I was already feeling just awful-- and now I have the Effexor NIGHTMARE to look forward too!

Posted by Trish on 08/28/04 at 02:18 AM

I\'m up at almost 5am-- what started as a search on depression and weight gain (after my loving husband admitted he\'s not as attracted to me as he used to be, since my weight gain-- which has been especially around my abdomen as many have mentioned) led me to all the postings about Effexor. I have to say I was TOTALLY shocked!!!!! I have been on and off several anti-depressants in the past, but when my husband, who is an Air Force Reservist, was activated and sent overseas (to Iraq the first time, Afghanistan the second time-- third and subsequent times are still up in the air!!). I pretty much fell apart, and my doctor put me on Effexor-- I tapered up, and have been on 150mg for over seven months now. I never have felt \'great\' on the drug, most days I just seemed to get by-- and at one point right after I started taking the Effexor, my doctor added an anti-psychotic (low dose) to the regimen, while my Effexor level built-up he told me-- that really did make a difference, but I was noticing my weight creeping up (10lb gain in about a month)-- of course I also attributed that to my husband being gone and the lax eating and exercise habits I had developed, and the fact that I\'m now well into my 30\'s (I\'ll be 35 next April). I went back to the doctor for a check and he said to stop the other drug since I was feeling better, and attributed the other drug to my weight gain. Well, needless to say 40+ pounds later (I just got on the scale to my horror-- which I\'ve been purposely avoiding)-- and with no real \'drive\' to do anything about it, still not feeling great, having little to no energy, clenching my jaw/grinding my teeth, etc., I see all these scary postings!!!! Of course my first instinct is to quit cold turkey, but I know first hand what a BAD idea that is-- my husband and I went on a trip to Mexico on his first time back from overseas and with our schedules being all off, etc., I forgot to take my Effexor for two maybe three days. The dizziness, fuzziness, nausea was just awful-- I thought I had come down with Montazuma\'s Revenge-- to my surprise, as soon as I remembered my Effexor, the symptoms went away. Since then, I\'ve been nervous to even miss a day, and after all the experiences I read about, now I\'m scared shitless to even start tapering off-- and I\'m worried my doctor will not take me/this seriously as well!!!! I\'m wondering if anybody who\'s still checking the site has had a successful \'withdrawal\', any new tips, ideas, etc. on making it easier and/or how to make your doctor listen, and if anyone\'s had luck losing the weight once they stopped the Effexor-- I would greatly appreciate it!

Replies	Posted By	#	Date & Time
Re: I was already feeling just awful-- and now I have the Effexor NIGHTMARE to look forward too!	Vicki	0	05/02/07 04:55 PM
Re: I was already feeling just awful-- and now I have the Effexor NIGHTMARE to look forward too!	Lori	1	04/01/05 06:14 AM