Effexor Petition
Hi all. I stumbled across this petition about Effexor… thought it might apply to some of your BP’s if they have ever taken the stuff. I used to call the stuff Side-Effexor because of all the negative side effects that stuff caused. Anyway here’s the link if it applies to you: http://www.petitiononline.com/effexor/
Share ThisBon Dobbs :: Mar.25.2008 :: Medication :: 2 Comments »
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I’m not sure it is helpful for petitioners to totally make blanket statements against a particular drug. Certainly, some individuals are going to metabolize the drug differently, however some leading BPD experts, such as Dr. Paul Markovitz, have found great efficacy in the use of high doses of Effexor and, more recently, Cymbalta, in the treatment of BPD.
I tend to agree with Markovitz’s belief that BPD is a structural/biological/chemical dysfunction and not merely a learned set of maladaptive traits that is correctable by behavior therapy alone. Although, I do have reservations about the long-term effects of such drugs at the doses needed to control BPD symptoms — but no more so than the reservations of the effects of a lifetime of BPD suffering.
I don’t think it is a good idea to write off medication as a first-line treatment for this disorder, especially when it is almost certainly caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that is interacting with a set of maladaptive personality traits. I know that when my BP wife gets extremely angry and agitated, she literally gets to a parapsychotic level and is not in control of herself. There HAS to be a brain chemistry dysfunction.
An interesting interview with Dr. Markovitz aired on ReachMD on XM satellite radio. It can be heard at http://www.reachmd.com/xmradioguest.aspx?pid=1319
I agree that there is a brain disorder. I think medication is extremely helpful. I just posted this because I saw it on the Internet as a petition against a certain SSRI. My wife takes another SSRI and other meds and they seem extremely helpful. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not trying to dismiss it completely, just pointing out that there is a petition against it.