Question:

Hello – I’m Peter and I’m new to this newsgroup. I had been on Prozac for 6 years and then it stopped working for me. The doc put me on Effexor, and it worked a treat-all the old anger and anxiety went away and then I began to notice things. I had real trouble reaching orgasm, and when I did the ejaculation and orgasm were separated, which was really weird. My wife thought it was her fault, but I begin to realise it wasn’t. The worst effect by far is when I miss a tablet-that’s right, JUST ONE !! I begin to get confused and my eyes begin to, well, how can I put it, buzz and hurt, as if some extra fluid had just been pumped in. The other day I was driving back from Coventry to Bradford (150 miles) and I began to feel the eyes going, and that’s when I realised I’d forgotten the tablet. Now I know it has a short half life, but this is crazy – how can I ever hope to get off it, as I am trying to do now with the help of therapy. It’s really horrible; some people might say that these are symptoms of my condition reappearing, but I say NO! This never happened before Effexor. Does this ring any bells with anyone? Can anyone say that any of the above has happened to them? Thanks everyone, I know you can ease my mind and I really appreciate you help and input. Bye for now, Peter Finan

Response:

> Paxil and Effexors half life make them the worse antidepressants to stop… > people frequently get horrific withdrawal  especially where they stop > abruptly…  you have to taper off very very gradually..

I’ve been on both at one time or another for prolonged periods of time. I stopped each one of them cold turkey without any noticeable adverse effects. > As people get down to lowest possible dosage of Paxil or Effexor…..some > have used Prozac then,   tapering off that…then as well, ..to keep the > worse of the symptoms of withdrawal at bay…and reported it works to do > that.. > Sexual dysfunction as you reported is Frequent side effect of the SSRI et al

Effexor is not an SSRI, and has notably fewer sexual side effects than the SSRIs. Dave – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> or modern class of Antidepressants.. > Hello – I’m Peter and I’m new to this newsgroup. I had been on Prozac for > 6 > years and then it stopped working for me. The doc put me on Effexor, and > it > worked a treat-all the old anger and anxiety went away and then I began to > notice things. I had real trouble reaching orgasm, and when I did the > ejaculation and orgasm were separated, which was really weird. My wife > thought > it was her fault, but I begin to realise it wasn’t. The worst effect by > far is > when I miss a tablet-that’s right, JUST ONE !! I begin to get confused and > my > eyes begin to, well, how can I put it, buzz and hurt, as if some extra > fluid > had just been pumped in. The other day I was driving back from Coventry to > Bradford (150 miles) and I began to feel the eyes going, and that’s when I > realised I’d forgotten the tablet. Now I know it has a short half life, > but > this is crazy – how can I ever hope to get off it, as I am trying to do > now > with the help of therapy. It’s really horrible; some people might say that > these are symptoms of my condition reappearing, but I say NO! This never > happened before Effexor. Does this ring any bells with anyone? Can anyone > say > that any of the above has happened to them? Thanks everyone, I know you > can > ease my mind and I really appreciate you help and input. > Bye for now, > Peter Finan

Response:

> Now I know it has a short half life, but > this is crazy – how can I ever hope to get off it, as I am trying to do now > with the help of therapy. It’s really horrible; some people might say that > these are symptoms of my condition reappearing, but I say NO! This never > happened before Effexor. Does this ring any bells with anyone? Can anyone say > that any of the above has happened to them? Thanks everyone, I know you can > ease my mind and I really appreciate you help and input.

I took Effexor XR for quite a while, and I don’t recall having any trouble going off it nor having particularly adverse reactions to missing a single dose. It is possible and not necessarily an unpleasant experience. I probably had the sexual dysfunction, but I didn’t get a sufficient response to it to be interested in having sex in the first place. Fiona — If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste the adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.      – Anne Bradstreet, Meditations Divine and Moral, 1664

Response: