Tag: graham’s blog

Blogs: Tracking Effexor Withdrawal

~ K ~ 5 Comments

I really should have posted on this a LONG time ago, but Graham’s Blog has done an unbelievable job of tracking his Effexor withdrawal symptoms. Something I learned today:

"| Night Sweats – I had this very bad, constantly wake up drenched in sweat,
literally soaked to the skin and to the mattress. But Have just realised I have
not had these severity of symptoms for some weeks, which is helping with the
consistency of sleep."

Ohh, so that’s why I wake up drenched in sweat in the middle of the night regardless of whether it’s warm or cold in my room. To quote Dawdy over at Furious Seasons, like Paxil, it truly is the "gift that keeps on giving." Hooray for long-lasting effects from psych meds! [sarcasm] Now, I’ve got this occasional twitch in my cheek. I took Paxil for about 3 months in 2003 and I still get eye twitches that I never had previous to the medication.

Check out Graham’s Blog and see the hell that Effexor can cause. Stephany at soulful sepulcher tracks some helpful tips for withdrawing from a psych med.

Brain Shivers quote

~ K ~ 2 Comments

"The brain shivers are even scarier. If I straighten my head to fast or look up too quickly I get this out of body experience where it feels like I’m being electrocuted. It feels like my brain bounces back and forth. And for those few seconds I am unreachable."

I can totally relate. (quote courtesy Graham’s Blog)

Loose Screws Mental Health News

~ K ~ Leave a comment

Wow. I learned something new – “Women are over-represented in all cases of” depression, anxiety, dysthymia and panic attacks. Read more here.

An interesting observation from Gretchen Rubin, blogger of The Happiness Project.

“Studies showed that depressed people have as many nice experiences as non-depressed people, but they remember them less well.”

Graham’s Blog has linked to interesting fashion jewelry: Made with Molecules. For only $20, you can:

“Display your favorite neurotransmitters close to your brain!”

Erhm. The very thought of this disturbs me. Also feel free to purchase a serotonin-happiness card or a dopamine-heart card – just in time for Valentine’s Day.

dopamine heart card

Pfizer is cutting 10,000 from its workforce citing nothing other than loss of profits:

“The drug giant Pfizer said Monday that it would lay off 10,000 workers and close several manufacturing and research sites in an effort to bolster earnings hurt by the loss of patent protection on certain drugs and by setbacks in developing new products.”

I’ve mentioned patent protection before but it seems that Pfizer isn’t generating enough “structurally related” drugs to prevent the loss of its profits to generics. The two biggest losses: Zoloft and Zithromax.

“Pfizer said the moves would save $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year in pretax expenses.

Pharmaceutical industry analysts have generally been welcoming cutbacks by Pfizer but have said that while cost-cutting is beneficial, the company needs to resume growth by bringing new products to market.”

Pfizer’s a big company; I’m sure they’ll have no problems rebounding. However, I have no doubt that the failed torcetrapib factored into Pfizer’s decision to cut staffers.

A Philly plaintiff in the Vioxx suit against Merck has willingly withdrawn her suit. She cannot refile against Merck.

“Merck has consistently said it will fight each case on a one by one basis rather than submit to a large settlement.

In trials that have reached a jury verdict so far, Merck has won nine and lost four, including one Merck victory that since has been thrown out.”

The legal fees surrounding the Merck case must be astounding, but is it really worth it for Merck to drag these cases out against 27,000 other plaintiffs? I would assume on Merck’s part that it would be cheaper to settle. But then again, maybe it’s the whole “we need to clear our name” thing. That’s a fast way to lose profits for a pharma company.