I'm on effexor but need change... 2 jittery

[brownmachine]

Hi this is my first post here.

I started becoming really anxious a couple of months back where i started shaking alot at work and waking up from sleep so tired and jittery where i would jump from one position to another. I went to the doctors and they give me citalopram, the first night on that felt like i was going crazy and i believe it triggered a long lasting very scary derealisation condition. I immediatley stopped the citalopram 3 days after started 20mg of it. The derealisation is still with me now but is no way as scary as it was when it first began. I managed 4 months without medication and when i realised that it was just anxiety i began to take some action and stop fueling it. I started bodybuilding and jogging. The derealisation started to fade away. I then decided i wanted to try medication because i've always been a little anxious. I started on effexor around 4 weeks ago. Effexor for me has been alright, nothing like what citalopram done to me. It's made me fear certain things a bit less and perhaps makes me laugh randomly a bit more happy and a bit less strung. It reminds me a little like an ecstacy comedown though. I feel realy manicy shaky and weak and when i add a stressfull situation to that it makes it alot worse. But i understand that it's a stimulant and maybe it's not the right thing for me when it's the shakyness i want to go. I don't think i'm depressed just very anxious. I just wonderd if anyone has any advice on a different medication that maybe theyve had success with or do you think these jittery will fade with effexor? I've only been on it 4 weeks like is say and i'm on 150mg just upped it though from 75.

Oh and for anyone who experiences derealisation i have huge sympathy for, if you don't know what that is it's pretty damn nasty.

[Dahlia]

I'm on Effexor too. I had the shakes/jitters and lightheadedness (felt like I hadn't eaten, except I had) when I first started it on 75mg, then again when I increased to 150mg, and again when I increased to 225mg. It lasted about 2-3 weeks each time, then settled down. So I would say give the 150mg dosage a good month to see whether the jitters settle down.

Anti-depressants are the main medications used for anxiety - they aren't really stimulants, however (even though some of them can cause jittery side effects at first which feel a bit like you've drunk too much coffee!). The same neurotransmitters are thought to be implicated in both depression and anxiety - which is why they can help both conditions.

Good luck!

[jo61]

For me the side effects wore off after about 4 weeks for me, each time I increased dosage they came back briefly. I was a bit unlucky on Effexor as it didn't work and was extremely difficult to get off. However, if it works, which it does for lots of people, then it's a good med.