Posted by zinya on August 16, 2003, at 16:42:47
In reply to Re: Hey Zinya, Cher, posted by willie on August 11, 2003, at 6:57:18
Hi Willie!
I *do* understand about the e-mail privacy thing - it was kind of surprising actually that the group who were here at the time of the "explosion" were all so amenable to the e-mail circle... I'm sure if the two of you had been here at the time, we would have made a different decision immediately that would work for you too. Cher has mentioned to all of us that Kim mentioned another alternative and maybe that's what we'll all do... We have gotten kind of settled in to the e-mail circle but almost all of us have already said we'd make the switch too to rejoin you and Kim but a couple of us are gone right now so it hasn't been circulated as an idea yet to everyone...
As to your weight gain issue, I sure do identify. Do I recall correctly that you're on a fairly low dose?
As you already know from reading here, everyone is absolutely unique in how they react. But, just for what it's worth, here's my weight story on Effexor.
First of all, last fall, after losing my mom, i put on 10 pounds in like Oct and Nov. I knew it was adding to my depression cuz it was reducing the number of clothes i could feel comfortable in and my everyday jeans now felt tight all the time, but every effort to take the weight off failed and i stayed in the 8-12 extra pounds range (over my best 'normal' weight, not over my lowest weight - i was just trying to get back to a reasonable median weight for me) ...
Well, when i started Effexor finally in late May after despairing that any other things (like daily exercise or quitting alcohol) were enough to reduce depression, what happened first for me was that my appetite dropped (with a kind of dry mouth, drinking more water but eating less) and yet those same 10 lbs just stayed on and wouldn't leave ... Which told me that i must be one of the 'weight-GAINERS' from Effexor (having read of people hear who both gain and lose on it) ... I started at 18.75 mg and worked up REALLY slowly, as you may recall, and it took me 2 mo. before i got up to 150 mg (with the one S-E that almost made me quit being the inordinate sweating) .. but i kept going cuz i was under impression that the norepinephrine effects kick in at 150 mg and that was my md's main reason for choosing Effexor, to help my adrenalin levels that are so low and having no energy.
Well, when i got to 150 i was in for a HUGE disappointment, cuz it felt no different at all for the first two weeks and then i really considered quitting. But just then, on Aug. 1, after 10 days at 150 mg, unlike others who had a sudden burst of energy at 150, for me i felt nothing for 10 days any different and then, after some back pains etc went away on Aug 1 i woke up to something different - not earthshaking but different.
And lo and behold, since Aug. 1, i've lost about 8 of the 10 lbs i'd gained. !?!? I have NO idea how to explain ANY of this. And in the interim a guy on another thread named jrbecker, i think, started posting and responding to me about Effexor for energy, and he said that actually there's nothing magical about 150 mg. It's just that the adrenal effects are a small % of the total Effexor effects, i think it's like 80% of each pill is SSRI - for serotonin - and 20% (or even less) is for norep./adrenal energy effects. So it takes each body a different amount to get to a place where that 20% is enough to start being processed well by the body. And that's related to metabolism and thus to weight levels, it would seem. (I'm adding on to what he said here - he wasn't talking about weight effects but this makes sense to me that it just took my body that long before i started getting a better metabolism again and then losing weight.
Now, if your md. never intends for you to go to a higher level, then indeed it's possible you won't get to what MIGHT prove to be a weight-losing level of the drug... I'd talk to him/her about it from this standpoint.
wishing you good luck with the kind of resilience and hard decisions we all have to make and keep making daily on how to manage our bodies!! and minds!!
big hugs to you,
carolinap.s. Not sure exactly where in Canada you are - did you get hit by the blackout??
poster:zinya
thread:244989
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030808/msgs/251392.html