Question about Effexor

[brwneyegal]

Hey ya'll,

I was wondering have you ever seen someone suffer mood swings from effexor? Back ground, my mother suffers from blackout migraines and has been of depakote for a few years and effexor for a year. Recently after what I would call a mental break down (long story....my mom has been taking care of my grandmother for 13 years, my grandmother has not always been nice. Last year in Feb my sister had to have an emergency hysterectomy after a piece of placenta was not removed from her uterus. She started to hemorrhage, hgb was 5 when she got to the hospital. Hysterectomy saved her life. My 16 year old neice, same sister's daughter had a baby in August. Same sister suffered an anuerysm which docs said she would not live through the week with....she is doing good now ..PRAISE THE LORD!!!!.. My brother had love life problems and in drunken rages beat up and broke bunches of stuff in my mom's house. My other brother was in a wreck, all were ok but car was totaled.....) Any way after my son's wedding mom was supposed to go back home and totally broke down and told me she could not go. SO ofcourse I did not send her home we fixed it so she, and my grandmother who came with her could stay with me for a few. They are now staying with me for as long as it takes to get things straight. (The move was not good for my mom her sister, who does not care for my granmother anyway and her family have been absolutely rude and obnoxioux to my mom about the move but none plan to help my grandmother).

Having said all that I would expect that mom suffer some problems trying to get back in shape but......she has mood swings like crazy. Like for instance I am not a happy happy rah rah person. If I so much as frown in front of my mother these days she starts crying and tells me she is sorry for what ever she did and .... It is driving me crazy. She says it is driving her crazy too she says she gets these weird thoughts in her head when my husband and I talk that we are talking about her and she did something wrong.

I did have her make an appointment with a doc here so she can get things checked but they can not get her in until Oct 1. So I think I am going to take her to an urgent care place next week. I was wondering if maybe her depakote level was off or maybe the effexor could be causing problems. What do you think have you seen mood swings with these drugs????

Thanks for listening

Becky

[KR]

The first thing that comes to mind when reading your post is that could your mom possibly be bipolar? The reason I ask is because it is pretty well known that if you put someone that is bipolar on too high of an anti-depressant that it can cause mood instability and mood swings. I know this not from being a psych nurse, cause I am not, but from dealing with it in my family. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Good luck with what you and your mom are dealing with. It sounds like it has been the year from he**.

[Katnip, RN]

Your mother needs to talk to her doctor about this. In no way can we even guess at what's going on with her, and we certainly can't guess at diagnoses.

Whoever prescribed the medication should be doing regular follow ups, make sure she gets them.

[IMustBeCrazy]

When it comes to mixtures of psych meds, anything is possible. The combinations and strengths are unique for each patient. In addition, it is common for a combination of medications that once worked for a pt to begin to lose their effetiveness after awhile.

The best advice is, get an appointment with a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner ASAP. Steer clear from a general practitioner, go to a specialist. Whatever she's on, the combination obviously isn't right. If she makes any comments about harming herself or others, don't think twice about either bringing her to the ER or calling the police to put her on an emergency detention so she can get the help she needs.

I would also observe her to note whether she is actually taking her medications if there is a subtle way of doing so. Effexor, as an example, can have a wicked discontinuation syndrome in some people. And, it can occur in some people by missing a dose by only 4 hours. Just a thought.

[brwneyegal]

My biggest problem is my mom has just relocated to SC where I live. Originally from PA. So we have to do this here. It was a neurologist who put her on both meds for the black out migranes. Thank you all I appriciate the words of wisdom.

[grandee3]

You sure have a lot on your plate. Will be praying that you get some help with mom and grandma from other family members. In the meantime stay strong and keep your chin up.