discouraged.