I started taking Effexor (Venlafaxine), an SSRI

[Juan J. Sánchez]

For those of you who don't know, SSRI stands for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, an anti-depression medication. According to what they taught me in Pharmacology, they're supposed to be the most benign of all anti-depressants. Being completely technical, and you will only find this in medical books, it's a Dual Inhibitor, it inhibits both the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine. It's supposed to be more effective than normal SSRI. It also has less side-effects, more interactions and a greater suicide rate.

I don't really need any medical advice. My dad's an Internist and I have two other brothers that are doctors. I simply wanted to know if anyone has had a similar experience when starting on their medication, and what they did to deal with it.

 

[Anski]

I took an SSRI for a while and hated it. I never came closer to self-death than I have with taking them in any fashion. If you can avoid doing so, do so.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Any doctor or medicine student can tell you that taking SSRI makes you more prompt to self annihilation. Thankfully, I'm not depressed that way. There's some stuff going on in my family and with my inner self. Last semester I got so bummed I almost failed two classes. I just need a little push and it's not forever. I'm also exercising.

 

[Venetia]

Spoiler: ;x

(don't want to seem an ass here, and i know that there's no way for me not to, but you just have a little flub there: effexor is an SNRI, not an SSRI.
you're right that SSRI = Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor,
and you're right in what effexor or any SNRI does (dual inhibitor),
but SSRIs mostly only affect serotonin while SNRIs affect both ... SSRIs are [generally] easier to become addicted to, and establish less measurable 'benefit', when compared to SNRIs).

(bleh im sorry i just ... couldnt NOT post that
i hate it when people catch me on little typos and mistakes and shit too
i just
i

i am
sorry D

i used to take paxil (which is an ssri) when i was a teen. in only a few months i gained like 20lbs and had more suicidal depression than ever. this was after being put on lithium for what they believed to be bipolar problems. i'd feel sort of ok right after taking it, and just bottom out and want to jump off a cliff a few hours later. it only made shit worse. took myself off of it (which was the worst thing ever, yeesh). what was really the problem was my home life, and no one wanted to just give me some therapy to work it out.

it sounds like you're level-headed about it and def aren't as bad off as i was. and effexor is, from what i've read, a lot more "mild" when it comes to mood swings and weight gain and shit. so really you'll probably be fine.


a good friend of mine had an off-again/on-again relationship with effexor XR specifically for about six years. his grandparents passed away while he was in college and he had a hard time focusing on anything.

he said it helped a little when he was most sad, but he ended up just leaving school anyway (;x). the biggest side effect was that he lost his libido, and his blood pressure jumped up somewhat, and he couldn't get drunk (even after a lot of booze) when on it. but when he stopped taking it, he'd get huge headaches and brain "shocks" for months (he described them as like "shudders" only in his skull, where he would see a small flash of light sometimes). which sounds pretty similar to what happens to me when my B levels drop too low!

 

[Ellie]

I don't understand, why are these drugs prescribed as anti depressants if they make you more depressed and suicidal?

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Physicians don't truly understand depression, but we know it has a physiological background. The Aminergic Theory states that depression stems from an imbalance of neurotransmitters, specially serotonin and norepinephrin (noradrenaline). Medication simply tries to create proper balance. Antidepressants will not make you more depressed, but some, such as venlafaxine, may make you more suicidal, if you were suicidal to start with. Other, such as fluoxetine, actually makes you less suicidal. Why, if they're in the same family? God knows.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Spoiler: ;x

(don't want to seem an ass here, and i know that there's no way for me not to, but you just have a little flub there: effexor is an SNRI, not an SSRI.
you're right that SSRI = Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor,
and you're right in what effexor or any SNRI does (dual inhibitor),
but SSRIs mostly only affect serotonin while SNRIs affect both ... SSRIs are [generally] easier to become addicted to, and establish less measurable 'benefit', when compared to SNRIs).

(bleh im sorry i just ... couldnt NOT post that
i hate it when people catch me on little typos and mistakes and shit too
i just
i

i am
sorry D

I know it's a typo. I figured people would better know what the thread was about if I added SSRI instead of SNRI. People are more familiarized with the term. Besides, the predominant effect of both medications comes from the serotonin. They are incredibly similar. I chose Effexor because it has less side effects.