Effexor the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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rettemich
rettemich Member Posts: 369
edited October 2014 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After
Effexor the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
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  • rettemich
    rettemich Member Posts: 369
    edited September 2014

    Anyone else having issues with the Effexor. They put me on it to help with the hot flashes. Now I am just sweating all the time. I have been gaining weight, I'm always tired. And I seem to have a dull headache all the time. Be starting month 6 first of Oct.

    Anyone else having issues. I am seriously thinking of quitting. And I know it has to be done carefully. I am going to talk to my Dr. Ugh It's so frustrating.

    Just wondering what experiences you all have had.

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  • JulieMI
    JulieMI Member Posts: 34
    edited September 2014

    I am one of the people dislike Effexor.

    Yes, my hot flash is much severe without it, but I am so much better on other aspects.  

    Stopped eating like a pig, therefore able to lose a few lbs.  More to go though (packed on 15 lbs on it).  Started to pay attention to responsibilities.  When I was on it, I just procrastinate, lazy, not care about the consequence.  Difficulty falling asleep. Worst of all, vivid nightmare everyday (mostly dream about parents dying from cancer).  Couldn't wake up in the morning, and feel tired all morning.  

    I thought these problems are from Tamoxifen until I got off Effexor.  The weaning off was hell, severe headache for several months.  Tantrums at work and home among other things.

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  • Ridley
    Ridley Member Posts: 634
    edited October 2014

    rettemich -- I'm starting month 3 -- am on 75 mg, which I take in the morning.  My hot flashes have decreased with respect to feeling them, but I still sweat -- its kind of funny, but not!  I find that I don't wake up from hot flashes, so that's positive.

    I think its pulled me out of feeling crappy (low mood, depression?), but I am having trouble getting up early, and I am calmer about things (thinking about Julie's lazy/procrastinating comment(.  I'm not sure that's totally bad, as I was a big ball of anxiety for the first six months after diagnosis.

    I actually lost weight for the first couple of months (probably 7 pounds?) but I've put a couple back on recently  -- that's not abnormal behavior for me!

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  • Pegs
    Pegs Member Posts: 198
    edited October 2014


    I was on it for a while too, and it seemed the longer i was on it i had to up the dose for it to be effective, and yes if you go off, you must do it slowly, after one on my surgeries i forgot to take it and i felt awful, until i realized why, thats when i decided i don't want this pill anymore, i would open capsule and take out a few about 5 for a week then the next week take out 10, it took me over a month to get off, but had no problems doing so.  i felt so much better afterwards.  good luck

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  • WinningSoFar
    WinningSoFar Member Posts: 951
    edited October 2014

    I'm on 37.5 mg daily and have been for 3 years.  I'm fine with it, but I'm 66 years old so maybe that's part of it.  I do think that this minimal dose gets credit for my ability to cope with my cancer treatments in a sane way.  Before I started it, I was feeling pretty down, and more importantly, pessimistic.  That's just not me, so I asked for an antidepressant. 

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  • rettemich
    rettemich Member Posts: 369
    edited October 2014

    Thanks all. I was on an antidepressant before all this. They switched me as it doesn't go with Tamox. A few days I took my meds late and OMG I was a basket case. Between the headaches and weight gain, I am now in the diabetic range, and mood swings there has got to me a better way. I have put a call into my MO, but haven't heard back yet. I just want to feel better instead of worse.

    And if one more Dr. tells me to "just" lose some weight I am going to smack them.

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