Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucy
HI - I am new to this depression thread. I have Post Concussion Syndrome (following head injury) and a side effect of that can be depression.
I think that I am actually mentally exhuasted, like had my accident, divorce, best friend died, mother died, brother diagnosed with the nasty c and never more than a few days off work etc etc all in the last 6 years. Probably more of the same for a lot of you.
Anyway my GP has prescribed me Efexor- xr - think in the US it is spelt effexor. I have read up on it and the side effects are horrendous and I am now too scared to take it.
In the past I have had very low doses of fluoxetine and just lately dothiepin. My problem at the moment is that a client fired me at work and that just triggered this over the top tearful reaction. I am now kind of ok if I don't see anybody I know or think about or go near work!
Has anybody taken this drug and how was it - can you respond urgently please as I have to get my self together soon. I don't think that I am that bad - mainly tearful, overyly worrying and can be forgetful. Of course the head injury does not help that but at the moment I know that I am depressed and it does exagerate the head injury.
Thank you, I look forward to hearing any comments regarding the efexor.
Lucy
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Hi Lucy:
I was diagnosed 10 years ago with major depressive disorder and have taken a number of different antidepressants. Right now I'm taking mirtazipine (Remeron) (30 MG) and Effexor XR (225 mg). I've been taking mirtazipine since July 2003 and my doctor added Effexor (150 mg) in spring 2005 during a relapse. It was increased to 225 mg in December as I'm going through another recurrence.
I really haven't had any bad side effects from the Effexor - just dry mouth, yawning and excessive sweating which I find the hardest to deal with. I had much worse side effects on some of the other meds I tried - migraines and anxiety were the worst.
You have to remember that we all react differently to medications and what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. If you decide to give medication a try and you have any bad side effects your doctor has many other options available. Medication isn't the only answer but it can help. I see a counsellor regularly (right now once a week, but when I'm feeling better I can usually go to once a month visits) and find that the talk therapy helps a lot. This time, I've been able to continue working - so far! And I don't think I'd have been able to do that without his help.
Hope this helps.
Deborah