I wanted to let everyone know about a potentially FATAL experience I had, involving Effexor XR. I am a triple negative stage IV, with mets to lymph system. Being only 41, I started with HORRIBLE hot flashes w/nausea prior to even knowing I had cancer, by close to a year before my diagnosis. Going grocery shopping was a nightmare, I would have to carry a small towel, and a bottle of ice water, that I would freeze at home ahead of time to try and get thru the store. At times, I would actually feel like I could pass out they were so bad. Chemo tripled this experience for me. I tried many OTC things, Vitamin E, all the things my doc suggested, and none helped. My doc prescribed Effexor XR, after I started turning purple and sweating so badly during chemo, I was drenching my clothes and they were changing sheets under me about every 15 min during my 5 hour treatments. I have permanent nerve damage from a previous injury, and have been on Cymbalta for years. These medications, as well as MANY other medications in the SSRI family. I asked my doc if they were safe to take together, since I had been warned not to take another SSRI while taking my Cymbalta, and she assured me that there would be no problem. She was dangerously wrong. Within 2 days of adding the Effexor, I started feeling a bit dizzy. The 3rd day, to the 6th day, I have no memory of what happened to me at all, other than the rug burns all over my face, my bruised and beat up body, my close to a migraine head ache, and continued dizzy feelings. I had what was called Seretonin Seizures. Had my mother not been here during the worst part of it one day, I most likely would be dead right now. I was in the bathroom, and started having the first of the seizures. I have no memory of it, but she very vividly described things to me a few days later when I came out of it all, after stopping the Effexor.
She was sitting in the living room, and heard a loud crash, and the floor shook. She suffers from severe arthritis, so took her a bit to get to me, but said she could see me down the hallway, I kept trying to get up off the floor and back on the toilet, every time I did, I went face first again. I busted my nose, had multiple rug burns, and bruising starting on my face, along with blood flying everywhere from my bloody nose. She said I was trying to look at her, but could not focus, and at times, my eyes went blank. I could talk, but made very little sense. I apparently told her not to call 911, that I was just dizzy and fell. I got back up and was sitting on the toilet again, then my eyes rolled back in my head, & I started thrashing all over, seizing. I ended up bashing into the wall, and eventually landed face first yet again on the floor. I was unconscious several times during this, for up to a minute. He told me not to try and get up, to just stay down, which helped my blood pressure level out, and get some blood back to my brain. Thanks to a large master bathroom, I had nothing in front of me to hit my head on, like a tub, or sink, and no sharp corners, or it could have been far worse. She said that I went face first off the toilet 9 times. I crawled a few feet to the bed, and laid there a couple hours. I managed to get out to the living room later on, with the help of my brother that she called before I woke up, about an hour later. I remained dizzy, off balanced, and unable to walk alone for another day, when I tried, I would end up across the room, falling over or into something else, blacking out. I had terrible rug burns over ¾ of my forehead, all down my nose, and my cheek bone, blacked both of my eyes, and down into my neck, hurt my shoulder, I couldn't raise my arm for about a week, and most of my body was bruised. The oncologist that I had at the time, simply said.. “Oh, I have never heard of this happening” end of wanting to discuss the error in judgment and not bothering to check to be sure it would not interact. Needless to say, I have since switched Doctors, since I refused to allow her to make any changes or decisions in my treatments with out consulting me first. Appointments with other Doc's were canceled, via her office, and I was just furious. I wanted to share this experience with everyone, because when I talked about this with my other treating doctors, and my family physician, ALL have told me I am very lucky to be alive, and was smart enough to stop taking the additional SSRI on my own. I wouldn't want this to ever happen to anyone else. My mom was absolutely terrified. She wanted to call 911, and probably should have, but she said that my speech was clear enough when I told her not to, that she thought I was on top of it, and knew what was going on, but was 3 days, before I was actually back on this planet. I have no memory of those 3 days. I advise anyone to not only ask your doctor, your pharmacist, or check on one of the drug interaction sites available here on the web, before adding another potentially fatal or any bad interaction happens to you, or some one your caring for.