Stuff the psychiatrist, go to a doctor.

i also have the same problem. when i am even an hour late for taking my medicine i freak out. my boyfriend is very supportive of me, and i feel horrible about the way i treat him during the time which my medicine is not in my system. like last night. i told him i need to be by my self, and when he refused to leave i hit him. uncontrolibly. i feel horrible now and after i hit him i must have cryed for 4 hours because i could not control what i was doing.

Hi, I'm new to the forum & have found some interesting & helpful info on depression.

I've been diagnosed with 'major depression' (is there any other kind??), since I had a motorbike accident in 2005. Since the accident I've also been in & out of surgery, recovery, pain meds & have been taking Effexor for over 2 years now.

I'm sure that Effexor is addictive, although I take it in the morning. I don't think I get withdrawals but I do get the shakes badly & feel out of control of my emotions. Could this be from the Effexor or the pain meds?? Does anyone know?? Oh, my whole pill popping routine consists of - Effexor, Seroquel, Lyrica, Mersyndol Forte, Losec (sorry don't know if these are known by any other name). These are the names known in Australia.

I battle daily with debilitating pain, inability to be mobile, feeling of worthlessness, anger, tearfulness & all my Psychiatrist does is continue to increase the Effexor, until my body gets used to it & increases it again.

The few friends I have are all fed up of my moodiness & have stopped calling. I'm sure that they are avoiding me. I feel guilty in burdening them. I feel guilty & selfish for dumping my feelings on them.

Sorry I've rambled on...... just needed to get some questions out there & here from people going through the same thing.....

Thanks

Hi, I'm new to the forum & have found some interesting & helpful info on depression.

I've been diagnosed with 'major depression' (is there any other kind??), since I had a motorbike accident in 2005. Since the accident I've also been in & out of surgery, recovery, pain meds & have been taking Effexor for over 2 years now.

I'm sure that Effexor is addictive, although I take it in the morning. I don't think I get withdrawals but I do get the shakes badly & feel out of control of my emotions. Could this be from the Effexor or the pain meds?? Does anyone know?? Oh, my whole pill popping routine consists of - Effexor, Seroquel, Lyrica, Mersyndol Forte, Losec (sorry don't know if these are known by any other name). These are the names known in Australia.

I battle daily with debilitating pain, inability to be mobile, feeling of worthlessness, anger, tearfulness & all my Psychiatrist does is continue to increase the Effexor, until my body gets used to it & increases it again.

The few friends I have are all fed up of my moodiness & have stopped calling. I'm sure that they are avoiding me. I feel guilty in burdening them. I feel guilty & selfish for dumping my feelings on them.

Sorry I've rambled on...... just needed to get some questions out there & here from people going through the same thing.....

Thanks

Hey, I was on effexor for a long time and I happen to know that it is a terrible drug to try to get off of due to it's addictive qualities. Check out what other people have to say about it at this forum

*edit-link removed. please do not post links to other forums*

I was on Effexor for a year. I did notice that if I missed a dose, I felt really weird, but I, personally, wouldn't describe it as addictive. I didn't immediately want to take the Effexor... my body just didn't feel right.

i've been taken effexor on and off for 7 years i'm on 150 37.5and it seems it doesn't work as well when you go on and off or is that just me thinking it wont work for me again,i'm always afraid of that,does depression make you worry about being depressed or how your felling or thinking or is that axiety,sometimes i dont fell like doing anything when everyone else does, and sometimes i do is that normal or depression i'm not extremly happy all the time sometimes i fell blah but the next day i'll fell ok WHAT IS NORMAL & WHAT IS DEPRESSION!!

I had my psych take me off of Effexor because it was really not good for me at all. I think Effexor is a VERY NASTY anti-dep. It only works properly for 10%-20% of patients and those that it doesn't work for...lets just say I have had my share of bad experiences with Effexor.

Patsys...

I can fully understand your frustration...I cycle through emotions several times a day...sometimes even experience ALL at Once...also, I can tell you that:

1. It's advisable to not interrupt ANY form of anti-depression medication. It messes around your brain-chem.
2. The major defining symptoms of depression is in fact...mood swings, lack of interest in activities you usually enjoy, irrational/extreme emotional reaction that is not suited to the situation.

As of late, I REALLY don't know what is "Normal" any more...If you know my history, you will know what I mean ;o). Every singel medical professional I see currently finds SOMETHING that I always accepted as "Normal" but which is really TOTALLY out of wack...

I have tried a lot of antidepressants when i was first diagnosed with depression which runs in my family was about ten years ago, i had trouble accepting the diagnoses and kept going off and on antidepressants, at points i was homeless, I had no employment, and when one is chronically depressed and has many stressors beyond the norm it is difficult for a depressed person , i was on paxil, zolof , celexa, and other last year i was placed on effexor. The point i am making is this, generally no one wants to admit they have a "mental Illness" as they will be labeled but it is far better to have control over your life , having a home and working and being happy rather than having a attitude of " who cares" and feeling alone n the world, yes i have tried to stop the medication with bad consequences every time, but when i looked back there was bad consequences before the meds. So there is another spin on this , I have been on then try to do without, sometimes lasts great for months then stressors break me, I wish they would put in more research into depression it would change the world!.. HUGZ TIGERESS

I've been prescribed effexor before, and it made me feel out of control with my emotions too. I noticed my mood would change more dramatically, and if I got mad....I got really really mad, if I got sad, I got really really sad. If I was happy, I was really really giddy and happy and thats out of character for me. It kind of made me feel like a puppet. Paxil did horrible things to me. I tried to commit suicide on paxil. Horrible mood swings on Paxil.

Effexor prevents your brain from re-absorbing certain neurotransmitters (seratonin and neroprenephrine) which are used to pass specific types of signals within the brain. If you don't take your medication, the only thing that will happen on a physical level is that your capacity to process certain emotions will decrease.

In other words what you are describing cannot be a symptom of Effexor withdrawal.
The things that you are describing could only be possible if you are withdrawing from something like an opiate. If you are not simultaneously taking opiates, then this is all in your head.

This is a behavior that you have developed in order to get attention from people around you. It is probably not the first time that you have acted this way, and I'm sure that it's quite effective at attracting pity from others.

You may want to ask yourself if that is the way you want to get attention, or whether you want to be recognized for your accomplishment instead.

You control your actions, not the pills.

Hey Daniel, do you have emotional problems? before you go and say all that...have you read up on these pills? Have you taken them before? I haven't had withdrawal symptoms because I didn't take effexor long enough. I took it for maybe 6 months. As for the attention thing, no one knew about my suicide, except my parents. I know many do it for attention. But I'm the opposite. NO one knew except my parents. I went out of my way to hide and lie to make sure no one, not even closest friends found out. I think I actually said I had mono. You say "It is probably not the first time that you have acted this way, and I'm sure that it's quite effective at attracting pity from others." I recieved NO pity. I hate it when people pity me. Your making me sound like i'm starving for attention. Good guess but i'm not.

Hi meloncholydaye,

How are you?

I apoligize for the confusion - I was talking to Lemons (who started the topic). Should have addressed the response to her.

Sorry to hear about your difficult experiences, and yes, I have been on most of this stuff, and have done extensive research about the chemical mechanisms of depression and anti-depressants.


Also, about your question, yes, of course I have problems. I think that everyone has emotional problems - it's a natural part of life. However, when we stop dwelling on our own problems and start looking at ways we can help others, then something happens that eases the most difficult of our own problems.

I'm sure everyone here has experienced this, perhaps even on this forum. When you think of another, you forget yourself.

Cheers
-Daniel

oh my i'm so sorry. if you read some of my past posts...you know why but....i get a little hostile with guys now. so sorry. i have a lot of problems that i'm sort of trying to get through.
Cheers!

@melancholydaye: no worries! have a good one (: