![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sid on September 18, 2002, at 23:22:51
Hello all –
I've been on 75mg/day of Effexor XR for about 9 months now, and from the beginning I've had abdominal/pelvic discomfort. It seems to be getting worse, and it seems to be linked to my bowel movements - I feel some discomfort after, on the right hand side, right about where my right ovary is. I've had my ovaries checked (echography), they are fine. I'll soon go for a baryum thing (I forget the word) to check my lower intestine - :-(. Still, I find the whole thing weird... Also, sometimes it hurts after I pee, and my orgasms have been painful as well, right after I peak. It seems like something is wrong around my pelvic area, but so far my doctors have not found anything. They also tell me they've never heard of such a side effect from antidepressants.
Does anyone have the same problem? If so, was it treated? What did you do?
Thanks in advance to anyone who might have info…And hello to the people who knew me when... I hope you're doing well!
sid
Posted by Ritch on September 19, 2002, at 0:19:55
In reply to pelvic pain from Effexor XR ?, posted by sid on September 18, 2002, at 23:22:51
> Hello all –
> I've been on 75mg/day of Effexor XR for about 9 months now, and from the beginning I've had abdominal/pelvic discomfort. It seems to be getting worse, and it seems to be linked to my bowel movements - I feel some discomfort after, on the right hand side, right about where my right ovary is. I've had my ovaries checked (echography), they are fine. I'll soon go for a baryum thing (I forget the word) to check my lower intestine - :-(. Still, I find the whole thing weird... Also, sometimes it hurts after I pee, and my orgasms have been painful as well, right after I peak. It seems like something is wrong around my pelvic area, but so far my doctors have not found anything. They also tell me they've never heard of such a side effect from antidepressants.
> Does anyone have the same problem? If so, was it treated? What did you do?
> Thanks in advance to anyone who might have info…
>
> And hello to the people who knew me when... I hope you're doing well!
>
> sid
>
>Hi, you're the economics prof. right? I bet your classes have been a lot livelier over the last few months!
Anyhow, SSRI's and Effexor can *cause* weirdo pain syndromes in some individuals. Zoloft (and Prozac to lesser extent) gave me some nasty lower back pain. Celexa, Zoloft, and Prozac all caused an old injury in an ankle to hurt so bad I limped at work when I was on my feet too long. I also have mild GERD and all of them can cause reflux and sharp stabbing pains at times just below my ribcage. On Effexor at just 12.5mg I notice a traveling, shooting, pain originating from my hip and going through to my left foot (occasional). Kind of like a "zap". There might be some strategies to combat this. You could try adding Buspar, Periactin, Vistaril (anti-serotonergic meds) or add a low-dose TCA (amitriptyline, nortriptyline, desipramine), an anticonvulsant with neuropathic pain-relieving properties (Tegretol, Trileptal, Depakote, Topamax, etc.), add an antidepressant with 5-HT antagonist properties like Remeron, Serzone, ie.. Remeron has 5-HT3 antagonist properties which work on receptors in the gut. I found it wonderful for regulating GI motility, just didn't like the weight gain and antihistamine zombification. There is Ondansentron, which is used for chemotherapy nausea, but is expensive as the yin-yang. If it is neuropathic "phantom" pain, you could try this stuff and see what happens. If it doesn't help, then you may have to get away from the Effexor...
Mitch
Posted by wsj on September 19, 2002, at 8:18:44
In reply to Re: pelvic pain from Effexor XR ? » sid, posted by Ritch on September 19, 2002, at 0:19:55
i have had the just the opposite effect from effexor - it takes all my aches and pains away. i recently quit taking it, and they all came back. so i went back to a lower dose and it's taking the pain away again.
i just went to my p-doc yesterday and he said their using effexor in high doses (450mg) as pain med now.wsj
Posted by sid on September 19, 2002, at 9:04:52
In reply to Re: pelvic pain from Effexor XR ? » sid, posted by Ritch on September 19, 2002, at 0:19:55
Thanks Ritch for the info,
I'll see what the tests say. If it's a side effect, I can live with it. I am just worried it may be something else at this point. If we find nothing wrong, then I'll be OK. It's discomfort more than pain per se; it feels like some pressure sometimes.
As I read your message, I remembered that I started having ostheoarthirtis this year. Related to Effexor XR perhaps? My feet hurt especially and it takes 10 minutes of warming up every morning before I can walk straight. I now take Tylenol-arthritis every morning and evening. I'm a bit too young for my taste to start having that kind of problem! My doc said exercise is the best I can do to prevent it from progressing, so I don't let the pain stop me, although sometimes I walk funny.
Darn drugs, they do us good, but weird stuff happens too.- sid
Posted by sid on September 19, 2002, at 9:13:10
In reply to Re: pelvic pain from Effexor XR ? » sid, posted by Ritch on September 19, 2002, at 0:19:55
My doc seems to think so. I never had it before, but I've been reading about it in some recent posts on side effects.
Posted by Ritch on September 19, 2002, at 9:34:04
In reply to Re: pelvic pain from Effexor XR ? » Ritch, posted by sid on September 19, 2002, at 9:04:52
> Thanks Ritch for the info,
> I'll see what the tests say. If it's a side effect, I can live with it. I am just worried it may be something else at this point. If we find nothing wrong, then I'll be OK. It's discomfort more than pain per se; it feels like some pressure sometimes.
> As I read your message, I remembered that I started having ostheoarthirtis this year. Related to Effexor XR perhaps? My feet hurt especially and it takes 10 minutes of warming up every morning before I can walk straight. I now take Tylenol-arthritis every morning and evening. I'm a bit too young for my taste to start having that kind of problem! My doc said exercise is the best I can do to prevent it from progressing, so I don't let the pain stop me, although sometimes I walk funny.
> Darn drugs, they do us good, but weird stuff happens too.
>
> - sidEffexor gives me the *least* amount of GI discomfort of the SSRI's and my foot doesn't hurt on it, that's why I am taking a little bit of it now instead of one of the other SRi's. It tends to cause my upper back, shoulder, and neck muscles to get very tense and stiff, though (the other Sri's didn't do that-they hit different areas!). Your symptoms could be mild IBS. The ideal med for folks like us (I think) would be a serotonin reuptake inhibitor that also has 5-HT3 (gut serotonin) antagonist properties. Maybe they are workin on it? ;)
Posted by sid on September 19, 2002, at 20:42:41
In reply to Re: pelvic pain from Effexor XR ? » sid, posted by Ritch on September 19, 2002, at 9:34:04
Thanks, it'll give me something to tell my doc. She thinks it is unusual, but if others feel something similar, I'm not so worried. I'll still get it checked, but I won't think about it much.
Posted by LynnPerley on September 20, 2002, at 22:17:28
In reply to could it be IBS?, posted by sid on September 19, 2002, at 9:13:10
Sid, I have all of the symptoms of IBS except diarrhea since starting Effexor, most settled down except for the constipation and occasional gas and pelvic pain. It's worse if I skip meals or don't eat right. My doc suggested making sure to eat well, regularly, and take Citrucel if things got bad. So far, it's helping.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.