Viibryd Reviews (Page 41)
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Going to start it tomorrow. Anyone else taking it, and if so, how do you like it?

Thanks!

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REPORT

Has anyone switched from Effexor XR to Viibryd? I've been totally off the Effexor for 5 days after lowering dosage every 3 days and adding the Viibryd with 3 days left on the Effexor. Just upped from 10 to 20mg today. I'm having reactions to coming off of the Effexor: tingling/itching sensations in hands, legs and feet. Then headache, nausea and hot flashes that sounds like it might be the Viibryd. Haven't worked more than 4 full days in the past 3 weeks between the depression that prompted the change and now these side effects. Does anyone know how long the "discontinuation symptoms" last and if there is anything that can be done to lessen them?

I'm calling my doc in the morning, and hopefully can get in to work for some of the day.

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Hi GeorgiaSuzy~

Yeah, I was equally surprised when I found this board and found out I wasn't crazy (well, not any more than usual, lol) and hadn't somehow 'done' something to injure myself.

I became suspect when typical pain relievers and even therapeutic massage wouldn't help--and then my doc confirmed the side effect.

I'm also disheartened to hear that your pain hasn't gone away even after being completely off Vii--sorry to hear.

My own pain hasn't subsided at all since I went from 40 to 20 mgs, sadly. Some days it's pretty bad--like today, even the slight arm bend to type hurts. :(

However, I've committed to give it at least a month (maybe two) between tapering down to see if it subsides (since it took at least a couple months to start).

Like you, I'm also worried/concerned about what, exactly, this drug is doing to cause the pain. I wonder if it's permanently leaching something and whether it will affect me even more as I get older... think the side effects of all these powerful meds is very frightening indeed!

Btw, how long had you been off P-zac? And have/had you gained weight on it? It had that effect on me but I haven't been on it for over 10 years.

And, thanks for the 'hang in there!' You, too. :)

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dawnzig OMG - I have the tennis elbow thing too! I've been Viibryd free since 2/3/12 but the joint pain hasn't gone away yet. My knees feel about 50% better, but the freakin' hips and elbow are awful. YES, the tennis elbow sucks the most cuz I didn't realize the simplest twist of my arm while lifting a glass of water would kill me! I'm back on Prozac 40 mg with Elavil 150 mg at night; it's not as good as the Viibryd but that joint pain is something I can't live with. I wonder what it does to our joints to make them hurt so bad - of course I've googled "joint pain" and had a bit of fun scaring myself reading about rheumatoid arthritis and all the other things it could be ... except that I am pretty sure it's from the Viibryd, especially now that I've found all of you who feel the same way. Hang in there!

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Hi Willy.

I'm BP II, too.

Sorry to hear you're having some of the stomach issues. Mine didn't start until the 2nd month and still continue intermittently.

I also have some sleep disturbances but it's more with getting to sleep than waking up.

I take mine about an hour after I wake up, but am still not sure when the 'best' time of day is to take it yet...

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Not usually a poster but have found this forum really helpful thanks.
Day 5 on Viibryd. On day 1 took the first 10mg tab at 8pm woke at 4am with diarrhea and general stomach upset no other real other stomach issues until now on day 5 with another bout of diarrhea most of the day.Trouble getting to sleep and up around 4am each day
This is my second round of medication for depression after being on Citalopram for 3 years finished 5 years ago. I am bipolar type 2 so am a bit perplexed as to why I have been prescribed another SSRI ?.
Any other BP suffers out there on this one ?

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Yes, Linda, the dose was lowered by my doctor and it's been 8 or 9 days since I've been taking 20 mg.

Sadly, the arm/joint pain hasn't gone away. It still fluctuates with some days being worse than others and some days on both sides.

One thing I learned, though, was that using the arm/s (i.e., exercising them specifically) doesn't help, it makes it worse. More use causes more pain. Sigh.

I'm going to give it at least a month b/c it took longer than that for the pain to appear. If that doesn't work, I'll consult the doc about maybe going to 10mg.

The problem with going down to 20mg is that I feel more teary and emotional. I fear 10mg wouldn't be enough.... BUT if this pain continues the way it is, I most fear that I'll have to find another med altogether. :(

One GOOD thing in all this is that I've actually LOST a few pounds! Finally! Haven't really changed anything either--I'm not very active and my eating's nearly the same (tho I'm trying to add protein to each meal). Other than that, I've actually been craving/eating MORE sweets at night than before, so am not sure how my clothes are looser, lol. :)

It's the first time in YEARS my weight hasn't gone up (or just stayed the same).

In a way, I almost feel like if Vii will help me lose weight, hell, I'll LIVE WITH the pain, lol.

We shall see....

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Hi dawnzig,
Did you lower the dosage to 20 yet and has the joint pain gotten any better?

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Thanks Linda. I left a message for my psychiatrist. I do hope I will get answers. This has been a serious battle between dealing with my depression and now the serious side effects of a drug I thought was truly helping me. I really want to thank you all for this forum because it gave me insight that I would not have otherwise had access to. Thank you all for sharing your experiences.,n

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Quiet Storm, So sad for you. I'll pray that you find some relief from all this and one day it will just be a bad memory. I have small problems compared to yours. What is your psychitrist saying about all of this?
Stay strong and know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm sure you have too many who love and need you. Get better!!!

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Thanks for your response. I am totally terrified at this point. Viibryd has definitely helped my depression but it has taken away one great problem and created several health problems.

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@Quiet Storm:
Wow, those ARE debilitating side effects. It definitely sucks that you cannot take it.
**However**, from reading this board and what I know personally of SSRIs for 19 years, going off "cold turkey" can cause even WORSE problems! I hope you will reconsider and talk with your doctor about how to come off them properly....

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My psychiatrist prescribed Viibryd in October. She gave me the starter pack and instructed me to take half a pill. I still experienced bouts of diarrhea, insomnia, and anxiety with the half dosage. The first two weeks I could do nothing but lie in bed. I had suicidal thoughts and I had terrible crying spells. I continued to take it because my doctor said it takes over two weeks before you notice improvement. By the end of the third week my depression did improve but I still had nausea, diarrhea and insomnia. Well I made it to 20 mg and my psychiatrist and I felt that I was doing better. I was able to go to work and actually function. Less crying spells. I am gaining weight but I only eat once or twice a day because I'm never hungry. I probably have gained about 15lbs. I also noticed that I had extreme pain on the right side of my back that got gradually worse since October. I never connected this with using Viibryd. I am having recurrent urinary tract infections with chronic back pain. I have severe pain in my right foot. I have had Cat scans, MRI's and a bone scan all negative. I'm like what the hell is going on. Never thinking it's the Viibryd. Now I am having abnormal vaginal bleeding with clotting. My GYN refers me to a hematologist who ran all these different blood tests. Of course they are all negative but the Hematologists states that medications like Viibryd cause abnormal bleeding. At this point I am breaking down the chronic joint pain, the lack of sleep, the UTI's, THE PAIN OMG!!! It's so severe but it comes in episodes. It is debilitating. Pain meds do not even subdue this chronic pain. After reading this forum I attribute all of my problems to using Viibryd. I suspected but I am 100percent sure that Viibryd will kill me unless I stop taking it. I am going cold turkey. Surely the effects of not taking this drug is less than the effects of taking this drug. This has been a nightmare!

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i got on a strict diet with lexapro because of weight gain and in 8 mos i was able to lose 24 lbs and maintained my weight for 16mos. I let the weight loss go to my head and starting eating bad again and exercising routine changed so I am convinced when you are on SSRI's, you need to watch what you eat and you need an exercise routine.

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Hi -
I started taking Viibryd 3 months ago and my energy level has increased significantly. I did put on weight but I am not blaming the medication for the weight gain for one reason - my appetite did increase but instead of eating healthy and working out, I started eating junk food late at night. The pill itself does not make you gain weight, it increases you appetite so be prepared to snack on veggies and fruit. I am going on two weeks with no junk food in my house and when I get the muchies at night, I drink a protein shake or something with high protein like almonds. Keep the junk food out of your home AND try to get 30min workouts 3x a week and you will be fine.

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dawnzig, I am right there with you. I keep hoping that the pain will subside. Very annoying. I can keep cutting it down and hope for the best. I am living under a lot of stress and I need the medication right now.
It has helped me come out of severe depression.

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It's now been 7 months on Viibryd @ 60mg with not one side effect. I take it along with Lactimal, Ativan, and now
Rozerem to help with sleep-not connected with Viibryd, never been able to sleep whole life. I think I'll talk to the drug Psych about lowering the dose. Miss one night and the withdrawel starts overnight.

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Wow, those are some interesting side effects, Jeepster2.

Although I'm not on the same corresponding meds as you, I will say that, aside from the intense dreams--mostly of the disturbing kind, I've also had several sexually intense ones.

Wonder if that's what's supposed to be the "libido increase" they've boasted.

Sorry to hear of your experiences....

And, as for my arm being better yesterday--it WAS a fluke, sigh. It got much worse last night and into today. :(

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I agree. I took viibryd for almost 2 weeks and almost lost my mind. Decreased appetite, insomnia, nightmares,digestive issues and horrible anxiety and depression. I was tapering off by taking half a paxil and half a viibryd,( thats how the dr said to start.) Last weekend i took myself to the er because of these orgasms that wouldnt stop. Im not making this up! I woke up having intense one after the other orgasms. I was kindof embarrassed to tell the er about it but what else could i do? They sent in some mental health people who decided i didnt need the mental hospital. this is a scary scary drug ! dont take it!

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My Dr has informed me that "arthralgia" aka the painful joints IS one of the side effects.

She also said it was a good idea FOR ME to go down on the dosage.

In fact, she said that they are now finding out that Vii is as effective at LOWER doses and that many people don't need to be on the 40mg that the starter pkgs work up to.

In addition, she said it's ok to actually cut/break the 40mg tabs in half to get a 20mg.

And, yes, this is all applicable to me and no one else specifically, however this board--and people's experiences--have been extremely helpful in finding out that others were/are having the same side effects as me (and that I'm not 'crazy', per se), and what some have done in response.

I had no fears about side effects when I started with Vii because I was/still am hopeful that it will be better than some of the others I'd been on over the years.

It's just that the excruciating pain in my joints has kept me from enjoying any of the newfound energy Vii gives b/c I can't lift one arm at all!

Glad to see some aren't having any side effects. Mine didn't start until the middle of the fourth month.

Day two of 20 mgs and oddly my arm isn't as sore today....fingers crossed it's not just a fluke.

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I did have some side effects at first (shortness of breath, twitches), but through working with my therapist I have found that a lot of this was all in my own head. I was so worried about side effects on Viibryd that I started to have them.

I have been on this medicine for about 6 weeks (began with the starter back and stayed at 20mg) and this medicine works great for me!!! I feel "normal" - I have motivation. I am not wanting to sleep all day. I crave social interactions.

I just wanted to say that if you decide to go off this medicine, or adjust the dose, please talk with your prescribing doctor/psychiatrist. If they are good they will work with you to figure out what is a good plan for you with this (or a different) medicine. And if they are not good go see someone else if you can.

After talking with my psychiatrist (who I think is amazing!) I feel a lot more confident in her abilities (compared to my regular doctor) to help me navigate my medicine intake - medicine is what they went to school for, so they should know their stuff.

Good luck everyone!

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