please read.

[Mo Melhorn]

okay, Im new to this.
My name is Aaron Im 23 years old from Ohio.
let me start my story.
- Started running in 8th grade I was pretty good at it.
-than went to highschool and won state 3 times 2 in cross country 5k-15:41 than sr year 15:21 and was ranked number 11 in the nation at the time for the 5k "3.1 Miles"
I than went to college and also did very well. I won Nationals 4 times and was ranked 23rd in the world for steeplechase "with a time of 8:39
Im sure you guys dont know any about the times i just wanted to add them in because im proud of myself. It took alot of work.
anyway. I won nationals and what not.
I was out drinking with some friends and I went home and woke up and had panic attack/anxiety attack "at the time i didnt know what they was but now I do"
all of my anxiety is emotional, I never had sweaty palms or racing heart. I always had racing thoughts, dream feeling, feeling like i was going crazy, the furture scared me ALOT.. I always over analyze myself .

anyway, I was started on Zoloft 50mg and it worked very well. I was on Zoloft for 2 years and felt realllly good "like myself"
Im always really outgoing to crazy lol just a poppy person.
than the pills stopped working..... I slowly felt the dream feeling and than it made me panic because of the feeling and
i would panic, I felt like i was not comfortable in my skin. and i could not get comfortable.
than I went to the Doctor and got put on Effexor Xr 75Mg
I just started 7 days ago now
I have good moments and I also just over antalyze myself and freak myself out that I will never feel the same again.
my emotions do this " Ill worry, than Ill watch some Tv and ill get my mind off it than all the sudden Ill relize i was not worrying and than
I panic and than it triggers anxiety and than the dream feeling comes and than its a never ending progress.
than I get so frustrated that i feel dread and so frustrated i want to die. and want to sleep.
but after I get up and go out I feel better but not like myself.
anyway.... I was wondering if anyone knew if Effexor xr was a good drug for whats going on with me
any if anyone else has went thu something like this....
The derealization feeling always gets to me. Ive had this feeling before buy 10times worse. and I know it will pass with time but its just hard to get over
the feeling. its just sooo annoying.
its like I cant stop over antalyzing myself.
does anyone have any tips that can help me?
ya know when you just dont feel yourself..... :(
any help would be awesome.


again, I started the pills "Effexor xr 75MG" 6 days ago. I only had night sweats and loss of appetite.
but they seem to be leaving now.
thank you so much for your feed back.

[alankay]

Aaron, the zoloft dosage was never just increased? Sometimes "popout" at a higher dose also happens but still leaves the med working...........perhaps just not quite as well but still enough to hold anxiety down.
Effexor xr is an SNRI so increases noradrenaline in addition to serotonin which can also help with anxiety. You may have some increase in anxiety at first, as with any AD, but that should subside in a couple weeks. Stay on it but if it never helps ask about going back on 75mg then 100mg of zoloft if that med did help that much at 50mg(base dose). I bet is would be good at 100mg for you if 50mg was good but poped out. It might work well for quite a while too. Cheap as well.:)
If side effects persist ask about dropping to 1/2 dose of the effexor xr for week or two then up to 75mg again. But if you can manage I'd just stay with your current dose.
Are you still running much? I am a runner too(30yrs running) and can tell you running helps lower anxiety so perhaps you benefited all that time by that level of running and if you've dropped your mileage, that might be allowing more anxiety to surface. All the endorphins, etc, released(good for the mind).....I know if I don't run I feel lethargic and a bit more anxious. Just a thought to consider.
As anxious folks we all over analyze things and ourselves. It's a big part of why we're anxious and why CBT and ssri's can help us think/worry/ruminate/obsess less and ultimately make us feel much better.
Anyway good work on the running(it takes a certain type to love running..I think). Your cardiovascular system will love you for it as you age.:)
Try to hang in there with the effexor xr for 1 more week at least and PM me any time. Alankay.