Effexor XR side-effects?

[Eyrdan]

Hello,

About a year ago I fell into a rather deep nervous depression for no apparent reason, accompanied by severe anxiety/panic attacks. When I say severe, I mean two months of being crippled rolled up in a ball on the floor of my appartment with chest pains thinking I was dying. I went through series of tests for month after month, checking if I had inherited the family's thyroid problems and so on, and everything came back a negative. Nothing seemed to be physically wrong with me, in fact all results seemed to point I was in perfect health on all fronts (was kinda surprised myself, I was sure I at least had high cholesterol or something, but even that turned out perfect). So finally my dad pulled some ties and got me a doctor which was a childhood friend of his so that I could have a doctor that I could trust. After reviewing my tests and performing some more, he came to the conclusion to put me on Effexor XR.

Months have passed since then, and now I'm at 112.5 mg daily (from what I understand, this is a relatively low dosage). However, through recent discussions with friends, someone pointed me to a drug awareness website saying that I should check it out because it concerned me. I went there and found some scary stories about people on Effexor, so I got concerned and looked for a board to post and get feedback (and here I am).

Since I started on Effexor, several things have been happening that I haven't paid attention to. Since before I was on medication, I ended up several times at the ER and got humiliated and sent back home saying there was nothing wrong with me, most of the Effexor side effects I just dimissed, ignored, thinking it was again my anxiety acting up. But looking at past stories I'm realizing there is more to it.

I'm starting to be a bit afraid to be honest, and I'm wondering what I should do... should I consult my doctor to be taken off the drug slowly to avoid withdrawal before things get worst, etc. Right now, what I've experienced that I originally ignored and now am paying attention to:

- Muscle spasms/tension... I had this before I went on the drug, and it never stopped, in fact, it got worst... my muscles are tense 24/7... sometimes hurting from strain. Upside was that I now have a sexy six pack for abs, and my pects are nice and firm, muscle tone is raising and so on, simply due to the fact my muscles are having spasms continuously.

- My appetite is never ending... never realized this until lately because I was always known as a pig when it came to food (always took 2-3 times more than everyone), but recently urges are stronger, I even joked about 'maybe I'm pregnant' (the joke is since I'm male) because I'm always eating and never full and get urges for weird flavors of ice cream and so on.

- For 4 months now, my jaw has been locked. I can't open it more than a few centimeters... I figured again it was a family thing, my mom has similar symtoms when she's stressed, but after a couple of months it's starting to be ridiculous... getting sick of having to squish food just to have a bite (especially since my appetite is now without boundaries)..

- I sweat a lot at night... not to mention wake up in the middle of the night after 4-5 hours... last week I remember waking up to change the bed sheets because they were soaking wet... not fun. When I mentioned the sleep problems my doctor put me on Desyrel at night, and yeah, it has helped make me sleep, but having to take a drug in order to sleep seems ridiculous when I consider this might be a long term thing.

- I've had weird dreams/nightmares... I heard of this happening during withdrawal, but in my case it seems to be during instead... :/ Seriously, when I say weird, I mean waking up, calling a friend to make sure everything is alright... Once woke up screaming "no! no! no!" from a nightmare... don't even remember that ever happening when I was a kid.

- Dry mouth... well that one is a given, heard it's very frequent... although lately it's worst.. the back of my throat seems to hurt from irritation. Been meaning to talk to my doctor about this.

- Lack of motivation.. I thought it was my depression still in effect, but I'm wondering if there's more to it. I'm currently a part time university student, although at this rate I'll never finish. When I first had panic attacks I was full time, then I took the summer off to relax, and went back full time in the fall. Midway through the term (and I was on Effexor at the time), I fell into a blackhole of motivation. I disconnected my phone line, never answered the door, stopped going to classes, ... eventually I chatted with someone on the net and she recommended I seek help, and I did, and was removed from 3 out of 5 classes for medical reasons... that releaved some of the stress, and I felt more confident to face my classes and started going again... but this term I decided to stick to only one class to not push myself... problem is, it seems even this one single class is draining more and more out of me.. I can't motivate myself to go at all. (in fact, I have class tomorrow morning, and judging by the time I'm writing this, I don't think I'll be able to wake up and time and will probably miss it AGAIN)

- The one that gets me worried the most is something that happened a few times during the last few weeks... I'd go to bed, relax, try to sleep, then suddenly hear a big boom/buzz in my ears that would leave immediately... first time it almost felt like something exploding, and last few times it was just like if someone slapped me with both hands right on the ears. I didn't know if this was Effexor related, but now that I read some stories about it, I've seen several people mentionning buzzing sounds and so on, and it's getting me worried, because it really DOESN'T sound like something good is happening to me.

Now I'm thinking about getting off the drug and possibly quiting school to go live with my parents for a while while I get back on my feet. I don't think I can live like this much longer. I think I'd actually be able to face the panic attacks without medication now, because even on Effexor I've had a few and have learnt to deal with them and reduce their impacts. Seriously, panic attacks might not be fun, but if the side effects I'm experiencing are effexor-related, this means they will only continue or get worst, and I don't want to go there.

Anyone here willing to give me a hand or show some support, provide advice, and so on? This is my first time reaching out to others who might have experienced the same thing. So far I've felt rather alone in this, my family tries to show support, but they don't understand what I'm going through at all.

-Frank

[Nigel555]

Hi Frank,

I know how you feel my friend, this last few months I have been bad just can't be bothered with life can't sleep at night, sweating, fussy head,the feeling as if my words are not coming out right when I speak,feeling shaky, etc etc and I offen feel that I can't carry on with life, but my lovely wife and children keep me going,they have just change my tablets to Paroxetine (Paxil) but this is only my 18th day on them and I still feel like crapp.

I'm just hoping things are going to get better soon fingers crossed but I sure know how u feel

Regards Nigel

[Eyrdan]

You're blessed with a loving wife and children. I hope you're thankful everyday they are there. Here my family doesn't understand. Sadly enough, the one who understands me the most is my 8-year-old cat. My dad just raises his voice at me if I try to talk to him about my problems shouting at me that I don't do anything to help myself out. My mom only loans me money, and keeps insisting I need to give it back, shying away from actual conversation. My brother, who's got major psychological problems, just gets violent and feels threaten as if I'm trying to steal attention from him. In the end, the only pleasure I have is at night when I lie alone in my appartment in bed cuddling with my cat. It's a sad story. And people used to think I was a prodigal son. I always came out on top of everyone, climb ladders at work. People used to refer to me as a computer programming genius. Now all that potential seems to be disappearing. I also feel my brain losing its intellectual capacities. :/

And I thought Effexor would help me out. It did get rid of several things, but it replaced them with more problems. In the only peaceful part of my day when I fall asleep at night, one of the reassuring thoughts is that maybe, just maybe, I won't wake up in the morning. Tried seeing a psychiatrist, just to get my dosage raised in the end. Seriously, people have dreams, career plans, mine now are fairie tail dreams of the possibility of going back to childhood when my illusions of reality hadn't been shattered yet.

Funny when you think about it. I'm already on two drugs supposed to help combat depression, and my depression is just getting deeper everyday. Pills are not the answer for me, that much I figured out. Only afraid that if I stop taking them, the withdrawal phase from Effexor will just be that drop of water to spill the glass.

[creinha]

Eyrdan,

If I may ask... besides Effexor, what is the other medication you're taking?

When I read your post, my heart went out to you. My husband and I have both experienced "bouts" with depression. Mine was easily treatable with Effexor XR 150 mg. I was on it for about a 1 1/2 years. I stopped taking it a year ago and so far, so good!

My husband was experiencing extreme depression coupled with some paranoid delusions. The antipsychotic medicine worked for the delusions but nothing seemed to treat his depression. We really had to fight to get his doctor to listen. After trying several different medications, she finally added a mood stabilizer and that seemed to do the trick.

What a lot of people (possibly your father?) don't realize is that depression isn't something you can just "turn off." If I had a dollar for every time someone screamed at me to "just get over it," I'd be rich now.

My best advice to you is PLEASE let your doctor know that Effexor isn't working. If he/she won't listen, find another doctor. I know that sounds like a hassle - a mountain so high you don't want to climb, but do it. It will be worth it! Remember, just because Effexor works for some other person doesn't mean it will work for you. If a medication is working, you should see improvement within a month or two.

Don't give up on yourself. I know that sometimes you just want to go to sleep and never wake up. I felt that way too. Try to remind yourself that it just "feels" that way and there are people who love you and would miss you if you left this world. Life WILL get better. If you can find nothing else to hang onto, hang onto that - life WILL get better.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Cheri.

[Eyrdan]

The other medication I'm taking is Desyrel.. originally prescribed just to help me sleep to counteract Effexor side effects, but here's a quote of the medication:

Trazodone ( Desyrel, Trialodine ) can be used in the treatment of any type of depression. It is also used to reduce the symptoms of agoraphobia, drug induced insomnia, essential tremor, repetitive screaming, and some pain syndromes.

Personally it has done wonders where Effexor wasn't working. I sleep like a baby when I'm on it and wake up fully refreshed. Too bad it hasn't been enough to help with the depression though, but at least night time is good as long as I don't have disturbing nightmares.

Since I posted my last message I had an intervention. My father finally realized how bad the situation has become and is taking me under his roof, away from concern, until I get back on my feet. He's already set up a room and contacted several doctors and therapists for me to meet when I get there.

I was a bit opposed to it at first, but the more I look at it, if I stay in my current situation I'm just going nowhere fast. Everything seems like a huge effort and I only go out to do my daily trip to the corner store and buy some chocolate and chat with the guy at the coffee counter. I figure if I move back in with my father he might be able to give me that push to make me seek help, while right now I had given up on it.

So I emailed my university professor, project partner and the faculty advisor to tell them I'm quitting out to take time to heal. I wasn't going anyway and was just gonna fail everything. Not to mention I was out of money so I wouldn't have been able to eat next month. Was a depressing gesture to do, felt like I was admiting my personal failure for real. It's not easy coming from the top rated programmer in the faculty to a good-for-nothing slob.

Anyway it might be all for the best. I did feel a big weight coming off my shoulders after emailing them (I didn't have the courage to do it in person). Maybe going back with my dad will help a bit.