Posts by quietwalker5

restlesstiger49 said:In the spirit of sharing experiences, I can definitely confirm what was bolded. Right now, the depression is absolutely killing me—something I never dealt with before starting Faverin. I ended up stopping after about two months as well. Honestly, those side effects are brutal for a healthy person, let alone someone already struggling with mental health issues.

When are you heading to the shrink? How are you holding up today?

electrichound3 said:I don't take anything else. I just use B-complex from Natural Wealth and some foaming magnesium, and my sleep is great. I go to bed at the exact same time every night and I don't wake up anymore, which used to happen. I didn't drink anything to help me sleep even though I wanted to. I wanted to try life without those pills and I succeeded. I won't depend on those either. My dose is just 2x37.5 mg of Effexor in the morning. Oh, one thing—if I drink a little too much coffee, I feel the anxiety starting to hit me immediately. Effexor and caffeine aren't a good match, at least for me. I also deal with arrhythmia and increased sweating since I started taking it.

Forgive me if I am being a nuisance. It is my 10th day. My mental state is better, but the tremors are still bothering me (did you experience that?) and I have the usual trouble falling asleep and waking up during the night, just like before the Effexor. I take 37.5mg in the morning and evening, and I get the impression it makes me sleepy at first. Then, after about an hour, the tremor kicks in. After how much time did you feel the side effects subside and realize this was just the new normal?

Thank you for the response...

electrichound3 said:At least you can still type... honestly, I couldn't focus on a single thing back then. I finally switched over to Effexor and it picked me right up after just a few days. My energy levels finally came back because Faverin was absolutely crushing me. But hey, everyone is different... good luck.🙂

Are you taking anything else besides Effexor? What is your dosage, and how is your sleep?

From a psychiatrist's website:

When is it appropriate to prescribe Effexor?

This medication can be used as a primary option for specific mental health conditions, which I will list shortly. It may also be prescribed if treatment involving two drugs from the SSRI class (such as Paxil and Zoloft / Celexa / Lexapro) has proven ineffective, or if an atypical antidepressant like Remeron (Calixte) failed to provide relief, among other scenarios. Your psychiatrist will determine the timing, selection, and reasoning behind the prescription. It is helpful to stay informed via the internet, but please leave the final clinical decisions to the specialized professionals.

Read more here:http://www.drsandic.net/archives/284

restlesstiger49 said:Holy shit!! Somebody actually gives a damn about me. 🙂
Anyway, I'm done with Fevarin... honestly, I think this stuff has just spiked my anxiety and made my life a total nightmare over the last month. For a while now, I've been waking up with these god-awful stomach pains and nausea. Since it seems like every doctor in the country is out on vacation right now, I've started tapering myself off on my own—though I'm being incredibly inconsistent about it. I probably should have stuck to 25mg for another two weeks, but I haven't touched it in two days, so screw it. I have no clue what I should switch to next. Long story short, this is the list:
http://s27.postimg.org/r9pt7mvir/lekovi.jpg

Edit: Just to be clear, (and I really need to say this) it is incredibly irresponsible for my therapist to prescribe a medication and then disappear for two months. Seriously, people have taken their own lives because of side effects from antidepressants. I've even had some dark thoughts creeping in lately, but I just try to focus and tell myself it’s likely just the medication talking.

Look... I know things are rough... but when you look at the big picture, it always comes back to us being in control... even though it shouldn't be that way... because we are supposed to be treated by professionals...

We need help, and we seek help... after trying so many different medications, there should be a discernible pattern emerging regarding how each one affects us. Yet, once again, the burden falls on us to figure it out. I don't know what comforting words to offer, but you mentioned that Effexor used to help?
Have faith that things will improve, even if they don't feel that way right now. Hang in there.

Edit: It is clearly the medication, and it is irresponsible of your doctor not to provide an alternative or a backup plan if things take a turn for the worse, such as guidance on what to do or who to contact.

People, what happened to restlesstiger49?!? He’s gone silent.
restlesstiger49, please check in and let us know you're alright.

Sean Howard2 said:This works for me because it treats my trigeminal neuralgia. It’s honestly the only thing that actually killed those horrific nerve pains. Plus, it helps with the anxiety triggered by the neuralgia itself—it’s a vicious cycle where one feeds the other. The pain caused the fear, which led to the anxiety. Everything is interconnected. Believe me, they treated me like a lab rat, cycling through pill after pill. I’ve already vented about this on the forum. They had me on everything from Amyzol and Lyrica to Zaldiar, Tramadol, Tegretol, and Venlafaxine. I even had Neurobion injections that felt like they were burning me alive.🙂 Man, thinking back to when I was on Lyrica is just the absolute worst. Ugh. It was supposed to help with my severe depression by boosting my serotonin levels quickly, but it did nothing of the sort. I couldn't even last a full week on it. Between the nerve pain and feeling like a complete zombie for five days straight, it was brutal. Honestly, I don't even want to think about it.
So, looking back, Cymbalta ended up being the saving grace in all of this. It was easily the best option available.
I've been thinking about just quitting everything entirely. Honestly, I'm terrified that the pain will come rushing back, and I just don't think I have the strength to go through all of that again. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Man, I really wish someone here had actually taken this and gotten through it so they could share their experience. It would mean the world to me.🙂

I used to take something for irritability
http://www.cvs.com/shop/vitamins
and it worked immediately...
People might laugh, but if you can hold out until your doctor's appointment, it might just be a vitamin or mineral deficiency.

Sean Howard2 said:So, I'm taking this for anxiety and trigeminal neuralgia issues. 🙂
About two months ago, I started tapering down from 60 mg to 30 mg, so now I only take the full dose three times a week.
I've been dealing with these side effects for quite a while—maybe six months since I started using it.
At first, my heart was racing constantly, but they put me on a beta-blocker, so that's under control now.
Not much else to say...
I have an appointment with my doctor in September.
I've seen people on American forums mentioning they still deal with these side effects even after four years.
The silver lining is that I DON'T GET THE INTENSE PAIN associated with neuralgia, but everything else seems to be hitting me.

Could it be an interaction with the beta-blocker? It might be worth a Google search. Or perhaps try skipping the beta-blocker for one day to see if there's a difference. Are you taking them at the same time? Try spacing them out to tell them apart. Good luck.

Michael Hill2 said:I totally blanked on mentioning this in my last post a few pages back, but yeah, I definitely had the shakes when I first started on Fevarin. It cleared up after about three weeks to a month.😉

🙂

electrichound3 said:Mine were barely noticeable. I had massive tremors back when I was on Rispolept and... well, I couldn't even hold a fork for a while. My right hand was shaking like a leaf; I actually thought I’d been hit by something! haha. Once they lowered my dose, it finally subsided. Same thing happened with Fevarin—I felt completely weak and shaky. For me, those were definitely too intense. With Effexor, the tremor was much more manageable.

🙂

electrichound3 said:The doctor put me on it for GAD, and honestly, it’s been the best thing I've tried so far. It hits fast and doesn't have nearly as many side effects as the other meds I've cycled through. My depression—which was pretty much tied to my anxiety—just vanished. At least for me. I feel like I actually have energy again. I get a little nauseous right after taking it, but it passes quickly. When I was taking it at night, my sleep was a mess; I kept waking up in the middle of the night and couldn't drift back off, so my doctor stopped the evening dose. How are your memory and focus? I've definitely noticed some brain fog. I started taking B-complex and magnesium, and since then, my sleep has been solid. No more tossing and turning; I finally sleep like a normal person.🙂

Did you experience any tremors as a side effect when you first started taking it?

Kevin Nguyen3 said:There isn't some magical, exact line where things start to climb or drop off, you know?
The doctor meant well, really—trying to make sure you weren't a total wreck during the day. But honestly, it looks like this Effexor XR just isn't clicking with your system.
You can try to play games with the timing and move it around all you want, but...

If you ask me—and hey, I'm nobody—it's just too high a dose!
I am genuinely curious to see what they decide to change...☕

I realized after reading this that a 50 mg dose of Calixte isn't exactly nothing... I'm on 45 mg myself, and even then, my doctor thought I was being dramatic about it.

Hi everyone,
I was at the Emergency Room at Mercy Hospital today and they discontinued the Luxet. I was prescribed Effexor XR instead.
Hoping for some improvement.
Thanks to fadedbear92, Kevin Nguyen3, Jason Vaughn482, and the rest of you. 🙂

fadedbear92 said:Hold on—did your GP actually prescribe an antidepressant and set the dosage? You've got to be kidding me.😲

No... she did that in collaboration with her therapist, who provided the instructions while out on vacation.

fadedbear92 said:That’s a pretty low dose—honestly, don't even think about bumping it up on your own. Just call your doctor to talk it through, or if they aren't being helpful, go see someone else.

The 50mg dosage is typically used for depression. I have an appointment with my primary care physician tomorrow to discuss next steps... thank you for the concern.

The most difficult part is this intense physical weakness... it hits during periods of nervousness or anxiety... along with full-body tremors and shaking hands...

fadedbear92 said:I'm a little lost here—could someone clear this up for me?
So, you've been on Calixta for about a month and four days now, right? Just curious—what dose are you currently sitting at? And what's the end goal for the dosage... just 50 mg?

Just 50mg. I am taking Luxet.

Kevin Nguyen3 said:It counts from the moment you start the therapy.

It has been exactly one month and four days now. Last night, after taking my dose, I felt exhausted, sleep-deprived, irritable, and depressed. After consulting with my doctor, we decided to switch my dosage to the morning.
Now, on the sixth day of the morning schedule, I am feeling tense, anxious, shaky, and weak. My doctor claims this isn't related to changing the timing of the dose.?!?

What is going on? Is this just the adjustment phase?

fadedbear92 said:Oh honey, back in the day, my anxiety used to get so tight in my chest that I genuinely thought I had asthma. I even went to my doctor asking for an inhaler, and she just gave me this little laugh!
Anxiety has about a million different symptoms, so I'm sorry you're dealing with whatever is hitting you right now.

Thank you for the replies. It seems like you offer great advice to doctors as well.
I have a question. When measuring the success of a treatment, does one count the entire duration of the medication intake (starting from 1/4 dose, then 1/2, then 3/4) or only the period spent on the full therapeutic dose of 50mg? Today marks the 17th day.

fadedbear92 said:Are you feeling anxious?

I am. I just took 4mg of Lexapro. Perhaps it will help. Like a cloudy day, sometimes it is hard to define exactly what I am feeling.

fadedbear92 said:Did you check the list of potential side effects? Here's the link
What do you mean by difficulty breathing?

It feels like I can't catch my breath. It's shallow... like I am constantly holding my breath.
🤷

fadedbear92 said:You really need to talk this over with the doctor who prescribed these—do you feel comfortable giving them a call?

The doctor mentioned Xanax, but that was just my GP. My therapist is available if needed, but I think I'll take two more Normabels.
I have a question regarding the metrics of recovery. Does success depend on the total duration of medication use, or is it measured by the period spent at the therapeutic dosage—specifically that 50mg level?