Posted by Janelle on August 22, 2001, at 14:19:21
In reply to Effexor energy roller coaster , posted by pellmell on August 22, 2001, at 13:52:37
I've been on an interesting ride with EffexorXR also. And it has not been pleasant.
At first Effexor (37.5 mg) didn't seem to do much of anything except some increased activation, but as I titrated up gradually, the activation got worse - I was jittery, shaky and felt caffeinated. I got to 150 mg, and that was my worst day; called pdoc and she had me go back to 75 mg/day where I'd been holding for weeks, while we fine tuned Lamictal. Now, I'm at the point of tapering OFF the EffexorXR. The first day I went down to 37.5 mg, activation and feelng caffeinated returned! Geez, what was that about! Thankfully, it only lasted that one day. Now, I notice that my mind is less foggy and the jitters seem to be gone. I'm going to hang at 37.5 for awhile before going off, as I hope and pray to avoid withdrawal symptoms (been there, done that - all of them with paxil withdrawal and it was HORRIBLE).
I would ask you this - what DOSE were you at when you recached the 6 week mark, when you said the Effexor was really working? I ask because I've read that at low doses (75 mg/day and below), it works primarily on Serotonin, and at higher doses (above 75 mg/day), it works more on Norephinephrine, and the latter can be "too much" for some people (like me!)
-Janelle
poster:Janelle
thread:75966
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010822/msgs/75977.html