That's what I was afraid of. I even asked the doctor
point blank, "Is this ANYTHING like Paxil with it's
withdrawal symptoms?" and the answer I got was, "No,
it is a completely different kind of drug!";
--- Althea <defonz3 yahoo.com> wrote:
> If there is any SSRI with a half life shorter than
> paxil....its Effexor.
> If there is any SSRI with worse withdrawal
> symptoms.....its Effexor.
>
> http://www.crazymeds.org
> search down on the left for effexor
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Effexor's pros and cons:
>;
> Pros: If anything is going to cure the deepest,
> blackest depression,
> it's Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride). Perhaps
> Effexor (venlafaxine
> hydrochloride) in combination with an antipsychotic,
> but for deep,
>; despairing clinical depression that is going to
> respond to the
> standard tweaking of the popular neurotransmitters,
> Effexor
> (venlafaxine hydrochloride) pulls people out of the
> abyss.
>
> Cons: The absolute worst discontinuation syndrome of
> an
> antidepressant. Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride)
> is a medication
> people utterly loathe to have taken. It is not
> uncommon for someone to
> change doctors during or immediately after Effexor
> (venlafaxine
> hydrochloride) discontinuation.
>;
> Effexor's Typical Side Effects: The usual for SSRIs
>; and SNRIs -
> headache, nausea, dry mouth, sweating, sleepiness or
> insomnia, and
> diarrhea or constipation, weight gain, loss of
> libido and a host of
> other sexual dysfunctions. Most everything but the
> weight gain and
> sexual dysfunctions usually goes away within a
> couple of weeks.
> Although some women will notice that the sexual side
> effects will
> diminish above 200-225mg a day when the
> norepinephrine kicks in. Maybe.
>
> For tips on how to cope with these side effects,
> please see our side
> effects page.
>;
> Effexor's Not So Common Side Effects: Increased or
> lowered blood
>; pressure, sweating, farting, anorexia, twitching,
> shock-like sensations.
>
> These may or may not happen to you don't, so don't
>; be surprised one
> way or the other.
>
> Effexor's Freaky Rare Side Effects: Alcohol
> intolerance and alcohol
> abuse. So Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride) is
> going to be just the
> thing to talk about at AA meetings. Someone's
> reflexes increased and
> someone else's breasts got bigger, proving that
> there is no pleasing
> some people. Someone else's hair changed color and,
> really, no Revlon
> was involved. But the most disturbing freaky rare
> side effect with
> Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride) is what Wyeth
>; disingenuously calls
>; "withdrawal syndrome," that once you acclimate to
> Effexor (venlafaxine
> hydrochloride) you are basically hooked for life.
>; The discontinuation
> syndrome never goes away if you try to stop. For
> someone with unipolar
> depression that's a pain in the ass, but something
> you might be able
> to work around barring any really adverse side
> effects, but for
> someone who is bipolar you can be royally screwed
> because Effexor
> (venlafaxine hydrochloride) can really aggravate
> mania and especially
> rapid cycling.
>
> I've been getting a few e-mails and reading a few
> reports about how
> Effexor has caused Effexor users, as well as friends
> and relatives
> using the med to really hit the booze, so alcohol
> abuse may not be
> that rare a side effect after all. Best guess to
> date on that - Paul
> of Leeds (in the U.K.) posits that Effexor's broad
>; spectrum use of
> liver enzymes probably interferes with alcohol
> clearance and
> tolerance, thus leading to the type of alcoholism
> that affects people
> without the proper enzymes to effectively metabolize
> alcohol. Between
> that and the way Effexor works your liver, you're
> probably better off
> giving up booze entirely if you're taking this med.
>
> You aren't going to get these. I promise. Although
> I make no
> promises about the alcohol abuse.
>
>
>
>
> Interesting Stuff Your Doctor Probably Won't Tell
> You: Few, if any
> doctors, will discuss the possibility that Effexor
> (venlafaxine
> hydrochloride) could become a permanent part of your
> life, whether you
> like the results of Effexor (venlafaxine
> hydrochloride) or not.
> Granted that is a very rare adverse effect, but it
> does happen. It's
> hard enough to get them to discuss SSRI
> discontinuation syndrome., let
> alone get them to admit that Effexor's symptoms are
> the absolute worst
>; and the longest lasting of all serotonergic drugs.
> The
> discontinuation from Paxil (paroxetine) is bad
> enough, it's much, much
> worse with Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride).
>
> And the way Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride)
> works on
> neurotransmitters is very complicated. Your doctor
> may or may not
> explain this to you. Here's how it works: First it
> starts to work on
> your serotonin. Then somewhere around 200 mg a day
> it starts to work
> on norepinephrine. Then around 300 mg a day it
> starts to work on your
> dopamine. Mileage will vary for each individual, and
> there's no
> guarantee on getting all that much dopamine action.
>
>
>
> Effexor's Dosage and How to Take Effexor: Effexor
> (venlafaxine
> hydrochloride) comes in immediate and extended
> release flavors,
> although hardly anyone takes the immediate release
> form anymore. Just
> be sure to check your prescription for that XR to
> make sure you are
> getting the extended release form. For the XR
> flavor, you start at
> 37.5 to 75mg a day, taken with food, at either
> breakfast or dinner,
> depending on if you're apt to get wired or tired.
> Once you get the
> wired/tired issue straightened out, you take the med
> all at once at
> the same time every day. If you start at 37.5mg you
> can move up to
> 75mg after a week. As with any antidepressant, it
> takes a month to
> feel any positive effect, so give it a month.
> Seriously, don't move up
> above 75mg a day for at least a month. You'll know
> if it's going to do
> anything then. If you feel nothing, give up and take
> a much easier
> discontinuation. After that you can move up in
> 37.5-75 mg increments,
> allowing at least a week between each increase until
>; you reach the
> maximum of 375mg a day for the most severely
> depressed of patients.
> The older immediate release version is pretty much
> the same, except
> that the dose is divided into two or three doses a
> day.
>
>
>
> Days to Reach a Steady State: Three days.
>;
> When you're fully saturated with the medication and
> less prone to
> peaks and valleys of effects. You still might have
> peaks of effect
> after taking many meds, but with a lot of the meds
> you'll have fewer
>; valleys after this point. In theory anyway.
>
>
>
> How Long Effexor Takes to Work: Up to one month.
>
>
>
> Effexor's Half-Life & Average Time to Clear Out of
> Your System:
> Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride) does the double
> metabolism trick,
> so its half-lives are 3-7 hours and 9-13 hours. That
> means the
> combined half-life is anywhere from 12-20 hours, so
> it takes anywhere
> from two to five days to clear out of your system.
> This is a huge
> part of why Effexor's discontinuation syndrome is so
> harsh. No popular
> SSRI does the double metabolism, and the half-lives
> of each metabolism
> is so bloody short. So while you clean out of one
> metabolite, you
> still have another one in your system. Your body is
> completely
> confused! Wyeth states in the pharmacokinetics
>; section that there's
> only one active metabolite worth mentioning. Who the
> hell knows about
>; other metabolites and what part they play in
> Effexor's discontinuation
> syndrome, or how long you should take in stepping
> down your dosage!
>
>
>
> How to Stop Taking Effexor: Your doctor should be
> recommending that
> you reduce your dosage by 37.5mg a day every week if
> you need to stop
> taking it, if not more slowly than that. ; For
> more information,
> please see the page on how to safely stop taking
> these crazy meds. ;
> You shouldn't be doing it any faster than that
> unless it's an
> emergency. Yes, that means if you've maxed out at
> 375mg a day it'll
>; take 10 weeks to get off of Effexor (venlafaxine
> hydrochloride).
> Believe me, it's better that way. Also, once you
> get down to that
> last 37.5mg a day, ask your doctor for a Prozac |