DOSE:

75 mg

oral

Pharms - Venlafaxine

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

110 lb

I am a 32 year old mother of 2 young boys, now 6 and 4. I also received my graduate education in nursing from one of the world's leading universities. With marital problems and the normal every day stress of being a mother, I began to experience extreme generalized anxiety. I was initially placed on Lexapro. It was great, but made me too tired to function. My PCP recommended Paxil but I quickly learned it did nothing for me. I then started Effexor 37.5mg XR once every day. It too made me very tired. But it also made me feel sedate. I figured out that if I took it at bedtime, I was able to sleep better than I had ever before. My PCP raised the does to 75mg XR once a day. I was off and running.

I experienced a warm chilling sensation over my entire body at random times. It was a good feeling. Weird, but good. I had an increase in my appetite. Nothing crazy, I had a 5 lb. weight gain as a result. I had mild headaches during the first 2 to 3 weeks of begining the drug. I was more even tempered and patient with my children. Life was good.

I begin to experience a strange sensation after about a month or so of taking Effexor. If I missed a dose, I would notice at random times a visual vibration. The best way I can describe this is if you have ever watched a football game on TV, occasionally the players hit into a camera just enough that we see the picture vibrate. Or taking home video and the person doing the filming is shaking slightly. I have heard similar descriptions called 'brain shivers', 'electric buzzes', 'shock waves', 'electric shocks', vertigo, and nystagmus. I am assuming nystagmus is what it really is. When these 'shivers' occur, they happen (to me) rapidly and last anywhere from 1 to 3 seconds. Their frequency seems to be directly related to falling blood levels. If I missed 1 dose, they were not as frequent nor lasting as if I had missed 3 or 4 doses.

This 'shiver' or nystagmus as I believe, was fairly troubling as I tried to withdraw from the medication. But there was something else I experienced as more painful and bothersome. First let me complicate the story with the addition of another medication. After being on the Effexor for about 6 months or so, and seeing a therapist I was Dx. as having ADD (NOT attention deficit Hyperactivity disorder). I was placed on 30mg of Adderall XR (I tried one of my nanny's one occassion and thought, wow! someone turned the lights on!).

Anyway, I continued on this regime for another year and a half and decided I would try to come off the Effexor. I tried the cold turkey method. After 2 weeks of 'brain shivers' I began to experience the chills again only they were not the pleasent sensation I remembered when I first started the drug. I began to experience the chills multiple times of the day. They happened usually in the morning after I showered when I was standing in front of my sink doing my hair and make up. I could feel the sensation start at my feet and like a wave go all the way up to my neck and over my scalp. I would get the erector pili response as well (goose bumps). It literally felt as though the hair on my head was on end.

It was a warm rush but I felt ice cold. I mean like someone immersed me in ice cold water but internally I was very hot. I would become dizzy as well. On 2 occassions, I experienced a sudden onset of abdominal cramping, severe nausea, severe dizziness, profuse sweating to the point of soaking my shirt and sweat literally dripping onto the floor. I know enough to realize I was begining to lose consciousness. I was also hyperventilating. When the episodes would (thankfully) subside, my face and hands were ghastly white and my lips were grayish. More than likely I experienced a sudden and severe drop in blood pressure.

It took a full 6 weeks of weaning myself off the Effexor. It took another 2 to 3 weeks before my body felt back to normal (no shivers at all).

In my experience, and based on my education, I feel Effexor is a great drug for controlling generalized anxiety disorder. In the case of depression, I can not speak to Effexor's efficacy.

Exp Year: 2004	ExpID: 50448
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: 32
Published: Jul 11, 2010	Views: 17,238
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Pharms - Venlafaxine (191) : Health Problems (27), Health Benefits (32), Medical Use (47), Hangover / Days After (46), Multi-Day Experience (13), Retrospective / Summary (11), Not Applicable (38)