Dizzy and stomach problems ? effexor?

[Deb 27]

I've been feeling strange since Friday and I am not totally sure why. I've had dizziness and diarrhea since Friday, mostly in the afternoon. I had been taking effexor for about 6 weeks but wanted to quit b/c it was   making me really constipated, so I stopped early in the week. I've read you can have withdrawals from effexor. I was wondering if this could be it after being on it for just 6 weeks?  I would think I had a stomach virus but it doesn't make sense with the dizziness. Yesterday, my neck and back were hurting. Sometimes I can feel dizzy when I need an adjustment. A few weeks ago, I fell back in a chair.....  Ugh, this is not a fun feeling.

[irish]

Generally when we take an antidepressant we need to taper off slowly as we can have some issues like being jittery, etc. All antidepressants can cause some constipation and some of the meds are worse than others plus some people get diarrhea instead of constipation.

You might want to try another antidepressant as they are all formulated differently and some affect serotonin more than epinephrine, dopamine, etc. We have to try until we get the right drug. I have tried a lot of drugs before I found the one that works for me. Effexor was taken by my son for years and I kept telling him that he was on the wrong drug as his behavior was not normal for him. He finally tapered off and was put on another drug and it was like night and day and he felt and acted so much better.

It takes patience but is worth it. Oh, it also pays to start taking the med at 1/2 dose for a couple of weeks to get you body adjusted to it. Good luck. Irish

[Deb 27]

Thanks Irish. Sorry it did 't work for your son but it sounds like something worked better for him.

I looked up Effexor and it seems like a lot of people have bad withdrawal symptoms if they miss doses. Gee, I thought that was the definition of an addicting drug!!! I was only on it 5-6 weeks tops.  Now that I know this, I am gonna taper off it and try another one. It's a shame, it really took away my depression and anxiety but I am not going to take a medicine that gives withdrawal symptoms, I don't care how good it is.  I know they say not to quit cold turkey but I've done that with almost all antidepressants I've taken before with no problems. I've had friends who went through the paxil withdrawals. Sounds horrible, like this.

[irish]

All antidepressants need to be tapered off when you change meds or want to quit. They are not an addicting drug. They are a drug that changes the level of serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, etc in your system and when you stop suddenly your body has not had a chance to adjust to a lower dose and thus the symptoms that show up.

If a taper is done there are minimal symptoms that show up as the body adjusts to the decrease in the chemicals. If you change to a different antidepressant while on one antidepressdant the docs will taper down on that drug and introduce the new drug at a low dose. The dosage in these drugs are decreased and increased over a period of time determined by the doctor. Please don't avoid antidepressants because you think you will be addicted.

Also, you can find literature on any drug, including antidepressants, that will tell you tales from the grave and back and scare the bejibbers out of you. If you avoid reading that literature you will be better off. I say that as a retired RN who always read up on drugs and scared myself out of taking some meds. The funny thing is much of the side effects are the same for all pills., ie. shaking, tremors, nausea, diarrhea, constiptation, dizziness. The symptoms go on and on and many of them don't occur. The main ones that are bothersome with antidepressants are nausea, anxiety, sleepiness and I always got a sharp pain in my head at times which I feel was the chemicals in the brain being stimulated.

These side effects generally go aware in a few weeks and it helps to take the pills with food. You can also split the dose or divide the pills and take one in the morning and 1 at night. You need to talk with your doctor about these little tidbits to see what he has to say. I always tell people that generally most family doctors don't treat depressions that are longer lasting or more hard to treat. They don't like to mess around with that type of thing. I advise a psychiatrist who can work with a patients meds and fine tune them.

If you find a goof psychiatrist that you can work with it makes living with depression so much easier. Good luck. Irish