Introduction and Question

Hello everyone. My name is Lucy and Im a 20yo female. I suffer (have been diagnosed) with post-tramatic stress which has caused depression, and general anxiety, which is at its worst when Im in public (social anxiety). I also have depersonalization, to cope I have self-harmed for 10 years, although have restrained from hurting myself for almost 2 years now. But that didnt last long as I turned to starving myself shortly after. Im also trying to stop that too. I have finally, after almost 3 years of therapy decided to take my therapists advice and go on medication. I was terrified of having some chemicals mess up whats left of my brain.

I started on Effexor XR 2 days ago (37.5mg), today is my third dose. I have exxperianced a few side effects like nausea and hyper-allertness. Last night I didnt sleep, and was panicking the whole time because I have been having chest pains and "flip-flops". Just wondering if anyone has experianced the same thing? Does it go away?

Im sorry if this post is a bit choppy. I feel like my thoughts are going too fast for me to gather them all to make sense. Hopefully someone can relate?

Flip flops hmm... I've had all sorts of weird things while anxious or as a side effect of medication, I don't recall any of that while on Effexor, which i'm currently on. You said you were panicky, when you panic there is alot of weird sensations that can occur, and alot of it in the chest.

If it goes away after the anxiety settles, then there is nothing to worry about ... if it continues and you are worried you can always go to the doctor to run tests to get yourself to stop worrying whether or not something is really bad.

I suffer from anxiety depression too, I think alot of it was developed when I developed PTSD as well.

Hang in there.

effexor and all other antidepressants can have early nusience side effects and can make your anxiety worse, valium helps you cope but can be hard to get

if problems are severe, split the tablet and take half only for a while

when and if the effexor is working for you it will be a huge help, the dose may need upping later
effexor has been around a long time and has proven itself to be a safe med

We cannot tell member's what they are able to take on this forum medication wise etc as none of us are doctors.

The best way to get the best treatment is to talk it over with your doctor and find different routes to go. If Effexor is helping you perhaps there is something your doctor can help you with if it's a weight issue? I've never had it as far as i'm aware, but i'd definatly talk to your doctor and see what s\he thinks.

Thanks for the replys everyone. I went to the doctor and he gave me lorazapam to calm me down. Apparently the chest pains and palpatations are side effects of the drug. I really thought I would die in my sleep. But the the lorazapam seemed to calm me down last night, and so far I feel ok today. Having my heart give out in my sleep has always been a huge fear of mine. So of course any change in heart rhythm is going to send me into a full blown attack. Having the doctor tell me everything was ok helped, but sometimes I think the doctor gives me placebos, or the wrong medication to make me sick. But my therapist tells me that isnt so. I trust her, I think.

Try to remember, this should all be temporary, 1 good point harry made is that these are nuisance side effects, your doc should have warned you, but the makers are aware of these, you should start to come off them after a couple weeks, if not back to the doc. Look up online the side effects and see if your experiencing them, might make you feel a little better if you can identify with them. (Their are some strange ones; old injuries can hurt again, even if fully cured) Keep in mind what your taking isn't sugar, but it's not poison either.