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Effexor?

hollykiona
hollykiona CSN Member Posts: 16
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
My onco nurse just prescribed Effexor for me. I'm looking forward to relief from my depression and from potential hot flashes, but I'm curious about what ill side effects I might expect. Are any of you all taking Effexor?
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Comments

  • 24242
    24242 CSN Member Posts: 1,398 *
    #2
    I too did the menopausal thing. I guess everyone expects depression with that. In my case it was pure and simple pain that caused my depression. Deal with my pain and the depression and exhaustion would go away and it did. To begin with I did most anti depressants and found migrains a common problem. Watch out for.
    Be good to yourself,
    24242Tara
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  • mrs99r
    mrs99r CSN Member Posts: 4
    #3
    Holly, I have been on Effexor for about 10 months, shortly after my mastectomy, my Zoloft wasn't cutting it, I found that I was too tired, and so when I wasn't taking it, I had boundless energy, but of course the depression would catch up with me. My ONCOL prescribed effexor and said that that it was a little different, if it worked for me, it would relieve my symtoms and it also had "a little kick-****" in it! It has seen me through the last 10 months of Chemo, Radiation, MUGA scans, Bone scans, a hysterectomy (3 weeks ago) along with the standard long list of poking and proding, while working full time! I have had NO ill side effects from it... Good Luck :)
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  • jane38
    jane38 CSN Member Posts: 123 Member
    #4
    Hello. I'm Jane. I've been off for quite a while and depression was part of my problem. My onco put me on Effexor when I complained of hot flashes at a 25 mg dose. After the hot flashes ceased, I went off of it. Several months later, I had been having a lot of problems with chest spasms that would just be so debilitating, I had a lot of bone pain and I had been off all chemo and radiation for over a year. My daughter does the billing for a GI doc and he tried treating the spasms thinking they were possibly esophageal spasms. Wrong. So he sent me to a neurologist upstairs from him. When Dr. Novack walked in the exam room, he immediately gave me the depression scale test. Needless to say, i was severely depressed. He put me on Effexor 75 mg and I have to say after about two months I feel absolutely great. I have hypothyroidism and was having a very hard time getting the TSH regulated. Finally got that done a month ago. Combination of the two and I feel like a human being again. My chest spasms seem to be related to anxiety and depression. I did not know that. Evidently, none of the other doctors I went to did either. So take the Effexor. It might make you a little sleepy for a while, but it passes and you will feel so much better. Jane
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