[bronzeowl]

Note: I have already tried to contact my doctor, and I will keep trying. They are busy, and over full with patients, so it's hard to get through to them. I usually get the machine.

Post:
I started Effexor about a month ago. I was weaned off Zoloft, so in the beginning I wasn't sure what were withdrawals and what were side effects. I've been off the Zoloft long enough to be sure now, though.

Ever since starting the Effexor, I have been angry. A LOT. Angry all the time. Today, it peaked. I punched my door. Repeatedly. Until my fist swelled and bruised. After this happened, I was scared. I'm usually not like this. I'm usually a very calm person. But I've just been angry about everything.

Is this a common side effect? I did check my papers the pharmacy gave me, as well as a few sites online. Some of them have irritability/anger listed, but seem to mark it as "not severe". What about in the case of complete 180 in behavior change from calm to irrational? Would that warrant severity/calling crisis if I can't get through to them?

In addition to this, I've had a lot of side effects (sweating, exhaustion, stomach cramps, chest pains, etc). I just don't think this is going to work. I now know what people mean when they say it can take a while to find something that works.

[still_crazy]

hi. antidepressants can cause some intense anger, rage, hostility, now and then they contribute to various forms of violent behavior. i read somewhere...modern antidepressants are sort of like taking a stimulant (upper) and an antipsychotic (tranquilizer), in one pill. Back in the day, there were combo pills that had those exact ingredients in them. ThoraDex, for instance; low dose Thorazine plus some amphetamine.

The difference is...back then, those pills obviously had exact doses of each in each pill. Antidepressants...are tricksy. Some people respond by becoming more apathetic, others get over stimulated. Some get hit by the the downsides of both components; they get numb, they get overstimulated, they go nuts.

So, I dunno. Effexor has a wide range for dosing, but its more stimulating than zoloft. If I remember correctly, its somewhat chemically similar to methamphetamine (?), plus it clearly has the apathy-inducing quality. different people react to drugs differently not only because of physical differences, but personality differences, psychosocial differences, also.

I doubt this is very helpful to you. I'm upset that your prescriber isn't keeping in touch with you, but I'm also not at all surprised, either. I hope your situation improves.

[Skeezyks]

I've made two serious bids to end my life. Both times I was on Effexor.

[with or without you]

I never had any anger problems from SSRIs, SNRIs, etc.

I had major anger problems when I was on a MAOI and I got into a bit of trouble with outbursts at people, which is not like me. My pdoc was dismissive of it and I ended up discontinuing treatment with him.

[bronzeowl]

Originally Posted by still_crazy

hi. antidepressants can cause some intense anger, rage, hostility, now and then they contribute to various forms of violent behavior. i read somewhere...modern antidepressants are sort of like taking a stimulant (upper) and an antipsychotic (tranquilizer), in one pill. Back in the day, there were combo pills that had those exact ingredients in them. ThoraDex, for instance; low dose Thorazine plus some amphetamine.

The difference is...back then, those pills obviously had exact doses of each in each pill. Antidepressants...are tricksy. Some people respond by becoming more apathetic, others get over stimulated. Some get hit by the the downsides of both components; they get numb, they get overstimulated, they go nuts.

So, I dunno. Effexor has a wide range for dosing, but its more stimulating than zoloft. If I remember correctly, its somewhat chemically similar to methamphetamine (?), plus it clearly has the apathy-inducing quality. different people react to drugs differently not only because of physical differences, but personality differences, psychosocial differences, also.

I doubt this is very helpful to you. I'm upset that your prescriber isn't keeping in touch with you, but I'm also not at all surprised, either. I hope your situation improves.

Sadly, I can't say I'm surprised, either. It's definitely not the first time.

Everything you said makes sense, actually. Effexor definitely makes me feel a LOT different than Zoloft. It's been an up and down ride, confusing. Sometimes I feel it's working, other times I just feel angry, agitated, etc.

It's improved somewhat. I'll be seeing my provider today (finally). So, hopefully we get somewhere.

Thank you everyone for the replies.

I'm surprised nobody has said this yet but, often times ssri's can make people go manic if they have bipolar predispositions. If this is happening you need to go see your doctor ASAP and you probably require a mood stabilizer.

It would probably be safer if you were on a mood stabilizer like Lamictal alongside Effexor to balance it out better or else you will continue to get hypo/manic rage.

I use to get rage all the time while on an SSRI while driving and things would just set me off easily and then all of a sudden I started to feel the RAGE swell up in me over and over again. Then what comes up must come down and I started to get manic depressive up and down up and down. It was bad and I almost committed suicide.

My doctor put me on Lithium, because it acts within 5 days and slowly worked up my dosage of the my real mood stabilizer called lamictal. Once on my full dosage of lamictal I was slowly taken off lithium. Lamictal worked like lithium but without most of the side effects. It works as an antidepressant at 100-150 mgs and a mood stabilizer starting at 200mgs.

Lamictal was the best anti depressant I've ever used. It didn't take away my sex drive at all. It's suppose to be weight neutral. I was able to feel more emotions on it than on an SNRI or SSRI.

[MatBell]

I'm on Effexor too and had a big falling out with my sister months ago. We haven't spoken since and this have never happened before. I never thought about Effexor playing a role. Maybe...