Trauma – PTSD

Question:

Apprecaite the inputs. My thanks

Response:

I realize the inputs are not legal medical advice, but I wish to have some feedback.. My Psychiatric has suggested Effexor for my PD (panic disorder).  Here is the issue.  I hate taking drugs, much less a new one. I have tried almost everything. The side affects have been killers (high anxiety), hence  I have never gotten to a therapeutic dosage. The only thing that has worked half way has been Xanax, but that just keeps it under control.  Due to a variety of reasons I need to proceed further in the battle (hell war, a long one at that about 2 decades).

Sounds to me that it might be sensible for someone to put you on a larger dose of a benzodiazepine such as Xanax during the first few weeks while the Effexor starts to kick in, to give you the confidence to get to therapeutic level. Otherwise you’re wasting your time. Have you discussed this with your doc? Take a look at: http://www.health-center.com/english/pharmacy/meds/effexor.htm David

Response:

This may be a little controversial, but my feeling about drugs is that if you’re afraid of it even before you start taking it, the chances of any success with it are limited right from the start. I guess you could call it the reverse placebo effect. On the other hand, you never know until you try it. If you’re really afraid, just do what I’ve done a few times — write off a couple of days, go and park near the hospital and take the darned thing there. You will feel safer, and if an adverse reaction should occur for real (very unlikely), help is close at hand. I know it sounds silly but it works. But bring along a little battery-operated TV, some tapes and some stuff to read, ’cause it can get pretty boring. BTW, nobody should feel bad for being afraid of taking medications. In the old days, you would have been put in the hospital to be tried on a lot of stuff that was less powerful and side effect prone than the stuff they just hand out today and expect us to start on at home by ourselves. Pierre

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi Gene.. I was on Effexor for 3 years. I was prescribed it ~ 4 months after it first was approved. I think I started it in late 1994. I took it for depression, rather than a PD. I was also taking Klonopin at the same time for anxiety. A few side effects that I encountered: I would occasionally get dry mouth, Wasn’t a big deal for me and it wasn’t all the time. I had very vivid dreams; some of them were good dreams and some were not so good. I don’t know if it was the Klonopin or the Effexor or a combination of the two, but I did feel a lot less anxious. It did slightly elevate my blood pressure, was normally like 120/80.. went to~ 135/85 . I don’t know how much it enhanced therapy, but I do know of studies  sorry, cannot recall the source) that do state that medication and therapy are more effective than therapy alone or medication alone. If I ever felt the need to go back on a medication, which is currently under consideration , I wouldn’t have any problem with trying the Effexor again. Only other drug I was on before this was Prozac, and Effexor worked better for me. All this is just my personal experience.I am not a doctor Good Luck to You I realize the inputs are not legal medical advice, but I wish to have some feedback.. My Psychiatric has suggested Effexor for my PD (panic disorder).  Here is the issue.  I hate taking drugs, much less a new one. I have tried almost everything. The side affects have been killers (high anxiety), hence  I have never gotten to a therapeutic dosage. The only thing that has worked half way has been Xanax, but that just keeps it under control.  Due to a variety of reasons I need to proceed further in the battle (hell war, a long one at that about 2 decades). Here are the questions. 1. Is Effexor the panacea as it was portrayed to me.  Will it reduce/eliminate the panic attacks, dizziness, etc. 2. Due to "up tightness" and migraines, I take Flexeril at times.  Any interaction? 3. What should I expect from Effexor    a.  Will it allow therapy to be a greater benefit    b.  Will it alleviate the "impending doom" attacks?    c.  Etc. 4. What are the pit falls, negatives? Any inputs are welcomed. My Thanks Gene </PRE</HTML Blondie http://members.aol.com/BlondSweet Graphics, Wavs and Recipes

Response:

Hi Gene.. I was on Effexor for 3 years. I was prescribed it ~ 4 months after it first was approved. I think I started it in late 1994. I took it for depression, rather than a PD. I was also taking Klonopin at the same time for anxiety. A few side effects that I encountered: I would occasionally get dry mouth, Wasn’t a big deal for me and it wasn’t all the time. I had very vivid dreams; some of them were good dreams and some were not so good. I don’t know if it was the Klonopin or the Effexor or a combination of the two, but I did feel a lot less anxious. It did slightly elevate my blood pressure, was normally like 120/80.. went to~ 135/85 . I don’t know how much it enhanced therapy, but I do know of studies ( sorry, cannot recall the source) that do state that medication and therapy are more effective than therapy alone or medication alone. If I ever felt the need to go back on a medication, which is currently under consideration , I wouldn’t have any problem with trying the Effexor again. Only other drug I was on before this was Prozac, and Effexor worked better for me. All this is just my personal experience.I am not a doctor Good Luck to You – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I realize the inputs are not legal medical advice, but I wish to have some feedback.. My Psychiatric has suggested Effexor for my PD (panic disorder).  Here is the issue.  I hate taking drugs, much less a new one. I have tried almost everything. The side affects have been killers (high anxiety), hence  I have never gotten to a therapeutic dosage. The only thing that has worked half way has been Xanax, but that just keeps it under control.  Due to a variety of reasons I need to proceed further in the battle (hell war, a long one at that about 2 decades). Here are the questions. 1. Is Effexor the panacea as it was portrayed to me.  Will it reduce/eliminate the panic attacks, dizziness, etc. 2. Due to

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