Effexor and pain...

So what do you think? I told my boyfriend to get one of the old tricyclic antidpressants for back pain. And possibly neuropathy. Or ALS. He hasnt reallybeen diagnosed with anything except sciatica so far. Hes defintely depressed though. and his hands are always tingling and hurt. Anyway. He came back with Effexor. Which eems ike it does weird things to your nervous system., which he doesnt need. Do you think one of the old antidepressants would be better since they have been tested for back pain and seem to have less weird nerve things associated with them? Please, need opinions...tks...

never heard of effexor used for back pain.......but??? pat

Effexor is very similar to Cymbalta for pain syndromes, and can work quite well as an adjunct treatment.

Dr.S.

cool........

That’s very odd that something as strong as Effexor with such enormous side effects would be prescribed for back pain. I have taken / been on 2 dozen medications over the years and Effexor was the WORSE at withdrawals and side effects. Not to mention obviously in a pretty normal person, brain activity / chemical wise prescribing something that will alter the chemistry would seem very irrational and dangerous.

I would recommend NOT using any mental medications such as Effexor unless he needs help with his depression, anxiety and so forth. (but you even said it wasnt doing the trick)

And as Fay said, never heard of Effexor in particular being used for back pain treatment. It’s almost insane to use it for that.

Nope not insane at all. Effexor is very effective, and has little side-effects for most people. It blocks reuptake of NE, and effects pain gating via this process at the base of the spine to reduce pain signals to the brain. Cymbalta was created just for this and is very similar to Effexor. Using these meds for pain is a ver common and accepted medical practice with alot of benefit.

I hate to break it to you doc, but I bet you 90% of the people on these forums have had HUGE side effects with Effexor, including myself. Expecially on the withdrawl discontinue stage. If you look up the popular med review site (cant remember the URL), you will find thousands of reports of people putting it down for being a horrible horrible medication and one that should be pulled from the market. But as a doctor I highly doubt you have experienced anything that we have in that regard. Unfortunatly its very true for most doctors out there, they love to throw meds around without really researching them. As in your case you havent, atleast from the patients perspective. I would suggest you start doing so, as spreading bad advice is not a good idea and you dont want to grow to become one of "those" doctors who all of us around here tend to drop and put down. Please Please, read up more on these meds before suggesting them.

the side effect that pains me the most about being on the Effexor is the loss of appetite and the losing of too much weight. i'm 5' and i lost 38 pounds and i couldn't go anywhere without people staring and whispering. i was working in ER at that time and i wore a size 0 pant. i had to force myself to eat while on that drug. talk about poor ole nicole ritchie, i weighed a lot less than she did when i finally got off of it. and i became more susceptible to illnesses while i was down like that. i had pneumonia twice.

effexor truly scares me to death. thinking it over, i would surely want the patient to know that it's nasty side effects might make it wise to choose something else for pain.

i found online mental health forums when i was trying to get off of it. i googled "getting off of effexorxr" and pages popped up and that's how i eventually wound up here at PC.

I tried the same thing, I looked up on "How to get off effexor" and got like 10,000 pages. People are seriously freaked out over this medication. Even Lamactil with its deadly rash doesnt scare people as much. Well what ever choice you make PYeah I would defaintly talk to your PDOC about the side effects, withdrawl symptoms and everything that comes with it. Since they will be working with you directly. I just hope some of us around here gave you some warning.

Good Luck with it all! We are all here for you if you have anymore questions!

-Mark

Folks, I would ask that you respect Dr. Wylie's opinion as he respects your opinion. That is, if you disagree, state your disagreement once, but don't disparage the other person in doing so.

Dr. Wylie is stating a common medical practice today. You can disagree with it, but it won't change the facts that he states -- doctors do prescribe Effexor for pain relief, and there are very good reasons to do so.

Everyone's personal experiences in using Medication X or Y are going to be different. The person who started this thread asked whether this medication was used to treat pain, and Dr. Wylie responded appropriately saying, yes it is used to treat pain.

Thank you for your understanding.

i understand what the thread is about and i will always caution another poster about effexorxr withdrawal. i'd feel guilty if i didn't post about it. if you haven't experienced getting off effexor, you can't imagine how painful it can be.

Low dose Effexor XR (eg. 37.5mg daily) is effective in controlling neuropathic pain. In general, I do not think that Effexor XR works as well as the tricyclics (Elavil™ - amitriptyline or Aventyl™ - nortriptyline) for this indication, but Effexor XR has a much better side effects profile.

Effexor XR is a very effective antidepressant and, if taken properly, is a very safe drug. That being said, no drug can be designed that would work for everyone. Genetic variability is the reason that people may experience some adverse effects from a drug, but one never experiences all possible side effects. As well, some people are more sensitive to the effects of a drug than are others. Most of the side effects attributed to Effexor XR can be managed using various interventions.

Never fear medications, respect their effects. Certainly, I do see a lot of anti-Effexor XR postings on the internet. I do believe that educating oneself about how the medication that they are taking works is very important. It upsets me to see posts that may frighten someone away from trying a very effective medication that could potentially save their life. Effexor XR has saved many more lives than it has taken.

Just my informed opinion - Cam

you know what? i come here to give and get support. if i have a question about a drug, i actually want to hear everything that i can about it so i can make a more informed decision about that med.

i am not trying to scare anyone away from taking something that is going to "save" their life. and as far as i know, i've never heard of anyone dying from effexor. but perhaps they have and i'm not informed enough to have heard it. seriously.

it makes me feel really awkward when i am presenting a side of a medication that wasn't mentioned in the thread and i feel passionate about sharing and my intent isn't understood. if you haven't had withdrawals from effexorxr, can you describe it to someone else? if i had known what i was getting into with the med, i would have never, ever considered taking it. i had a doctor who was extremely arrogant and insensitive to his patient's opinions/needs/ills and i was left swinging........and this is after i had lost 38 lbs on the med. i am five feet tall. i weigh 110.

i was trying to contribute by relating the side of effexor that relates to withdrawal and also the physical problems, weight loss, that i suffered while taking it. if we are not allowed to talk about a drug here and cover all of the bases......then i want to know it.
because if that is the case and i'm going to be corrected when i post about my own experiences......i'll quit contributing. pat

fayerody - I'm sorry, I waasn't responding to your post. I have no problem with the way that you presented your experiences; I believe that we should all hear about treatment failures, as well as the successes. What bugs me is when personal experiences with a drug are purported to be a common occurence. You did not do that, nor did you use alarmist wording. Sorry if I wasn't clear. - Cam

thank you, Cam. i was really surprised, as i know you, when i read your post and it hurt my feelings when i thought you were posting to me. i've always been forthright in my posts and am too old to change now. xoxoxo pat