Effexor
The only theory that anyone’s come up with for my vertigo issues that holds any weight is that they’re possibly vestibular migraines, so my neurologist put me on Effexor, which can help treat vestibular migraines.
It can also treat anxiety, fibromyalgia, and ADHD (which makes sense, as they’re all fundamentally dopamine dysregulation problems, and Effexor works primarily by regulating dopamine), so maybe this will be the magic bullet that helps me with everything. Several of my friends turn out to be taking it for their fibromyalgia and/or anxiety and they say it helps them somewhat, so, we’ll see.
I’ve been on it for three days and I’m still tapering up, but here’s some observations so far:
- Holy heck does it make me nauseous once it starts to kick in (although that usually subsides 1-2 hours later)
- It hasn’t helped with my vertigo but it’s not expected to right away; if anything I’m dizzy much more often, which is a common side effect when starting out
- Sometimes I become super aware of my teeth
- It has significantly lowered my appetite and I have lost all my urge to snack, which also makes sense given dopamine and reward mechanisms and so on
- I am dreaming a lot more although I’m not remembering the dreams as well, I just remember that I had dreams
Historically, reuptake inhibitors and I have never really gotten along, but hopefully this time will be different.
Maybe in a few weeks I can post an entry titled “It’s super Effexor,” thus maintaining the fiction that I know anything about Pokémon.
I’m supposed to taper up to 2x/day on the 27th but since I have a big concert on the afternoon of the 30th I’m going to wait until after that, since I don’t want to risk having a mental health crisis while on stage or whatever.