I hate to say anything too positive about a med too soon for fear of jinxing myself (how’s that for superstitious?) but for two nights now I’ve slept a solid 8 hours! No valium or sleep aid was used last night either. This morning I have a subtle feeling of normality happening that I haven’t had for a long time and am even keyed up to do that 8 km power walk I haven’t done in over a week. Yesterday I increased the dose to 6.25 mg (thanks for giving me a kick in the ass Jen ). More good news coming I hope …
Hi
That’s great news.
For me this effexor has been a blessing,
It’s been a rocky road for a while till my body started to accept it
I’m now nearly at 75mg and having a few tiny sleeping glitches, so it’s back to the melatonin for a few days.
Apart from that all is going well.
I was naughty last night and risked some old migraine triggers, and still woke with a spring in my step.
Rocking is at an all time low.
NO mig as of yet, it’s 11.09 am here.
Keeping everything crossed for you S.
Jen - that is great news! just wondering what was the progression for you in terms of getting better. e.g., did the headaches go and then the dizziness. how soon after starting the med were you able to see positive gains. Have you tried any other migraine meds prior?
Thanks,
Lisa
I’m so happy that Effexor is working for you Jen. I wanted to ask you, did you feel any results with 37.5 mg? 75 mg seems like a lot?
Scott I might start drinking decaf soon, but the thing is that I get a headache from not drinking coffee…but I know I can stop…
I had a bad experience with Effexor Thursday when I up the dose a little. I got very depressed felt really strange and couldn’t stop crying…Dr. Hain said if that happens again he had to switch me to something else…
I talked to Dr. Cherchi that works with Hain and he told me to stay on the dose I could tolerate for another 2 weeks and then reassess. Dr. Hain wanted me to try to push the envelope a little more…
I guess I’m going to see how I feel next week. Currently I’m taking a 1/4 of 37.5 mg. I’m trying to get up to a 1/3…
Lisa I hope you get all your questions answered by Dr. Hain. When I had a phone consult with him I recorded everything to a music program called Logic. I think I asked probably 50 questions…I also got a letter from the consult with Hain were he dictated all his thoughts. It was very helpful.
I know I haven’t shared my story with all of you on this borad yet, but I will. I let you know when I post it.
I started getting reasonable results after about week 4,
I already felt the waves subsiding; the rocking was very much in the background.
The pain in my neck and shoulders had gone, I stayed on that dose for a few weeks and found I was still having the odd migraine once a week, which was better than having one every day.
Decided since I had tolerated effexor so well, I’d keep titrating to 75mg only…
I found I could go faster with titration as my body had already adjusted to the med, with no trouble apart from slight insomnia for a day, which I took melatonin for. During my period I took the occasional Valium.
I’m now on the 75mg and haven’t seen any aura,
I used to wake every morning with aura and pain in my neck.
I’ve found on the 75mg my head is feeling less surreal and my brain fog has lifted nicely.
Lisa yes I’ve tried
Prothiadon (dothep) … found for me it was just a band-aid medication.
Endep (elavil) made me dizzier for 3 months.
Topamax…. for 5 months …no good for me.
Aropax … gave me anxiety.
Verapamil… which I’m still on helps a bit. at higher doses gave me chronic constipation.
Neurontin ….helped a tiny bit , but made me too sleepy during the day.
zoloft … Insomnia and anxiety.
I want to thank Rich, who told me how to take effexor via Dr Hains instructions, and with the help of my new GP,
Your home sounds like a clandestine drug lab - careful you don’t attract the attention of the local authorities!
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
— End quote
Victoria
I am curious when do you take the Valium, right now I am taking .25mg once a day and was wondering if taking the other half at bedtime might help with the sleep issues I am having, ie …some heart palpitations and night sweating which I think may be hormonal but not sure yet.
I take mine now around 11.00 am which works well til the evening hours but I am a bit scared to increase it but I was prescribed the …5mg pill once a day. I just did not want to start off too much. I am very med sensitive but it has really helped with the anxiety and some of the other symptoms as well.
Jen - thanks for getting back to me. Nice to hear good news. You must have been thrilled to find a med that helps. So, you used to experience the disequilibrium (feeling like you were on a boat/trampoline when walking) and Effexor helped with that? That is by far my worse symptom and I would do anything to be rid of that. I reached 480 on Verapamil with no success and constipation as well. did that help at all with your dizziness? So, doctor hain wanted you to stay on it and add Effexor?
Hi
Sorry for the confusion Lisa.
I’ve never been a patient of Dr Hain, but I have followed his regimen and ideas on medication and had talked with others that have been his patients.
Verapamil did initially help lower my rocking symptoms and with the severity of the migraine; I was happy with verapamil and still use it.
Each medication I add has its roll in helping bit by bit.
I don’t think just one medication will help severe nonstop migraineurs.
Although though Rich is doing well on just one med.
Yeah…I understand how debilitating the 24/7 rocking like on a small boat in windy Sydney harbour can be.
It’s been almost 16 years with the waves lapping at my feet. Boy how time passes.
I’ve only experienced spinning for a couple of weeks while taking a medication that didn’t suit me, I feel so bad for MAVers who have spinning and pain regularly.
I still feel the rocking but it’s really way in the background Lisa and some days it’s not there.
Migraines for me consist of weakness in my legs to the point of not being able to walk; rocking becoming violent, very reminiscent of simple partial seizure, can’t talk no matter how hard I try.
Brain fog, not being able to understand and join in on conversations is the worst for me.
I’m not perfect; I’d say some days 90% and some days 80%.
My Dr is happy for me to try anything I want; she suffers migraine herself, so she’s up for the challenge.
The SSRI and Verpamil combo for me works great…95% most days…On there own not nearly the same…I think Zoloft killed the anxiety component, dizziness, obsession on the condition, as well as visuals while the Verapamil just brought me to a new level. no head pressure and in turn no nausea… Not 100% but pretty close most of the week.
just my two cents…Matter of you finding the ssri that works for u and the correct complimentary drug. were all different
Hopeful effexor works for you if not there are so many
Howie - so you think the SSRI helped more with the dizziness? I guess it’s hard for you to know for sure since you were first on the SSRI. I could live w/ the headaches - I always have, but I want the dizziness GONE.
Effexor is stopping the migraines, verapamil never stopped them, it only lessened the severity a little.
My Neuro said, Possibly sporadic ataxia causing migraine.
That has never been confirmed by a gene test.
Personally I don’t think he really knows and wasn’t of much help to me.
My father has had the same symptoms all his life.
Dad also has epilepsy.
Well, after 16 days, Effexor is not going to pan out for me. :roll: Just back from the doc and went through the side effects:
Sporadic abdominal pain (which was there before I started) but seems worse now.
More headachy, neck pain, shoulder pain, heel pain (both now), and stiff joints – mainly my hands; and I cannot sit for longer than an hour without having a sore butt! It’s like there’s pins stuck deep into my cheeks!
Anxiety – I’ve now had two episodes of strong night anxiety and arrived at work frazzled (happened today again).
So I told the doc I want to trial Aropax next (Paxil). I’ve got the script and will drop the Effexor dose over the next few days and then throw in 5 mg of Aropax. Let the good times roll …
Howie – let’s hope I don’t end up in the ER on this stuff like you did!
Good Luck Make sure you have a benzo handy in that Home Pharmacy of yours… It does work just not for me…But I was also at a bad time in my life with no diagnosis so any little thing screwed me…
I upped my Verapamil to 360 as per my Dr. 240 in the am 120 at night…He said the only way to see if you can get to 100% is try
I’m sorry to hear about Effexor’s effect on you Scott. Let us know how you get on with Paxil, I will be particularly interested as that is the next med I have to try…
). More good news coming I hope …