Effexor - not having a good time

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My room mate thinks I’m a drug dealer. :shock:

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lol. I hope you get to feel better soon.

Howie – funny stuff. I would have been arrested by now if I were in highschool. I have every migraine drug under the sun in my house. I could run a pharmacy from here. lol. Looks like Verap causes constipation in only some heh?

Well, here I am at the crack of dawn and I have been lying in bed wide awake AGAIN for two hours. This is nuts. After hearing that Adam was an insomniac on Effexor for 3 months and Ben too, I’m not feeling real positive about this. I was going to up the dose today but for me it’ll certainly mean even more insomnia tonight. :x

Scott

HI Scott,
Sorry to hear about the Effexor crap. I can’t suggest anything, just wanted to share my sympathy. Any chance you could also be suffering from withdrawal from prozac which is complicating things - I know it has a long half life but appreciate this may be too long ago - just a thought?
Take care, hope you can get to take it easy over the next few days till things calm down a bit - I bet it’ll not be long before things start getting easier.
((hugs))
Tess

Scott, I forgot whether you are taking it in the afternoon or evening. If you are, it may be worth a try to take it in the am. I tried that but it didn’t really improve the nighttime anxiety and teeth grinding but maybe it will for you. Ironically, I am not sleeping any better on Nortriptyline. For me, sleep is so key because the lack of sleep usually causes me to be more stressed, which itself is a trigger for me . . . a vicious cycle! Good luck and try to hang in for as long as you can. Ben

Scott, sorry if this is a dumb question, but would you be able to take an OTC sleep medication to help with the insomnia so you can continue taking the Effexor? I know you probably don’t want to add yet another drug to your cocktail, but assuming there are no interaction issues, it could help you. I take an OTC sleep med every night along with my meds (safe amount mg with the meds I am taking). I tried NOT to when I first began the meds (as to make sure I would not become too drowsy or worse) and found that I have the same sleep issues I had prior to getting MAV, so I had to return to it. Maybe something to consider?

Tesss - no, I only survived two 5 mg hits and was so ill I stopped. That was 10 days ago now. This insomnia is definitetly an effect from the Effexor.

Ben - I’m taking it in the morning for that reason, hoping that by bedtime the rev will go away. I fall asleep ok (although I feel a low level charge) but wake at about 4-5 am wide awake. I don’t think there’s any point increasing the dose until I can sleep on this current dose. I decided this morning to stay at 5 mg. I have to give this at least 2 weeks to make sure I’ve allowed for my body to adjust to this dose and for the insomnia to go. Adding more right now would not be a good move.

BC - I think I’ll try valium tonight again to see if I can take the edge off of this without making it worse. Which OTC med are you taking?

Today, I am super achy and lethargic. I have no motivation to do any work. It feels like I have the flu quite heavily. Just can’t believe how difficult these meds can be.

Thanks again for the input!

S

Hey Scott and to all who are starting some new SSRI -

As someone who was racked over the coals for the first 2 weeks on Paxil, the peak side effect days are anywhere between between day 5-11. So Scott, don’t get discouraged. I think mine were bad even on day 12, but where getting better. I felt like HELL. And I have made it 6 weeks to feel really good with my mood and my MAV symptoms, only to be so constipated from this stuff that I’m probably going to stop it in the next few days and switch to Lexapro. What a bore this all is.

Molly

Scott - You mentioned flu-like symptoms. that is something that I have on and off since I became ill. I often feel like I’m getting a bug, but I do not get ill (I sure feel like it though). I have learned that this is another strange MAV symptom. Perhaps. it’s a med side effect, but I also feel this way very frequently from the darn MAV

Thanks Molly,

You’re right. I’ll tough this out at least into next week. Do you guys think that I might sleep better taking Klonopin versus valium? Isn’t a benzo a benzo but really only differing in strength and half lives? That’s probably a naive statement. I don’t know much about them. I’ve tried Ativan before which was so full on it caused rebound anxiety. Definitely don’t want that. I should see the doc today I think. And yes, this really is a HUGE bore.

Lisa - yup, have had flu-like stuff going on with just MAV as well. I get a specific feeling from the SSRIs though … and think this is definitely it. I probably just have to suck it up a little bit longer and it might go … if this insomnia is still going on into next week I’ll have to move on.

S

Scott, I had a similar problem on amitriptylin, which is supposed to make you sleepy :S
It made me drowzy but the gap from waking state to dream seemed like it had lost its bridge, I could lie awake for hours.

I took an antihistamine, aliemazine, and that works great. You could try that instead of valium. I take 10-15 mg most nights, or I wont get decent sleep.

Scott, I can’t remember the brand name of the OTC I am taking (Maybe Sleep Well?), but it is made by the Tylenol company and contains 25 mg of diphenhydramine which apparently is some form of an antihistamine. (It is NOT Tylenol PM btw; this stuff has NO headache meds in it.) I started taking it a few years ago prior to any health problems when I suddenly started having sleep issues. I would fall asleep ok but wake up a few hours later, totally awake, as if it was time to get up! Then I couldn’t get back to sleep fully and kept waking up every hour.

One obviously has to be very careful when taking a sleep med with other meds - they aren’t recommended with a lot of the meds we MAV’ers are taking, including mine, but it can be done. With my low dose of Klonopin and Tofranil, I am able to take half a pill 12 mg without any problem. That is the amount I have taken for years; I only used a full pill when I was really feeling as if I could not sleep (often due to having caffeine earlier in the day which I no longer do). I should note, however, that when I first started either med, I stopped taking the OTC sleep med until my body got used to the new meds and then increased it from 6 mg back up to 12mg. Also, if you have a drink or two, it is not a good idea to take this along with your regular MAV meds.

Would melatonin work? I havent tried it yet but it has been recommended to me by a Dr friend (not a MAV dr.).

Scott:

I take .5 of Klonopin 2 times a day…I defintely feel it helped me… I am going to wean off the Klonopin once I am stable for a few months… I think for a few weeks it cant hurt till your body adjust to the Effexor

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Scott:

I take .5 of Klonopin 2 times a day…I defintely feel it helped me… I am going to wean off the Klonopin once I am stable for a few months… I think for a few weeks it cant hurt till your body adjust to the Effexor

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I take Klonopin as well, but .5 broken down to twice a day: .25 in the morning, .25 in the evening. It doesn’t help with my sleep but then again, I already have a sleep problem.

Hi there,

I started taking a little more of Effexor today and noticed my pulse started beating faster…I had a big cup of coffee with food I’m not sure if that set it off because I drink a cup a day(doesn’t give me headaches…)
Did anyone here that took Effexor experience the same thing? :expressionless:

Emma

Hey Scott,

I just had a sudden idea of something that may help with your insomnia. Last year when I had MAV for three months (but not diagnosed as such so was trying various things), I tried taking Kwells - an OTC motion sickness thing. Was supposed to help with the dizziness but it wiped me out so completely I literally couldn’t walk. I’d taken it in the middle of the day, but was luckily at home so staggered/stumbled/lurched/collapsed into bed and was out for hours. Just a thought…

Anyway, hope those flu symptoms and other awful stuff settles down for you soon.

Vic

Thanks Victoria - I’ll keep that in mind. Last night I took 2.5 mg of valium before bed and was fine. I slept well and got about 7 straight hours which is pretty darn good. This morning I bumped up the dose to 6.25 mg (I split the 37.5 mg capsule into 6 piles of beads). Pain levels are up again – both heels hurt now - and I feel weird, but after talking to Jen last night I’m not going to jump ship.

Emma - I’m really surprised you can drink coffee with this thing. Coffee makes me anxious and causes bad migraines. It’s a pretty big trigger. Do you think it could be possibly adding to your problems? Have you eliminated the classic food triggers to see if you feel better? Things like coffee (and all caffeine), cheese, nuts, alcohol, chocolate, and deli foods. It’s a depressing list but that’s the way it is unfortunately.

Ben – Jen said melatonin worked well for her too. I might have a go since I have some sitting in my drug stash!

Scott 8)

Scott,

The one thing I came away from the oriental medicial practitioner with that continues to help me is something for insomnia. It is Plum Flower Brand’s Suan Zau Ren. It works for me. I don’t get into all the Chinese medicine mumbo jumbo about liver stagnation and such, but I know this stuff helps me sleep and I have had sleep issues all my life. Melatonin does nothing for me. I found it online and stocked up. Here is a link: Under Construction

Marci

Hey Scott,

Your home sounds like a clandestine drug lab - careful you don’t attract the attention of the local authorities! :smiley:

I’m having a lot of trouble getting to sleep and staying that way, even with a little help from Valium but in general I’m feeling a whole lot less worse than I was a couple of weeks ago so not complaining. Two half valiums (ie 2.5mg) during the day are working a treat for the anxiety and weirdness and giving me a very pleasant, At One With The World feeling (some side effects are tops). Buddhist monks spend years to feel this chilled - they could save themselves a lot of time by just hanging out with Benzo the Happy Clown.

I haven’t found melatonin so good for the sleeping but excellent for resetting the body clock with jet lag. Sadly you can’t buy it here but I’m off to the States in a few weeks so if it’s working for you I’m happy to bring some back for you.

Vic

Thanks Marci,

I’ll check it out! Can’t hurt to spend a few more bucks on a herb that could possibly help to knock me out. At least some herbs have real active molecules in them that can have an effect in the body. I never noticed much from Valerian, skull cap or chamomile. Ever tried those?

Check out the herbs in this stuff … I can’t even pronounce half of them! :smiley:

Ziziphus jujuba seed, Ligusticum chuanxiong rhizome, Poria cocos fungus, Anemarrhena asphodeloides rhizome, Glycyrrhiza uralensis root. - Suan zao ren, Chuan xiong, Fu ling, Zhi mu, Gan cao.

Vic - I was able to score some melatonin via iherb.com … also got 5HTP through customs too even though you’re supposed to need a prescription in NSW for it. Not sure how it got through. :?

S