Wish Me Luck !!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
Wish Me Luck !!!
7
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 10:17am
Well, ladies, today is the halfway point in my little diet adventure to get my cholesterol down. The whole reason I went on this diet by my dietician was to get the numbers down. I will know by this afternoon if my effort has had any effect, but the big determination won't be until June.

I did have some good news about my blood pressure. It has always been fairly low, but went up when I started Effexor XR in February - like 140 over 90. EEEEK!

Today it was 110/70, MUCH better. I average 95/60 most of the time. It's a wonder I don't go into shock.

So, when I hear the news, I'll let ya know!

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-07-2004
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 10:20am
what is effexor xr?
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 10:36am
Effexor XR is an antidepressant in the SNRI class - serotonin/norepineprine reuptake inhibitor. In English, it's a bit like Prozac but this affects norepinephrine in your body also. Serotonin and Norepinephrine are neurotransmitters. I have a low grade clinical depression and General Anxiety Disorder (mostly from work). I have very low levels of these neurotransmitters in my bod, but I feel alot better. I've done Prozac before, but it made me gain weight. Effexor made me lose ten pounds in 13 days. It says right on the package that it make cause loss of appetite. Ya THINK? Well, after 3 weeks I got my appetite back. Go to www.effexor.com, and sometimes ivillage has ads for it on here.

I'll email you more later. Don't want everyone to think I'm a nut.

Oh, is it too late for that ???? LOL!

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-07-2004
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 10:40am
I thought that's what it was. This is relatively new isn't it? I know this was not on the list I had to learn about when I was taking clinical 4 years ago.

Good grief, I am on saraphem which is prozac. It helps with regulating my heart rate during my period. Antidepressants are used more and more now for more than just depression and it is said that people are backwards in their thinking about it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 10:50am
Good luck Amy!

  Shawna-- Proud Cl for 100 Pounds or More to Go 

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 10:52am
I know Sarafem is used for PMS and a few other things because of it's low dosage. I really like the Effexor (oh heck, I'll just tell everyone, I have nothing to hide)because I was starting for feel run down, stressed, VERY bitchy, and completely obsessed with food. If you read the symptoms of general anxiety disorder I was the poster child, along with chronic depression. I had been fine for a long time, having taken Prozac in 1998 to 2000. I had taken it before in 1991, also. In 98 I was diagnosed with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) and I'm quite sure that was the case (it is no picnic, believe me) but at least I had a name for what my freakin malfunction was. Between meds, cognitive behavioral therapy and a kind of therapy called DBT, I was fine after a while and have had no 'relapses' into Super Bitch. There is a board here on BPD but I can no longer really identify with it, so I don't go there.

ANY Hoo...Twenty four hours after I took my first dose of Effx, my food obsession disappeared. POOF. Hooray ! Effex is also interesting in the fact that it has an anti-platelet effect. I SQUIRTED blood out of the puncture wound from the blood draw needle, but it was huge anyway - a 16 gauge - so I have to be careful. I bruise easier, too. But at least I'll never have a stroke !

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-07-2004
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 10:56am
My bro has BPD and you are right it is no picnic.

I know the feeling though. When he decided 2 years agao to try and commit suicide 3 times a month for 6 months, I was on buspar because the stress was out of control. I also had a minor and I do mean minor heart attack during that time.

No worries. I understand and to be honest I am thankful for my BS in psy. Not only did it allow me to expand my thoughts on mental disease even more, it has helped me to help others to understand this is not a stigma but a true disease...it just happenes to be in an area where you don't expect it to be.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2004
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 12:03pm
Good luck, Amy :-)

~~Linda