Upping dosage

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14-04-17, 01:04
TwitchMcGee

Upping dosage

I have been on Effexor for 3 weeks now With 7 days left to go. 37.5 mg. I absolutely have noticed a positive difference in my mental health. I have also been on adderal for a while, about 6 months. 20 mg IR a day. I have health anxiety that I'm really trying to work on and be realistic about. Before starting Effexor I had a constant dread about me. I just feared everything. Wanted the feeling to go away so bad, but I figured there absolutely had to be something more wrong with me because of how horrible I felt. The anxiety has gone on for almost a year now, although I feel I've had it my whole life, the tipping point was last June. I literally lost my mind. Freaked out non-stop untill I forced myself to beleive I had MS. So bad I actually expirienced many symptoms linked to ms. Slowly I have started to come away from that fear, have had multiple doctors tell me I'm in good health (but I should quit smoking) and to move on. So here I am, wondering if anyone thinks that upping my dosage on Effexor is going to seal the deal and finish off that last 25% of the way I feel I have to go. Also, anyone else have as good expirience as I have so far on this drug? I really had no side effects besides yawning and a little acid reflux. Oh, and the dreams lol. Thank you for reading and responding in advanced :)
14-04-17, 02:49
panic_down_under

Re: Upping dosage

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwitchMcGee

So here I am, wondering if anyone thinks that upping my dosage on Effexor is going to seal the deal and finish off that last 25% of the way I feel I have to go.

The Effexor therapeutic dose range is 75-225mg/day (up to 350mg for inpatients) and you should take at least 75mg to ensure neurogenesis is initiated and sustained.

Quote:

(but I should quit smoking)

Yes, you should. While nicotine is the second most (self)prescribed med for anxiety after alcohol, it actually makes it worse. And as one of the fairly rare long-term lung cancer survivors (only about 12% of us are still alive 5 years after diagnosis - worse odds than playing 'Russian' roulette with 5 loaded cambers!), I can tell you having a doctor confirm you have the disease does nothing positive for anxiety levels. </soapbox>
14-04-17, 03:21
TwitchMcGee

Re: Upping dosage

Thank you for that fact about the med! I honestly had no idea, but I did know that no body stays at 37.5 . I hear a lot of people around 220 and I don't feel ill ever go THAT high but who knows.
And about the smoking, I agree I really hate the habit, it's unnessacary and unattractive. I need to make a change. I'm glad you survived! I'm sorry you had to go through that.
14-04-17, 07:30
panic_down_under

Re: Upping dosage

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwitchMcGee

I hear a lot of people around 220 and I don't feel ill ever go THAT high but who knows.

Effexor only begins to inhibit norepinephrine/noradrenaline at doses around 150mg and above, albeit still only very weakly.

Quote:

I'm glad you survived! I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Thanks. The surgery, and the events leading up to it, are the easy part even though it is very painful. I was lucky that it was caught very early, therefore, there was no need for follow up chemo and/or radiation, both of which can be very unpleasant, so I had it easier than most, but just the day to day frustrations from having less lung capacity can be a real drag.

Even seemingly minor things such as having to take strong blood-pressure meds to drive BP to below normal levels to protect the heart can be a real pain in the butt (lungs act as shock absorbers smoothing out the pressure wave as the heart contracts and with reduced lung capacity this doesn't work as well which can cause heart enlargement).