Hey Kelly (Vicam)
#242505 - 01/29/06 11:02 AM
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I started taking Effexor yesterday and have not experienced much in the way of side effects other than a bit of dizziness and a grumbly tummy when I took the pill. However, last night I felt as if I couldn't sleep a wink. I read that this is another common side effect as your body adjusts. I'm just wondering, how long did this last for you? Did you do anything to help you sleep? I was so tempted to pop a Nyquil or Benadryl, but I didn't know how safe that would be with the Effexor. Thanks!
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Hey Amanda
#242525 - 01/29/06 12:10 PM
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Vicam
Reged: 02/24/04
Posts: 1955
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Yeah, I can sympathize. That was my main problem with the Effexor...it made me really fidgety and not able to sleep. The not being able to sleep should go away within a few days to two weeks tops unless it's just the wrong drug for you. I eventually started sleeping but I was having really extreme nightmares and night sweats but the doctors said that's more unusual and was probably because I wasn't meant for that drug.
I was already taking Ativan at the time which is an anti-anxiety drug and helped a little with the sleeping so I didn't take anything else...I would just check with a pharmacist if you want to take some Benadryl or something. You have to be careful with those types of meds...something in them can sometimes interact with ADs so you want to be sure. You might be safer going with Gravol or something.
Hope that helps,
Kelly
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Ok cool. Now I at least have a time frame I can use to gauge whether this is working for me or not. Weird about the dreams...I had a lot of odd ones last night. No nightmares or anything. Just a lot of weird emotional ones where sad things happened. But then again, I am working through some really tough emotional things right now. I had a death in the family last Tues and my bfriend dumped me yesterday  I reallly need these meds, huh!
Thanks for being such a help!
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Re: Hey Amanda
#242637 - 01/29/06 11:42 PM
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Vicam
Reged: 02/24/04
Posts: 1955
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Hey Amanda,
Sorry to hear about the death in the family and your bf Sounds like a tough time. It was actually after my Mom died that I let the doctors put me on Paxil. The dream thing is fairly common...just be happy it isn't nightmares...I would actually wake up screaming and sometimes attacking my SO they were so bad.
Anyways, hang in there and if the side-effects don't lessen let your doctor know. Just so you know, the sleeplessness and agitation will get worse with any dose increases so keep that in mind. I could tolerate everything up until 150mg...but then I just felt like I was climbing the walls!
Take care and let me know if you have any other questions,
Kelly
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which is very similar to effexor, some sort of modified version anyways! It took me about 2 weeks to get over the "jitters" it caused! Once that went away, I liked it the best of all the AD's I've ever been on! If you need help sleeping in the meantime, try over the counter unisom, its ok to take with it and it works pretty well. If you only take it for a week or two you don't need to be worried about becoming "dependant" on it either! 
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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