Anyone on or been on Effexor XR???

eckercr · Post by **eckercr** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:09 am

Hi. I have been on effexor xr for almost 2 years now after being taken off Zoloft b/c I was having a constant panic attack when I tried to increase my dose (under drs care). So I went on Effexor. It worked really well and not long after starting it I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Since then I wasnt sure that the effexor was working as well or was I just under high anxiety. I got thru it and here I am a year and a half later-No signs of cancer and still on effexor. Well Lately Ive been going into crazy panic attacks so I asked my dr if increasing my dose was a good Idea. She told me it would be great and it would work faster since it was already in my system. Well, I have been freaking out about taking it!! I finally took the extra dose 4 days ago after waking in a major panic attack. I just feel spacey alot and I feel like I get the start of a panic attack -heart racing, out of reality feeling, shaking etc. and Im not sure if I should stay on this extra dose. I hate taking pills to begin with but I just dont know if I should keep taking it or stop the extra dose...I feel crazy!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:11 am

I have took effexor and every other antideprresant they make and im no better. I am recently not taking anything right now. I was so tired of having to depend on a pill to get me through the day. I have been to dr. after dr. So I'm hoping this program works if not i give up. Any suggestions from anyone

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:42 am

I have been on Effexor XR for a couple years and has worked well for me. I had previously been on every other antidepressant and the only other one that worked for me was Paxil, but it caused tremendous weight gain for me.

My dr. told me that Effexor can actually act like a stimulant and agitate someone if their dose is too high. How much did you go up? Maybe it's time to look into a new medication. I know how hard that is, too. The side effects of changing meds are sometimes hard to go through.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 4:27 am

I was on Effexor for 6 years with no issues. I went off of it and did great for 4 years without it and then started having anxiety. My Dr put me back on it and I had a horrific side effects getting my body acclimated to it again. I had to take Xanax for a few weeks to adjust.
I am only on 75 mg. I accidently took 2 pills one day and WOW! I had panic attacks all throughout the day. I felt horrible. There are days that I am stressed out and feel anxious even on the Effexor but nothing I can't work through. I was told that it would not make my anxiety go 100% away but help take the edge off.
I myself would like to go off of Effexor with the help of Lucinda's program but am scared to even think about it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:34 pm

Strange how life works! I just went to a new Dr. & she could not believe I was on a 300mg. dose 4 over 6 years. She explained alot! I am going on a trip so we R not changing anything now, but when I get back I look forward to getting off ALOT of meds i've been on 4 13 1/2 years!! The effexor worked but I wasn't monitored enough & it's to high a dose along w/other meds I take.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:32 am

hi all,

i was/am on effexor xr... started at 150 mg 2x/day in 2007, that was after Zoloft, then Wellbutrin after a hysterectomy in 2004... i went to a new doc to try to get off effexor and he said, "some people have to be on meds for the rest of their life"... well, i am the survivor of 2 roll-over car accidents.. 1st in 1977 ... then again in 2005... major injuries in 1977--left leg reconstruction and C5&6 neck fusion... 2 yr recovery ... car cork-screwed 6 times then hit a boulder and flipped end-over-end twice... seat belts were not a law then and i was thrown from the vehicle through the windshield... then in 2005--lost control while moving my purse from my lap to the empty passenger seat... (i took the steering wheel with me

) this time the car flipped end-over-end backwards... the airbags did not deploy because the impact was from behind... wheeeeewwww... i'm lucky to just be here to tell about it... but i suffer depression because of anger at God that i lived and had to go through the recovery... isn't that dumb?

... it just would have been much easire to have died and gone to heaven and be walkin' the streets of gold now

... so when you are mad at God... better watch out... there's not one person to talk it out with...anyway... i'm resolved to do the best i can with what is left of my life, but the depression gets the best of me sometimes... i know you didn't ask for my life story, but this is why the effexor dose was so high... 300mg/day... i am now only taking 37.5 mg 2x/day and i am much better... i also take Lucinda's "Good Day" formula and some "natural" supplements from my new doc... i tried getting off the effexor completely in Sept of this year, and felt GREAT while going through the process, but after i was off for a week, it felt like i was in free-fall for an entire week... it was awful...

so now i'm back on the 37.5 2x/day and i've begun to come back to the real world... i don't know if this helps anyone or not, but i do know that when things ARE beyond our control... we can count on GOD and HE will direct physicians and counselors to get the job done... this program was ordered for me by my husband last December, and i has made a world of difference... i thank GOD for bringing it here and for the support i receive on these forums... you guys are GREAT...
have a Blessed Day,
much LOVE,
kj

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:50 pm

I was on Effexor for about a year and it was HORRIBLE for me!

First few weeks I could only sleep for an hour or 2 a night then randomly just crash and sleep for 12hours at a time. I ended up losing 15lbs and I was shakey to the point that I couldn't carry a glass of water without spilling it. Yet the doctor just said "oh you will get usedto it." Later they dropped my dosage back to 75mg and I still was just a wreck, so I quit taking them.

I have been anti-depressant free for a year and I feel a hell of alot better than I ever did on meds. The program really helped me a lot too.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 7:00 am

Ive tried 2 times now to get off of effexor and each time it was like comming off of an extremely powerful drug. My doctor said it was like comming off of herione, and I agree. The last time I slept for 3 days straight, could not eat or I would be sick, was completely out of my mind, head pounding, constant panic attacks...it was like hell...I was put back on the 37.5mg for a week and still continued to struggled with really bad panic attacks really often. I am now back on 250mg, where i started. I do feel better, but maybe thats becuase I have been on it for 5 years and my body is used to and needs the extra chemicals.
As far as the Effexor itself, I did well on it, it helped the depression...about 3 years after starting it I got panic disorder that started as little panic attacks here and there then within a year was full blown and I could not leave my house. Not sure if the medication makes my symptom better or worse? tho I hear it is supposed to make them better. My depression however is still much better, even while dealing with the everyday hell of panic.