I am here again.
I went to my monthly psychiatrist appointment yesterday and my blood pressure was high.
The effexor is suspect. I was doing really good on this medicine and now this.
My psychiatrist took me off of the effexor and put me back on the Sertraline, the one that stopped working for me after 25 years of taking it.
What are your thoughts please?
I was on Effexor XR about 20 years ago.
XR stands for extended release, which basically means regular Effexor, but it enters the bloodstream slower and leaves it slower than regular Effexor.
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But here's the problem, and how it relates to you. It definitely raised my BP pretty high, and sadly was my deal-breaker on whyt I needed to taper down and eventually come off of it.
It certainly is raising my BP and its a shame because I have been doing so good on it.What, if any, are you taking now that you got off this med? ā„ļø
I'm currently on Lexapro, but I can only be on a low dosage of it.
Please keep in mind that what pill may work for one person, may not work for another, and your doc needs to be the one to make the call on it.
Make sure that you slowly taper slowly off the Effexor (with your docs instructions) and hopefully things work out for you. 
The taper scares me. I get anxious thinking about it from all I've read.I'm on 75 mg. Xr For 2 months.
I have read of removing beads from the capsules lol.
I don't trust my psychiatrist to help with that but I am going to talk to him this coming week. Thank you so much for your replies, appreciate them. š
That's a real shame, I'm sorry. Its strange that you do would take you off one and switch to the other so quickly. There are other medications like venlaphaxine that could be tried, or a lower dose of venlaphaxine.
Could you seek a second opinion from another psychiatrist?
Why would your doctor put you back on something that stopped working before when there are so many other meds out there??? Doesn't make sense to me at all. Frankly I am so glad to not have to deal with meds anymore! I was on so many over many decades and have become treatment resistant. Thank goodness for TMS that has worked for me. Hope your doctor finds something that works for you!
Thank you. I mentioned if the Sertraline would work for me again and he said I tolerated it, so yes. I have not started back on it and probably won't. Im going to suggest something different. ā„ļø
I had been on Prozac for 10 years shortly after it came out in the late 80's . It worked great til it stopped working. Was then on Celexa about the same amount of time. After that for years it was hit or miss, some working some not, some giving me intolerable side effects. Towards the end of my decades long 'med run' I was tried on Prozac again but unfortunately it did not work again. As I aid I am fortunate that my present therapist recommended TMS. Hope you can find a new psychiatrist and you find the right treatment that works for you.!
I am so glad you found something to work for you. I was reading on the Celexa and I think I will see if my psychiatrist will put me on that.
I know this effexor has to be tapered off and he never even suggested that.
I also have a therapist, she was the one that pointed out the side effect of high blood pressure and sure enough, she was right.
What is TMC if you don't mind me asking? š
Hi! TMS is transcranial magnetic stimulation. It is a noninvasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to a part of the brain to relieve depressive symptoms. (It is nothing like ECT.) Treatment is 5x/wk for about 7 weeks with each treatment roughly 20 minutes. You feel a tapping on your skull but no lasting effects afterwards and you can go about your day after each treatment. As with any treatment results vary, everyone responds differently. Just like meds many respond after a few weeks or more. All I have to say is that it literally saved my life at one point.
I was on a blood pressure med so my primary Dr and I decided to just increase the dose a bit on that and it worked.
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I thought about that as well, just to save me from the fear of withdraw of the effexor. I wonder if it's worth it because I'm on 75 mg. of effexor er and I am now feeling depression coming back and I don't want to increase because then it will be even harder for me to withdrawal later. My BP was high, so I am wondering what to do. š„
Chat with your Dr and see what the options are. Are you already on blood pressure meds? I think if I wasn't on a Med already I may have opted to come off the Effexor.
75 isn't a high dose maybe the taper off won't be so bad?
It's a lot to absorb for sure. I'm also puzzled with putting you back on something you were on for so long. If the Dr says it was working why did he switch you to begin with?
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I haven't been on anything for blood pressure.The psychiatrist wasn't the one who switched me, it was a different Dr. From a crisis center I went to when I was feeling real bad, depression. It is affiliated with the same Dr/psychiatrist.
I just don't know, maybe the withdrawal won't be that bad but I am still freightened.
Thank you Dolphin, š
I understand. I've had so many med changes that I get nervous making changes. It's the unknown and everyone is so different in how they react.
These meds are two different categories of med. Maybe that's why they switched you?
You certainly don't want untreated high blood pressure.
If you need to talk I'm here for you
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I am going to see a primary doctor this week to get BP medication. I think that in itself, the knowing I have high blood pressure has gotten me down.The crisis Dr. Prescribed me the effexor and zyprexa as a " bridge". I was feeling myself after that and I was happy and able to get to the store and go see my sister.
Now I feel the agoraphobia is coming back.
I am so glad I'm able to have you here to talk with, maybe calm my nerves.
It's all a set back for me for sure. š
That's great you did feel better. Don't lose hope on that returning.
Definitely discuss with the Dr what the best approach is.
It's is a set back and it's discouraging when this happens to us. Just remember is not a failure and doesn't have to be permanent. Just another bump in the road as they continue to try and tweak these meds to help improve the quality of your life.
You will get there.
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Thank you so much Dolphin14. I will definitely keep you updated. šš·
I called my primary Dr. and she has no openings until July 11, so the desk gal told me to go to an urgent care and they will take care of me there, with my blood pressure.I also called my psychiatrist office and I asked the nurse if I should be tapering off the Venlafaxine (effexor), and she said whatever the psychiatrist told me. I told her I was frietghtened,(spelling) and she told me that he is a great psychiatrist and knows what he's doing. I was a bit embarrassed to question his knowledge but I am scared reading others withdrawals.
So finally, I called a local pharmacist and asked him, he said to skip one capsule every other day for a week and then every third day the next week...and so on until I'm off, finally.
I wanted to inbox all this but I didn't know if I would be intruding on your space. ā„ļøš·
Hi
I was going to check back in with you if I didn't hear from you.
I'm happy to see you got right on top of this. It takes a lot of strength to advocate for ourselves in a system that we don't understand. You did awesome! You kept going until you got an answer.
Don't ever feel embarrassed about asking questions regarding your own health. I don't see it as you were questioning the Dr. I see that as you were speaking up for your concerns. You did a fantastic job.
Great, now you have a solid plan to work with. Take it one step at a time. Listen to your body. You can do this.
Please feel free to PM me. I would love to know how this is going for you. It's never an intrusion. Looking forward to hearing from you.
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