i have been taking 450mg/day Efexor-XR for about 5 years and prior to this, Paroxetine for several years. my concerns are that i have experienced noticeable memory loss (both short and long term), have very low attention span and word loss. my doc explains this away as being part of my depressive condition, however, i didn't have these symptoms during the first 10 years of depression only since taking SSRIs.

Has anyone else experienced these side effects or similar? or know of any literature which has examined it?

Greenapple, My SO definitely has memory loss from SSRI's, but just certain ones cause the memory loss. He does't even recognize it, but I sure can. Badgirl

Hi I have had very embarrasing lapses of remembering words. I didn't think about it, but it just started about 2 years ago and I have been on Anti anxiety meds for 3.

I forget such simple words during conversation. I had been looking into hypo-thyroidsism because I have some of those symptoms too and one thing some people describe is forgetting words.

I am 30 - I should not be forgetting words like "cole slaw" and "laundry basket".

maybe its the meds.



[This message has been edited by Citykittie (edited 01-08-2003).]

Hi,
I find it interesting that you have been taking 450 mg Effexor for 5 years because, I took:
1998 - 1999: Max was '300'/day
1999 - 2001: Max was '375'/day
2001 - Present: Max is '450'/day
That is, these are what my shrink (U.S.) said were the max allowed doses for the given years.
Anyhow as you can see, I have also been taking large Effexor doses for several years. My doctor says Effexor CAN affect your concentration. I'm not sure about memory or anything else, although I do seem to have quite a bit more trouble remembering where I put things than I used to (that may just be advancing age, I am 46, but gee - that is not really that old, so I don't know). But as far as concentration, in my case I think there may be some effect, although it is hard to tell because if there is any, it may be offset by the anti-depressant effect of the meds, i.e. improvement in my concentration due to lessening of the depression.
This is something you must take into account, there are often other factors at work and it can be quite tricky. Try to think back, has anything else changed?, such as diet, stress level, physical/head injuries, drug use (esp. ecstasy), other environmental factors, other medications, your age, etc. etc.

thanks for your replys. justin - i'm in australia and 450mg/day is over the recommended limit (which is from memory (no pun intended) 360mg. i pointed this out to my doc but she didn't think that 450 was so much over the recommendations to cause a problem.

of course, sometimes problems are only detected 20 years down the track after we have been assured of a drug's safety. i sometimes think that antidepressants are just a replacement for benzodiazepines (like valium was mother's little helper) of the 70s.