[onionknight]

Is it dose related? Like if I feel a certain degree of inability to exress strong emotions at 112.5mg, will it get better at 75mg?

I was on 112.5mg, doing well against my depression, but I was frustrated because I felt too emotionally stable, like I just couldn't cry at joyful things or sustain too much excitement.

Or maybe this isn't a side effect but the intent of the medication, to make me stable. I don't know, but I feel like it is cramping my emotions.

[Travelinglady]

I haven't actually taken Effexor (but I've taken most every other drug in this category). I think it's possible emotional flatness could be an outcome. Are you taking other psychiatric drugs, too? The Effexor could be adding to their effects.

Remember that these drugs are meant to affect our moods, our emotions. I would think this category should bring the emotions up, but I guess sometimes, depending on how depressed a person was, they just bring them to sort of a neutral state.

I suggest you ask your doctor to see what he/she says.

What do the rest of you think?

[onionknight]

I take only the Effexor. Before Effexor, I took Zoloft which was even worse with blunting my affect, and I stopped it because I hated not being able to feel deeply. Effexor was a little better, I had I emotions, but they weren't too strong, with too much stability. Honestly, that's probably the intended outcome: make me less reactive. But god, I hate it.

My doctor told me at lower doses Effexor works more like the SSRI drugs, so there would probably be more blunting than at a higher dose, so taking 75mg might actually have the opposite effect than what I intended. I don't want to bother my doctor about this shift because she didn't think I was fully in remission from depression at 112.5mg, so she wouldn't approve of lowering the dose. I have told her it flattens my affect, though. I don't think there is anyway around that outcome.

It's been maybe a week and a few days since I went down in dose, and my head hurts badly with dizziness and tiredness. Ugh, I hate this drug. I should try to get off it and see how I feel...maybe then I'll be emotionally reactive again, which is all I frickin' want.

[Travelinglady]

Alas, some of us have to go through a number of these drugs before hitting upon the one that works best, with the least awful side effects.

By the way, effexor can be a bear to get off of, because of the withdrawal effects. Depending on how long you're on it, you might need to wean (taper) off of it--not big dose drops or cold turkey.

[NOS-NOS]

I'm on a different drug (risperdal), though I feel emotionally "numbed," so to speak. Given my situation this isn't such a bad thing for me, but I guess it's like one extreme or the other. I can still feel, just have more control over my emotional reactions. I guess it's one thing about medications, they do what they're supposed to do by eliminating or suppressing the bad (hopefully) but at the same time they sometimes take away some of the good.

[onionknight]

After about two weeks, I feel I might have made a wrong turn. I feel anxious and really down on 75mg. Maybe I was just at a really bad time in my life to attempt this. Ugh, I should stop whining and take the higher dose; I don't feel great, but at least I'm not pacing back and forth, freaking out about stuff and wanting to crawl up. Maybe it will get better, but I'm scared to take that risk...