Another Useless Rambling
Yup, you guessed it, I'm bored again at work. I'm trying to avoid a particularly boring project. So if I can put it off a few more minutes by posting in my blog, I'll be happy.
Thought I'd take some time to clear something up, in case anyone is truly interested in knowing how this drug I'm on is working and all that. The side effects I posted in an earlier rant were for Effexor XR (or extended release). I'm not on that one. I'm on regular, plain old Effexor. It's a relatively new drug so there isn't a whole lot of information yet. Basically they're still doing tests, but the FDA says it's safe, so there you go. heh Anyhoo, the side effects for this one are much like the ones I posted for XR, I just waned to clarify which one I'm on. I take 150 mg a day. 2 pills in the morning, 2 pills at night. It works differently than the other meds I've been on, where I only took one pill a day. Supposedly this is why it has a faster effect, and also why it can become addictive. Not mentally addictive, at least I don't think so, but physically.
I've been thinking about babies quite a bit lately, as you may already know if you've been keeping up with the blog. So the other day I decided to find out what kind of information there is about Effexor and pregnancy. You know, just in case. Apparently there haven't been enough tests done so no one can say for sure. I went to a message board where women who were on Effexor and either pregnant or trying to become pregnant were discussing what their doctors said. I'd say it was split about 50/50. Half the doctors told the ladies to get off the meds, the other half said don't worry about it and stay on. That isn't exactly comforting. Some of the women who were told to get off the drug were talking about their experiences. They were dizzy, sick to their stomach, and their depressive symptoms had come back with a vengeance. Didn't make me feel too good.
What does it all mean for me? I'm not pregnant, nor to I plan to get pregnant any time soon, if my husband has his way, never. But it was pretty frightening to listen to what these women who were trying to get off the drug were going through. I had a flash back to detoxing on the bathroom floor of the rehab my parents stuck me in when I was 15. It wasn't pleasant. Then again when I was pregnant and trying to kick the drugs for good. Morning sickness plus withdrawls equal a lot of pain and suffering. I lost 10 pounds the first few months and I hadn't even been doing all that much. Those were illegal drugs. Drugs that could kill me. Drugs that I would never touch again even if I was in a room full of them. But this Effexor, it's supposed to be a drug to help me. It's supposed to stabalize me. I had no intention of being on an antidepressant for the rest of my life. Eventually I'll have to kick this too. Will I have it in me?
My husband says I seem peppier, more alive. Both my parents say I'm more pleasant to be around and more level-headed. I guess it's doing its job. But at what expense? I don't deny that in general, I've been in a better mood. My road rage has gone down a bit and I'm not stressing over every little thing. But I don't feel "fixed." I'm not sure I'm supposed to. I still feel down much of the time, but I am getting better. That's a good thing, right? I just hope what I'm doing to my body is worth it. I can tell you that I've had a headache now for 3 days. Not sure if it's due to the meds or not. No real way of knowing. My appetite has gone way down. I'm not complaining about that. I need to lose some poundage. But I've also been waking up a lot at night. I haven't gottten a full night's sleep in ages. I don't know what it all means. I'm no expert.
I'm seeing my shrink again tonight. I guess I'll relay it all to her and find out what she thinks. I'll keep you posted on any new information I come across.
Thanks for listening to yet another rant. Sorry to make it such a long one. Until next time...
Yup, you guessed it, I'm bored again at work. I'm trying to avoid a particularly boring project. So if I can put it off a few more minutes by posting in my blog, I'll be happy.
Thought I'd take some time to clear something up, in case anyone is truly interested in knowing how this drug I'm on is working and all that. The side effects I posted in an earlier rant were for Effexor XR (or extended release). I'm not on that one. I'm on regular, plain old Effexor. It's a relatively new drug so there isn't a whole lot of information yet. Basically they're still doing tests, but the FDA says it's safe, so there you go. heh Anyhoo, the side effects for this one are much like the ones I posted for XR, I just waned to clarify which one I'm on. I take 150 mg a day. 2 pills in the morning, 2 pills at night. It works differently than the other meds I've been on, where I only took one pill a day. Supposedly this is why it has a faster effect, and also why it can become addictive. Not mentally addictive, at least I don't think so, but physically.
I've been thinking about babies quite a bit lately, as you may already know if you've been keeping up with the blog. So the other day I decided to find out what kind of information there is about Effexor and pregnancy. You know, just in case. Apparently there haven't been enough tests done so no one can say for sure. I went to a message board where women who were on Effexor and either pregnant or trying to become pregnant were discussing what their doctors said. I'd say it was split about 50/50. Half the doctors told the ladies to get off the meds, the other half said don't worry about it and stay on. That isn't exactly comforting. Some of the women who were told to get off the drug were talking about their experiences. They were dizzy, sick to their stomach, and their depressive symptoms had come back with a vengeance. Didn't make me feel too good.
What does it all mean for me? I'm not pregnant, nor to I plan to get pregnant any time soon, if my husband has his way, never. But it was pretty frightening to listen to what these women who were trying to get off the drug were going through. I had a flash back to detoxing on the bathroom floor of the rehab my parents stuck me in when I was 15. It wasn't pleasant. Then again when I was pregnant and trying to kick the drugs for good. Morning sickness plus withdrawls equal a lot of pain and suffering. I lost 10 pounds the first few months and I hadn't even been doing all that much. Those were illegal drugs. Drugs that could kill me. Drugs that I would never touch again even if I was in a room full of them. But this Effexor, it's supposed to be a drug to help me. It's supposed to stabalize me. I had no intention of being on an antidepressant for the rest of my life. Eventually I'll have to kick this too. Will I have it in me?
My husband says I seem peppier, more alive. Both my parents say I'm more pleasant to be around and more level-headed. I guess it's doing its job. But at what expense? I don't deny that in general, I've been in a better mood. My road rage has gone down a bit and I'm not stressing over every little thing. But I don't feel "fixed." I'm not sure I'm supposed to. I still feel down much of the time, but I am getting better. That's a good thing, right? I just hope what I'm doing to my body is worth it. I can tell you that I've had a headache now for 3 days. Not sure if it's due to the meds or not. No real way of knowing. My appetite has gone way down. I'm not complaining about that. I need to lose some poundage. But I've also been waking up a lot at night. I haven't gottten a full night's sleep in ages. I don't know what it all means. I'm no expert.
I'm seeing my shrink again tonight. I guess I'll relay it all to her and find out what she thinks. I'll keep you posted on any new information I come across.
Thanks for listening to yet another rant. Sorry to make it such a long one. Until next time...
posted by Meghan at 10:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home