Hi everyone,

Im 21 and I was on Cipramil last year and although it was working in some ways, it was not the right medicine for me. So I stopped it one day and did not tapper off because I thought it would be fine, I was ok for a few weeks and then I started having worse depression. My doctor put me on Effexor. The first day I felt a bit sick but it went away. Yesterday a few hours after I took the pill I felt really energised and over the top anxiety and then went into depression and today I feel completley scatterd. Like im going from one extreme to the next from being really happy then to sad and then confused ect...also my head feels numb. Can someone please tell me if this is normal. I felt it working a bit this morning but its only been 3 days. Do you think I should stick it out or is this a sign it is not for me?

Welcome! Some drugs cause hyper activity to begin with. You need to talk with your prescribing doctor or pharamacist. It may be that you need a hike in doseage. I found effexor useful but it activated busy, long, involved dreams which left me exhausted. Otherwise it did suit me. Drugs need to be carefully monitored and unless the side effects are gross, working through them can be worthwhile.

When is your next appt with the doctor? Have a browse through our medication 'room' too .....

This post has been edited by Lizzy: Feb 14 2008, 06:27 AM

Thanks

My doctor gave me the starter pack to begin with which is 7 tablets, and she also gave me 5 repeats. She said see how I go with the 7 and then continue, or I can go back to her next week if I have a problem. Im just worried cause, I have heard effexor is quite good, its just alot of people cant handle the side effects. So you think this is just an initial thing? Also with effexor do u think it usually takes about 2 weeks or so? About SSRI and SNRI, is effexor SSRI aswell or onlt SNRI?

I used to be on Effexor for several months, and at the beginning (and after every subsequent dosage increase) I would get a speedy feeling for a couple days. I noticed that after my body adjusted to the new dose I was able to feel normal. For me it took about a week after reaching the top dose to feel the full effects. Being bipolar, I had to kick the medication once it induced manic feelings constantly, but it did a great job of pulling me out of my depressive phase when I was suffering from that.