tomtyger Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 I've been taking Effexor XR for years and years with good results and no problems, although the really great effect started when i went to 300mg/day a few years ago. Been talking to the pdoc about continuing lack of motivation & pleasure/satisfaction/reward. Apparently it's at the higher doses that Effexor starts working on dopamine. He felt it'd be OK to increase the dose (to 375 then to 450) as long as my blood pressure was all right. The higher dose has helped a lot So, here's the thing: I've had high blood pressure problems since I was a teenager, and nothig would keep it down very well. But after my mother died 14 years ago, my blood pressure went down and stayed down. (Interesting connection, no?!) For mqny years now, with some diovanhct to help, it's been steady at 120-130/60-70. I started on the 450 mg/day in March of this year, and my blood pressure stayed just where it had been. No increase at all. I checked it often, and it never varied more than about +/- 10 mmHg. Then in August we went to England (where my son is studying) for a month. (The whole trip was glorious.) I didn't bring the blood-pressure-checking-thingy with, and when I got home I really didn't give the blood pressure a thought. But three weeks ago when I did check it, it was 170/98. WTF!! I've been checking it serveral times a day since, and here's the really weird thing: the bp is now wildly unsteady, 110/55 one day, 140/88 another. One day I took it first thing in the morning, and it was 153/89; two hours later it was 126/58. And, it's highest in the morning and goes down with exercise!! I'm not so awfully worried about the increase itself; significant, maybe, but not frighteningly high. If it were steady, I'd guess it's due to the increase in effexor, though it only showed up six months after the dose was upped to 450. It's the way it's changing all the time that Im having trouble understanding. Sometimes it stays fairly high long enough that I'm ready to call pdoc &/or primary guy and ask if they think it's the effexor that's doing this weird stuff. then it will settle down and mostly be at 120-140/65-90 range, and I forget about it. I hate calling md's about anything, and invoke all the procrastination skills I've honed over the years to avoid it. I do not want to cut back on the effexor. It's made enough difference that all sorts of people tell me how well I seem. Anyone have experiences anything like this? or know or have heard about such a thing? = = = = = finally, of course, it might not be the effexor at all. So here's the whole list: Effexor XR 450 mg/day Provigil 200 mg Strattera 120 mg Seroquel 100 mg at bedtime Trazodone 50 mg at bedtime Synthroid 0.015 mg Lamictal 200 mg Tramadol 100 mg 4-6 times/day plus Protonix, the Diovan, Flomax, Flonase, and Tylenol. Current dxs: MDD, BP!! (ultradian) PTSD, ADD, and a lot of sleep problems. Thanks, guys tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyflower Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Hi, Tomtyger, My blood pressure rose, too, when I increased Effexor to 300 mgs a day. I ended up having to go off of it. BUT, I learned that blood pressure does tend to fluctuate. A lot. If you've just been walking, it's higher than if you've been sitting for a little while. When my doc was trying to get an accurate reading on my blood pressure, he took it every ten minutes for about a half hour. Each time, it went down. My own unprofessional opinion is that it came down due to sitting still and decreased anxiety as time went by in the office. The time to worry and talk to your doc is when you fairly regularly get readings higher than whatever you have set as a safe max. Good luck. I hope you're able to keep the Effexor. Greeny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretl Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 But three weeks ago when I did check it, it was 170/98. WTF!! I've been checking it serveral times a day since, and here's the really weird thing: the bp is now wildly unsteady, 110/55 one day, 140/88 another. One day I took it first thing in the morning, and it was 153/89; two hours later it was 126/58. And, it's highest in the morning and goes down with exercise!! My BP went up with Effexor and has stayed up. I've been off it for four years. And like Greeny said, except for the 170/98, I'd say the other readings could just be typical fluctuations. But if you start seeing higher readings regularly, I'd definitely see your GP. Could be your electrolytes are whacky or something else is going on. The hard part of course, is that so many of them would take one look at that list of meds and send you back to the pdoc. "Come back if you're still having trouble after your meds are different." (Can you tell I have some residual anger issues, LOL!?) Oh, and I think highest first thing in the morning is somewhat typical of hypertension, and even more so if you take meds that lower it. Mine almost always goes down after a few cups of coffee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomtyger Posted October 25, 2005 Author Share Posted October 25, 2005 Thanks to you both. The point about "normal" fluctuations is a good one. The only disturbing thing along those lines is that there's been no real fluctuation for a long time. there used to be, though. I'll keep checking BP a while longer and see what happens tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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