anxiety, trembling, being scared

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xxitalia5183xx

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I started getting really bad anxiety about 6 years ago. My heart would race and pound in my chest. I got really dizzy and lightheaded. I felt like my insides were shaking. I felt short of breath and my breathing felt 'choppy'. It got so bad that I was scared to get dressed and even get up off of my couch. I lived in fear constantly and was always scared that I was gonna die. I started taking Effexor XR in a low dose and eventually increased it to 150mg a day. It took a while to kick in but once it did, I felt like a completely new person. All of my symptoms and crazy feelings went away. I stayed on the medication until I found out I was pregnant in May of 08. It was hard coming off of it. I got extremely dizzy and lightheaded and had a hard time even standing up. After about a month I felt great and also throughout my whole pregnancy. I figured my anxiety had gone away. But when I brought the baby home from the hospital and tried taking a nap, my body started feeling shaky again and then my heart started racing and I got that worried feeling again. I just started taking Effexor XR again a day ago and am hoping it works its wonders like it did for me the first time I started taking it. Its so scary feeling constant worry and shakiness. Even though nothing is really wrong with you, it still feels like something is. Anyone else feel like this??
 
I am! I always have that nervous feeling in me. even when i shouldn't! Like right now i'm sitting on the PC and have a feeling that i guess a normal person would feel before going ona roller coaster or something. I just started effexor xr myself! a week and a half ago. I'm on 75 mg, and so far i don't feel anything! not even bad side effects! I feel nothing, but thats way too soon i think! Give it a month right? or should i increase the dose already? I see my GP tommorow.

You might look into a beta-blocker as well, as that can REALLY help with the shakes, sweating, blushing. I was on one called metoprolol but all that did was stop my heart from racing. I was just switched to propranolol today though, and that should not only help the racing heart, but also, shaking, sweating...that adrenaline rush.

The thing thats weird though, is when i would take the beta blocker, in my mind i would still get that feeling that my heart was racing, but i would always check it and it would be fine. So i still would feel the butterflies and nervousness, just when i would check my heart would be perfectly fine! as opposed to before when i would check it and it would be beating like i ran 5 miles!
 
I don;'t have any 37.5 mg's to take though :( All i have is 75 and my new script is for 150. Will i be ok ya think? i was fine on the 75 so far with little to none side effects, cept for sleeping problems. Thanks for the help and sorry about taking over your topic with my questions :(
 
I was taking atenolol along with the effexor for 5 years and it worked really good because i was getting really bad palpitations. I just tried taking the atenolol again this time along with the effexor but it actually made my heart beat so slow that I felt I was gonna pass out so I was advised not to take it. Effexor works really good but you have to be patient because it takes some time for it to work. Also, you might need a higher dose but you have to gradually increase the dosage, usually weekly. It is really hard to get off of though. It took me a few weeks to come off it and when I did I felt horrible. My head always hurt and you get extremely dizzy and lightheaded and nauseaus.
 
well if your doctor doubled your dosage to 150 then he/she obviously knows what theyre doing. they know you and your situation better than i do. i wouldnt worry about it. doctors only prescribe medications if the benefits outweigh the negatives. if you werent tolerating the medication as good as you are then they would probably be prescribing a lower dose, but you sound like youre doing fine. you'll feel better soon enough. it sucks that it takes a while cause you just wanna feel normal again. you'll get there. :)
 
Thanks so much :) Well i just hope i don't become manic or anything on that dose or something! I heard that effexor doesn't even reach a therapeutic dose until like 200 something mg's! and it doesn't hit the dopamine until 150. So it's pretty much just like a regular SSRI at 37.5/ 75, and thats just the starting doses?

edit: actually i just read it doesn't do any of those things until even higher doses.
 
Yea my doctor was saying you need to up the dose weekly.. But i don't understand what that means? lol Like i'm taking 75 mg right now, the next dose is 150, How would i up it weekly? wouldn't i just start taking the 150 like tomorrow?
 
cant go by what 'therapeutic doses' are because everyone is different. i had anxiety so bad i wore pajamas and didnt get off my couch for months and gained 50 lbs and i only needed 150mg of effexor so you never know.
 
It comes in 37.5, 75, and 150mg. The average time span to take a strength/dose is about a week. So say you start at 37.5mg, take that for a week then start taking 75mg for a week, then possibly a 75mg and a 37.5mg the next week until you find the strength you need. Jumping to too high of a strength/dose can throw your whole body off.
 
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