Does Effexor help with pain?? - Pain Management Message Board

kim32 · 04-15-2004, 10:32 AM

I am currently taking ultram, I want off of it because it
makes me sick along with headaches, but because of the withdrawals
and my chronic pain i can't get off of it.
I have read somewhere that by going on effexor that my withdrawals
won't be as bad because the effexor and ultram bind on the same
things, has anyone heard of this before??
And I also read that Effexor has been used for chronic pain, has anyone
heard of this before?? I am really depressed and have alot of anxiety because of my chronic pain, so maybe effexor will work for me????
Thanks! Kim

Karla · 04-15-2004, 12:49 PM

I was taking over 300mg, the max, for depression and it did nothing for my pain. I am trying to go off of the effexor now but found as I tried to go off of it that I had terrible anxiety attacks. So I am on a lower dose of 150 mg. I have heard horror stories by hundreds of people saying effexor is very hard to go off of. It makes you feel electrical shocks in your head every so often and you feel more anxious and just plain misserable. Some people just can't go off it because the withdrawal symptoms are just to bad. I would avoid effexor if at all possible. However it will help with depression and anxiety.

enon · 04-15-2004, 02:10 PM

I can personally attest to the side effects of quitting Effexor. I was on 300 mgs a day and made the mistake of trying to stop cold turkey. At about Day 3, my head spun so bad that I felt like a drunk coming off a month-long bender of Mad Dog. I couldn't even turn my head without almost falling down. And forget about trying to concentrate on anything at all. At one week, it wasn't subsiding so I called the doctor's office to explain what I was trying to do. After chastising me strongly for trying to quit that way, he advised that I get back on them immediately and we would discuss lowering my dosage after a couple more months. Effexor makes fundamental changes to your brain chemistry. Also, it has no impact on chronic pain. My advice is don't take it unless you suffer from BOTH depression AND anxiety as it is a long-term treatment (something my doctor failed to disclose when he started me on it).

Angel77 · 04-15-2004, 02:23 PM

Hi! I am on Doxepin (generic for something I can't remember), 50mg. It was started to see if it would help me sleep at night. Didn't make a difference there, but it stopped my migraines in their tracks and also greatly lessened the pain in my hips.

It is cheap and works great! I had the migraines about 3 out of 4 weeks a month, caused by a fracture in my C-spine. I would take narcotic pain killers and they would deaden it a bit, but not fully. The doxepin eliminated them completely. I was shocked. When I asked the pharmacist, he said that a side effect they are finding of this drug, is it's help with chronic pain. He said he thinks it's because it's a dopamine agonist, which the body needs to fight pain. My opinion on it is that our bodies kindof quit producing it in the amounts we need because the pain is so consistant. Don't know, could be way off base.

But it is worth asking your doc or pharmacist about it. Couldn't hurt. Let me know if you try it and if it works for you...or I'm just lucky and otta count my blessings.