I have never taken it, but I have dispensed hundreds or thousands of prescriptions for it. It seems to work well for many people. On a more personal note, my ex-boyfriend went on Effexor XR (among other meds) when he was diagnosed bipolar. It literally saved his life.
I can just about credit it with saving my life as well. I could feel a difference within just a few days, if not the very next. Coming off of it can be terrible though… I had more of a situational depression so I wasn’t on it very long, but I still had a few complications when I stopped taking it. Others that I know had massive issues when they were coming off it / switching to a different anti-d.
i think i was allergic to it. I couldnt stop clenching my teeth, i was really dizzy and felt very sick. Stopped taking it after 2 days.
Thats not an allergic reaction, but a side effect. It is VERY strange that it affected you that much after only two doses. Effexor increases both norepinepherine and serotonin. I suspect that you don't need the norepinepherine, and thats what caused your symptoms. You should probably just try an SSRI.
it made me worse actually i hated it it stripped me of my feelings to a certain extent, made me really indiffrent to my surroundings.
This is fairly common when you begin the drug. It usually goes away in a couple weeks. This is a sign that the medicine is increasing the neurotransmitters, ie, the drug is working. Give it some more time.
Then you probably don't need the extra norepinepherine. Maybe you should try one that just effects serotonin or dopamine.
well see, at the time, and even now, i dont think meds are the answer to my depressions i have actual issues that depress me, so i dont think it has to do with some sort of chemical imbalance. how are pills going to solve concrete issues?? so i stopped taking them. they were doing nothing for me...just making me worse. and my doctor was horrible, he put me on them right away...didnt even explore any other options. im very skeptical to go back even to get a referal for therapy, which i think will help me more than anti depressants
I agree that doctors are sometimes too quick to prescribe medications. I encourage to try therapy or to try and change the situations that are causing your depression. Depression, even when caused by external stressors, causes a decrease in the amount of serotonin available for your brain to use, though. If you cannot pull yourself out of this, through therapy or other means, I would encourage you to try another type of medication (an SSRI). The medication will NOT solve the external problems that you have, but it WILL help you deal with them more effectively. Antidepressants do not solve problems, but they are a tool you can use to help you solve them. I wish you luck!
thanks for the advice everything has been getting progressivly worse latley so i should really start facing my problems
