Well, the Doc says I might be depressed! I said ok so what do I do about it?!

He says here take this daily and I'll see you in 3 weeks!

So, It actually seems to work, I feel much better, I dont have the anger issues, and I'm definately more upbeat!

On the down-side! I have lost my ability to have relations with my better half! We went from 2-3 times a week, to Nadda!

***(edited)***

Sorry if I offended!

Anyone have similiar exp? Is this something that will pass or do I need to look at another med?!

Thanks in advance for the comments!

I have to say , that for some, it passes, for me, it did not, we actually had to take me down to a lesser dose. there is a doctor who has his patients on certain meds take certain herbs that will not counteract the meds but will help the sexual side effects. PM me for his site where you can find that information any time :)

I've been of effexor for about four months now and have essentially shut down in that department. It's a little distressing to say the least. I'm considering switching to something else but I'm interested in Lafnalot's resources. What doesn't help is lately I've experienced an upswing in anger, despair and moodiness even though I'm taking effexor religiously. I'm wondering if this medication can wear off in time. And if I up the dose, I may as well invest in a long brown robe and become a monk.

Moodiness, anger, grumpiness etc are also symptoms of mania,which can be induced by antidepressants; so you may want to discuss this with your doctor so they can explore all possible reasons for this happening. Many people get treatement for the depression, not noticing hypomania ( its kinda like a period of time where you are 'on' ,ideas come easier, youre sparkling, energetic, bubbly, can do seven major projects at once and finish them all, do silly things like paint your walls red on a whim ( ;) to my buddy) go on shopping sprees etc etc BUT not the mania of bipolar I disorder where dillusions can follow) often those like me, who have adhd AND bipolar II disorder do not get the mania diagnosed because we dont feel badly then. usually we get the depression taken care of and the mnai goes un noticed or untreated because , for lack of a better discription, it FELLS good.

Just a word of caution :)

Thanks for all the information.......... And thanks Laf for not blasting me as other boards would have!

You folks are the best!

Whats to blast?:) Im glad you understand. We need every person here, we all have something to give. Thanks for riding with us :D

we dont blast. these are the nicest group of people that I have ever met. I really have enjoyed posting and reading posts. You can really be yourself and no one judges you.

i had the same thing happen when i was on effexor but eventually it got better i wouldnt worry too much a lot of antidepressants have that bit of a side effect

While effexor helped with depression and anxiety a bit, it also made me really irritable and angry, in addition to alot of other physical side effects.

Mention the problem to your doc; make sure he/she realizes that it's serious. There are ways of dealing with this, including dose adjustment, switching to a different SNRI/SSRI, switching to a non-SNRI/SSRI anti-depressant, and adding another med (Wellbutrin, for example).

disclaimer: Do what the doctor instructs you to do

...but in my experience, I dropped this drug and ran for my life. I was the good submissive patient. I took it for 2 months. Didn't feel much difference (other than I couldn't sleep). Just out of curiousity to see if it was working, I stopped for a week.
OUCH. For 3-4 days after taking my last dose, I couldn't move my head or change directions without my brain feeling like it was 5 seconds behind. I got electric shocks all over my body.

Upon revealing this key piece of data to my shrinko, he sat. Put his pipe in his left hand, right hand under the chin and said.."odd". I mentioned that I've read this happening to several people upon cessation of this drug. Amazingly, he's never heard of it.

google this: "brain shocks effexor"

It's terrible. Since I stopped for the week, it eventually wore off and I never took it again.

I don't trust doctors, especially with anti-depressants. If you tell them this, they'll label you as a "difficult patient" so I decided to take the easy way out and just
sat there nodding my head when he asked me "Hows the effexor workin' fer ya?"

danger danger will robinson

The brain shock thing isn't exlcusive to effexor - I got it coming off prozac, and I've read it's common coming off antidepressant meds in general.

Well, the Doc says I might be depressed! I said ok so what do I do about it?!

He says here take this daily and I'll see you in 3 weeks!

So, It actually seems to work, I feel much better, I dont have the anger issues, and I'm definately more upbeat!

On the down-side! I have lost my ability to have relations with my better half! We went from 2-3 times a week, to Nadda!

***(edited)***

Sorry if I offended!

Anyone have similiar exp? Is this something that will pass or do I need to look at another med?!

Thanks in advance for the comments!

I was on Effexor for a few years, but female. It didn't effect me sexually. But the higher the dose the crazier I got. Word of caution....coming off Effexor has huge withdrawal symptoms...dizziness, shakes, sweating, nausea and equilibrium way off (like off a roller coaster trying to walk and drive a car afterwards). I really was great for the energy.

It worked great for me for about 3 years and then it stopped working. I had to switch to another med.

D

I stuck with this for three weeks at the request of my doc wanting to see what worked (before I finally gave in to his suggestion I had ADD.)

First week, awful. Not nausea and throwing up bad like Cymbalta, but just dizzy, spacey. Second week? Perfect. I felt balanced, but still empathetic, calm, collected. I thought I had found the right thing.

Then as time went on, the side effects were just too much. I had a lot of physical side effects; headaches, nausea, and thirst. Like no matter how much water I drank it was never enough. I went off of it, the side effects were so bad. I've taken different meds before during my life for depression, but this one scared the crap out of me just due to all the PHYSICAL side effects it had...

I took Effexor somewhere between a year to a year and a half, beginning about eight years ago. It worked great to alleviate the depression but I too dealt with the sexual side effects. The libido-killing effects of antidepressants can be a big issue for some people.

Talk to your doctor and see if the dosage can be adjusted, if you need to switch to a different med, etc. As several posters mentioned, going off Effexor is difficult if the dosage is not lowered very gradually. (I had the "brain shocks" for a while. They're not painful but are uncomfortable and scary.) By trial and error, you'll find the correct combo/dosage that works for you. Soemtimes it just takes a while. Good luck. :)

coming off effexor was the worse thing i have ever expierenced. It gave me brain zaps- kind of like...you turn your head and then you get a jolt in you temple, you even feel like you hear the crack of it in your head. I thought i was going crazy, turns out i wasnt even depressed, it was adhd.
be careful with that stuff- it made things worse for me and my head.

Well, the Doc says I might be depressed! I said ok so what do I do about it?!

He says here take this daily and I'll see you in 3 weeks!

So, It actually seems to work, I feel much better, I dont have the anger issues, and I'm definately more upbeat!

On the down-side! I have lost my ability to have relations with my better half! We went from 2-3 times a week, to Nadda!

***(edited)***

Sorry if I offended!

Anyone have similiar exp? Is this something that will pass or do I need to look at another med?!

Thanks in advance for the comments!

took it for add-
could concentrate better
made me lazy though too

concentration was better at 150mg than 75mg, but jaw grinding was a problem for me at 150.

also gave me gassy diarrhea. kinda spasticky colon. yuck.

when i was on effexor, other people I came acros refered to it as side-effexor lol

it was good for me at lower doses, but not good enough, but at higher doses it became less effective , going back to the lower dose was then no better.

the SR version was a lot less side effects.

any SSRI withdrawl is bad , effexor has a very short half life , so suden withdrawl is worst with effexor, as I found out. I complained my eyes hurt every time I moved them, to wich my psych responded, wel dont move them then !!!!!

aperently taking prozac after stoping effexor is a good way of dealing with the withdrawl symptoms, the half life of prozac is a lot longer, so withdrawl from prozac is relativly easy. I found this out and had a few from before, one tablet of prazac would keep the withdrawl symptoms away for a few days, then I took half a prozac wich is tricky cos theyr capsules of little beads lol.

Im surprised if effexor is considered before prozac or some of the other SSRIs.

I've been on Effexor for 3 years. I have only had dizzy spells when I forget a dose, and any physical side effects went away within the 1st months. Occassionally I get bladder urgency, a side effect that means when you have to pee, even just a little, it feels like you have to go NOW or you can't hold it. But that's going away this year.
One thing I have noticed, is that every few months, I seem to be going back to the Dr saying it no longer feels effective. I'm only at 150mg but had to add Ciprolex for PMS a few months back. But just this past month, I notice I'm feeling depressive again, mildly, but I know th efeeling immediately when it returns and it's returning. I also have been sick with a chest cold and allergies (hives to something), and my seasonal allergies as well, this month. I'm wondering if that is interfering with the drug, or is it just time to try something new?