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Panic attack from fear of starting new medication

Posted , 4 users are following.

tiffany04583
tiffany04583

Hi! I have a fear of starting new medications. I've been having panic attacks every day and just got prescribed Effexor low dose. I just took my first pill an hour ago and am having a slight panic attack and feeling weird because I have a fear of medicine and getting the bad reactions/possible side effects. Me feeling weird right now probably isn't from the medicine and is just all in my head. I just hate feeling this way and I hope this medicine helps me rolleyes

0 likes, 19 replies

19 Replies

  • Aquin
    Aquin tiffany04583

    Posted

    Hi Tiffany,

    I personally feel the effects of anti depressants most within the 1st hour of taking them, then it smoothes out. I think it could possibly be the effexor that you're feeling. Keep at it though.. the first couple of weeks are usually a bit crap.

    Im on fluoxetine week 4 and only just starting to feel a bit better. I still get a bit anxious within the first hour of taking a pill.

    • Aquin
      Aquin

      Posted

      If it becomes troublesome you should ask your doctor for some valium to help you through the first couple of weeks!
    • tiffany04583
      tiffany04583 Aquin

      Posted

      I have klonopin to take for as needed so I could always take one 30 mins or so before I take the Effexor maybe.
    • tiffany04583
      tiffany04583 Aquin

      Posted

      Yeah it will probably take a little while for me to get used to. I am just hoping it helps me and doesn't make me feel worse. I am usually good with medicines- I was on lexapro for 5 years and it helped me. Everyone's bodies are so different and you never know how it'll react to things so I think I just let that get in my head and over think it.

  • tess33005
    tess33005 tiffany04583

    Posted

    Venlafaxine (effexor) is well known for causing side-effects and a lot of people can't tolerate it.

    That probably isn't a sensible thing to say to someone who has a fear of medicine, but the good news is that venlafaxine works extremely well for anxiety - but you have t give it eight to ten weeks to kick-in properly.

    So please carry on with it, Tiffany. The long-term benefits outweigh a few side-effects.

    Good luck

    love Tess xx

    • tiffany04583
      tiffany04583 tess33005

      Posted

      Last night I woke up wide awake with bad anxiety and nausea. And today I am shakey and jittery this morning, not feeling myself.
  • ginger31734
    ginger31734 tiffany04583

    Posted

    I'm the same way about taking new meds!! I hold off on starting for days and then I always start at half the dose my doctor prescribed sad

    I too take Effexor 37.5mg each day. At first I had jitteriness and weird feelings but then leveled out rather quickly... We actually tried to increase to 75mg and I didn't seem to tolerate it do I've stayed on the lower dose... Works pretty well for me but I still get anxiety bad at times so doctor gave me hydroxyzine prn for those times ...,

    Hang in there!! The startup is the worse 😌

    • tiffany04583
      tiffany04583 ginger31734

      Posted

      Yeah I feel very jittery and not myself. I just started it last night. I woke up at 2:30am wide awake and bad anxiety and nausea. And then woke up again later feeling shakes and jittery.
    • ginger31734
      ginger31734 tiffany04583

      Posted

      That's how I was at first and I was taking at night so I switched to morning and it helped but I had to take with food got a while because of the nausea ..... Hard to tell if the anxiety is a side effect from the med or just us at times!

    • ginger31734
      ginger31734

      Posted

      My side effects got much better after the first week of starting and I noticed a big difference in my mood at that time too... Early but I just felt like it was going to do some good smile

    • tiffany04583
      tiffany04583 ginger31734

      Posted

      Haha I know what you mean! Anxiety is horrible and can trick us. Maybe I should switch to morning? I don't really like to eat in the am though cause I'm never hungry.

    • tiffany04583
      tiffany04583 ginger31734

      Posted

      Well that's good to hear. I am hesitant to keep taking it. I heard that this medicine is hard to come off from and people have serious withdrawal symptoms when they don't take it at exact times every day? Have you ever had any of these issues?

    • ginger31734
      ginger31734 tiffany04583

      Posted

      Well I kept powering thru the startup because I didn't want to have to restart a different med lol.... I had some symptoms that I still don't know if related to the Effexor or something else so I do make sure I take it the same time every day because I had heard the same if missed wink i was having a weird feeling in my head like a "swoosh" almost roller coaster effect , really strange!! Some say they had that the whole time on Effexor, others said only when weaning, and others said it was inner ear or hormones!!! I still get it occasionally and still freak out every time but don't think it's the Effexor after two years.... I didn't hear about how hard it was to go off until I had been taking got a while so I'm hoping I stay on lol!!

    • tiffany04583
      tiffany04583 ginger31734

      Posted

      My doctor told me to stop taking the medicine because I shouldn't have had this extreme side effects on such a low dosage. So I have klonopin for in the mean time until we figure out something else. Ugh.

    • ginger31734
      ginger31734

      Posted

      I'm only asking because that's how I was when we tried to increase a couple times sad

      I just tolerate lower doses than many people , has always been that way. I felt like I was bug eyed and racing out of my head at first ... Horrible feeling... It can raise your blood pressure too. Hope they can figure something out for you soon!! Hang in there wink

    • tiffany04583
      tiffany04583 ginger31734

      Posted

      37.5 mg. thank you! I appreciate you sharing your experience with me. Hope all goes well with you
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