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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by iheartmuffy on April 6, 2006, at 1:43:23
I have been on anti-depressants since I was 12, not sure why the dr put me on them so young, but I have been 'hooked' ever since. At first I was on prozac, then paxil and then lexapro and occationly some mixed in Zanax or Valium. So while on Lexapro I also wanted to quit smoking but didn't want to gain weight like most people I knew who quit, so my dr added Wellbutrin to the mix. It worked and within 2 weeks I had quit smoking entirely and even lost a few pounds doing so. I took that combination for over year and it was great. I then moved to a different city, far away from friends and family to go to a new college as a transfer student, so I developed severe social anxiety. So I went to the dr (a new dr) and she prescribed me Effexor 75mg to start off and she told me to stop taking my other meds right away. I also liked the fact I was going to a new dr, I made a vow to myself after I moved to stop taking valuim and zanax recreationally, so I decided to tell her I didn't want to take those anymore, moving to a new place I wanted to lose the zanax and other downers weight I had gained. So I took the Effexor, I couldn't really eat for almost 2 weeks, I had to force myself to eat anything. I didn't sleep more than 4-5 hours a night and I lost 15 pounds just in the first 2 weeks. (I'm 5'9, and went from 150 to 135) I continued taking it, it wasn't helping my anxiety, but I was losing weight and excersizing more, which is what made me happy. It was so weird, I would forget to do things like eat and brush my teeth and go to bed yet I could sit there and type a 10 page essay or read a novel in no time. I went back to my dr because I came to the realization that it wasn't helping my anxiety it was actually making it worse, I found myself with hypernetalating for no reason. She thought it was because I didn't have a strong enough dose, so she prescribed me to 150 mg. I took that for a few months and it seriously felt like my heart was going to explode sometimes. I have developed severe joint problems in my knees and hips and its hard to stand for long periods of time. I also found out I had entirely lost my sex drive, I am only 23 and I don't think I should have totally lost interest in all that yet. My boyfriend and I have been together for 3 years and now I have no desire and to be intimate at all, so I had to decide to either stop taking it and have a sex drive or keep taking it and be thin but still not have any help on my anxiety, maybe lose my relationship with someone because I have no interest in anything anymore and have my hips go out on me(?). So now, even 2 months after I stopped taking it I still have little to no sex drive and I still can't sleep and to top it all off I have gained all the weight back (plus some). My knees and hips still swell and are always very sore. I really don't understand any of this, but it seems as though Effexor might have perminatly damaged me some how. Anyway, this is the first time in 11 years I have been without any medication at all, its been 2 months, I think I feel alright, just tired and I can't concentrate, its my senior year in college and I seem to be failing everything and just by that I know something's wrong. I find myself drinking more than usual and putting things off more and making up excuses why I can't do homework, trying as many diet pills as possible to lose the weight I gained from getting off Effexor. I have also thought I might have ADHD, maybe I should take Aderall, I heard that helps people with concentraton. But I really don't like the fact I am gaining so much weight back and it really bothers me my hips hurt so badly all the time. So if anyone has any ideas as to what I should take instead of Effexor or any ideas as to whether these side-effects are perminate/normal or not, let me know.
Posted by digger on April 6, 2006, at 11:10:38
In reply to Effexor: permanent side effects?, posted by iheartmuffy on April 6, 2006, at 1:43:23
The diet drugs could be preventing you from getting rid of the side effects that you feel stemmed from Effexor. If I followed you correctly the two constans of late are A. Drugs that make you lose weight and B. Pain and discomfort in your hips/joints.
A senior year can be very stressful for anyone. (Mine ended in a nervous breakdown) Maybe your trying to focus on loosing weight at a time when there are just too many other demands. Maybe try quitting all the Rx, focus on school, and then after you graduate start exercising and working on a healthier weight loss program. If you have been on anti-depressants throughout your teens you don't really know if your system can regulate itself without the drugs...I am not a doctor so take this all as just a stranger who cares. Good luck!
Posted by Racer on April 6, 2006, at 12:47:38
In reply to Re: Effexor: permanent side effects? » iheartmuffy, posted by digger on April 6, 2006, at 11:10:38
Frankly, if your weight is hovering around 150 and you're 5'9", your weight is in a very good range for your height. 135 is underweight at your height.
Now, in terms of your question: I wouldn't expect most of the things you're describing to last much longer from Effexor withdrawal. BUT continuing to take the "diet pills" is more likely to be causing a lot of this. Even if the diet pills are only causing 10% of the problems you're having now, they're much more likely to cause long lasting damage to you.
What happens with a lot of these ADs, including Effexor, is a function of how they work. They inhibit the reuptake of specific neurotransmitters. In the case of Effexor at the lowish doses you were on, that means mostly serotonin. That reuptake inhibition changes the balance of the Big Three monoamines -- serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Serotonin, as well as being involved in mood, is highly involved in digestion -- things like bowel motility and hunger/satiety signaling, etc. Norepinephrine is somehow involved in pain, but I don't know much about that. Anyway, all this affects the expression of the receptors for these neurotransmitters, which is part of how ADs affect things like weight gain or loss, etc. Now that you're off the drugs, it's gonna take a while for your cells to find a new balance of receptors and receptor sensitivity, to normalize. It will happen.
It will happen a whole lot sooner if you stop stressing your body with diet pills, etc. By diet pills, I'm assuming you mean over the counter, since no halfway competent doctor would prescribe anything for you at the sort of weight range you're talking about.
As for ADHD and Adderall, etc, don't bet on it. First off, what you're going through is much more likely to be related to those diet pills. Besides which, if you take both OTC dieet pills and Adderall, you're putting yourself at pretty high risk of cardiac events that you really wouldn't enjoy. And you're soundling like someone with some problems in the eating disorder/distorted body image spectrum, so it would be bordering on malpractice for a doctor to prescribe a stimulant for you.
Do you see a therapist? That would be a good move to make, to help work out how much of this is related to coming off the drugs, and how much is psychosocial stressors.
Good luck.
Posted by ewm12 on April 12, 2006, at 20:19:57
In reply to Effexor: permanent side effects?, posted by iheartmuffy on April 6, 2006, at 1:43:23
Hi,
I came off Effexor in Feb 2005 after taking it (150mg) along with Wellbutrin for 4 years. I had a horrible withdrwal--gained tons of weight in my belly (whereas i'm a pear:), had horrible anxiety (which was never my problem at all and has gone away), was very fatigued and basically a zoombie. I also started lossing hair in vast amounts. I ended up severely depressed again--largely i think because i didn't taper the dose slowly enough--and took lexapro for a short period. For me, taking a simple SSRI helped even things out. Because, Effexxor really messed with my system and going off it was a shock.One thing to watch out for though, is attributing all that is wrong right now to the AD. I've caught myself doing this and am realizing that I'll never have the answer. Like you, I'd been on ADs for a long time--8 years--and wondered whether they messed me up permantly. Am I always a zoombie now because they decreased my cognitive function? Unfortunately, I've realized you're not likely to get an answer to these questions. I'm even debating going back on them--i've realized my quality of life right now might be more important. I do have friends who are upfront that they will be on ADs for life.
Those are just my thoughts! :-)
Posted by iheartmuffy on April 12, 2006, at 22:51:05
In reply to Re: Effexor: permanent side effects?, posted by ewm12 on April 12, 2006, at 20:19:57
>Yeah getting off this stuff is terrible. I have been trying for a long time to get off anti-depressants permanently. But I always end up back on some new form of AD trying to cope with getting off the old AD meds. Its a never ending cycle. But, I have also been losing my hair and my joints still won't stop hurting. I had an MRI done and the drs told me I am losing cartlage in my joints. But it is still unknown why. The dr I have been going to (its a chiropractor) has never seen this in such a young person. I think I am going to go to my regular dr and ask if it could be some weird effect of Effexor. I have also officially stopped taking my diet pills. And yeah I am gaining at least 1-2 lbs every few weeks, its terrible.
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