Lady, Thanks for the info on the Effexor and HBP. Patrick

I am also doing the mood tracker. Had a v. rough day so not done it today but think it will be helpful long term. used to be able to keep all the balls in the air but now cant even juggle myself.

Gabs. I am on the second session and I am out of town. However, I decided to log on and do my mood tracker. I think it is important to figure out what my triggers are and then address them. Lady

Hi Lady, just read your story and i have to say, what a brave person you are to have left behind the things that triggered your depression. I have just been put on to effexor, have yet to take a tab as after the effects of trying to come off some other meds the thought of having more side effects is terrifying me. However, after reading your story, you seemed to have done very well on this drug and i am encouraged by your courage. I hope with this support group we can find in each other the strength needed to get on with our lives. I am trying to do 1st session C.B.T How you doing with it?

I take atenenol too for HBP and effexor with no problems.

Patrick, I don't know if you have anxiety issues as well but my blood pressure medicine actually has something in it that helps with anxiety as well. Check with your doctor. There are a lot of medications out these days that don't interact with each other. I don't know if I can say it or not but I take Antanolol (sp) for my blood pressure. It has not been elevated by the effexor except on rare occassions when I'm losing control. I hope this helps you.

You know, I was too accepting of my doctor's opinion when I told him that I thought I should go off Effexor and go back to Prozac because of the extra pressure I was getting from HBP readings. He just said at the time "Yeah, sure. You'll feel better back on Prozac". Kind of dumb, really, since there's no "feeling better" or worse from elevated BP! It's just straight forward dangerous to keep running around with elevated BP. He didn't suggest that he would UP the dose of my HBP medicine to compensate for any side effect that the Effexor might have on my raised BP!? Hah! When I get back to Canada I think I'll find another GP who is more pharmaceutically adept. If you can keep taking Effexor and you have HBP then I don't see why I can't address that to the doctor on my next visit in November when I get home to Canada Thanks for the heads-up! Patrick

hey lady! congrats on quitting butts!! i've quit and started many times and hope to quit again soon. please be careful about going off meds- its good to hear your working with your dr. on that. its great to hear about success in life- keep coming back here cuz we need you! twister

Patrick, I have high blood pressure and I take effexor. My blood pressure is pretty much controled through meds as well. The Klonipin I take for anxiety. At one point I thought my problem was anxiety and not depression. I still wonder about that. The effexor wasn't doing the trick for me. Even the increased dosage. We added Klonipin as something for those really difficult times. that didn't cut it either. Then we added Buspar twice a day. That did the trick! I was finally functioning and not in tears! I used the Klonipin quite a bit during the move and was worried about that but now that things are settling a bit I'm not using it at all. Thanks for the support. I think I really needed it. Reading the replies this morning to this post and another I made have given me a new perspective. It's still hard to accept but I'm trying.

Lady, Very glad you have joined in here after having such a 'blank' response when you first started. There are great people on this site and they have made me feel at home and comfortable since a joined in discussions only a few weeks ago. I suppose that you just hit a period when people were exhausted and not so committed to getting and giving help to others here. This crew is much different; there are some terrific women who are fighters and very wise and experienced and who want to get all they can out of life. It's so good that we have this forum to talk to each other about what concerns us at any given moment in our lives. It's great that you won the battle with the smoking; I still have to face that problem. I've been smoking for 40 yrs - terrible. I really have a problem with despair when I try to stop smoking. It makes me sick to sit there all depressed with yet another ashtray full of butts beside me stinking up the house. It's also great that you're in a new location, away from the old memories and strifes. I am taking my family back to Canada from South Africa - I am going ahead first to set up the home for us. This is what I need and what my wife needs and her two boys need. We can't handle the violence/stress of living in this beautiful country any longer. The boys (20&18) need to have a chance at careers which is very hard for them to do here politically. The money is going to be a problem in Canada after the big move but I'd rather eat mincemeat there than shrimp here. And I am dedicated to eating crustaceans... I wish that I could still take Effexor and I envy you. I had a wonderful time on the extra bonus of the Nor-Epinephrin reuptake inhibitor but I had to let it go and return to Prozac since I have High Blood Pressure. I miss the energy I got from Effexor. I'll have to Google Klonipin - what's that for in your case?? I really think that you need to take full advantage of the higher doses of your meds for the time being as this is a heavy time for you with all the srious changes in your life of late. Don't worry about it; can't do you harm and you can feel the extra support from the higher doses, yes? Keep it up. Lovely to hear from you, Lady. I hope that you'll say whatever you feel you need to say here and enjoy the support of all the group who are so loyal and smart here. Patrick