I took Effexor years and years ago without feeling any different than before I took it. So, I quit that anti-depressant after 5 or 6 months.

I took Ambien last year for two months. Talk about weight gain. I would wake up three or four times a night, walk down the stairs into the kitchen and find something to eat. I would then bring it back up to my room and consume it in the dark, in bed. The scary thing was that at least half the time I never even knew what I was doing. Only when I discovered wrappers, and empty yogurt containers did I realize that I must have been on a nightly binge.

Have never taken any HRT (my sister died of breast cancer), however, I have been taking over-the-counter Estroven. I really can't tell if it does much good physically, but psychology I think it does.

My sympathy is with you!!!

Denise54 ... I've am there right with you. I was on Prempro for a couple of years and its the ONLY thing that worked but I have a history of family breast cancer so went off about 2 years ago. Since then its been Hell. I agree with ZoeZoe on Ambien that you can sleep walk and never know it. Lastly I was given samples of Effexor XL but after reading so many horrible stories about it I never took it. I've tried everything from A to Z in the herbal department and nothing ever worked. I have a link on here asking about Effexor that you should read. I just gave up and now deal with them the best way that I can. I literally change nightgowns 2-3 times a night from the sweats. I don't remember gaining weight on Prempro & I certainly would go back on it if I could. If you have no family history of breast cancer then I would try it but one always has to weigh the pros and cons for HRT. Good Luck

Before I found the right medicine for me doc wanted me to try Effexor. I hated it, made me unhappy and sweaty and this was before menopause. Everyone's system is different though. It seems like doctor's want to hand out AD quite frequently when some don't even need it. I feel your hell. I've been on Celexa or Paxil for 10+ years and progesterone cream. Nothing is working now and if I thought I would have to endure 10 yrs. of menopause, well I don't want to go there.

Best of luck to you!
Carla

EFFEXOR ALERT! A couple of years ago my niece started taking Effexor and she told me how wonderful it was. So I talked to my doctor and she prescribed it.

After several months of taking it, my niece decided she would try life without it. She called me, miserably dizzy, and said she felt like she was on a rocking boat, nauseated, so dizzy she couldn't stand up.

Uh oh. But I decided I'd better get off Effexor as well. I stocked up on Dramamine, etc. to ward off the dizziness, and sure enough, it was horrible for about a month.

I had noticed when I was taking Effexor that if I just even missed a dose I would start getting dizzy. I'm talking, not just a bit dizzy. I'm talking about SICK dizzy. I'm sure this isn't the same for everyone, but it was enough for me. Anytime any of my friends mention the possibility of taking the dang stuff I have a fit.

Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents worth! I'm new to the forum and I'm basically looking for hot flash relief!

If you Google Ambien there is info on there about "sleepwalking" while on it. It is not uncommon. One of the common things to do while sleepwalking on it, is to eat. Some patients even reported driving while on it.

There is also a lot of info about Effexor withdrawal.

This stuff sounds very scary. I would never take the stuff no matter how many brochures the doctor threw at me.

I've started the "combipatch" (brand name... made by Novartis) according to the OB it's the lowest dosage HRT on the market... start with a low dosage and move up after a few months if sysmptoms do't lessen to satisfaction is what the OB had to say...

after a month the night sweats have stopped, I wake up multiple times per night, but go back to sleep with no problem... so far NO weight gain... and I am watching since it's a known HRT side effect that I really don't want....

What I was always curious about was, what is it in these hormones that causes the weight gain?

Be very careful with HRT
any cancer in your family and you can risk a better chance of breast cancer, I have chosen nothing and take the chance of sleepless nights changing but at least I'll have years to come to make up for it. so i choose NOthing

my "new" ob was involved in the rcent hrt study that hit the press today.... FWIW I have 0 history of any cancer in my family or heart disease, or blood clotting, or anything the studies report on... plus in the original study the women were in the 60+ age bracket and their reported cases moved from 11 in 10,000 to 17 in 10,000.... this is hardly a significant increase in statistical terms,although I'm the first to admit that for those 6 women it certainly WAS signifcant...

The "new" wisdom on this is that if you start the therapy earliler in life and then "wean" off it after a handful of years, you should achieve comfort in the "hard" years of menopause and then come down gradually from the hormones and fade into life without them.....

For the major change the lowest dose possible has made in my personal life... I'm willing to take that 0.06 percent increased risk of medical problems... this is way less than the 70-80% chance I had of conceiving a child with a MAJOR birth defect.... and I willing took that risk! (I do have a family history of that... a BIG history)

When the time comes, I definitely want HRT. I'm also willing to take the risk.

hello, i am reponsing to the people who use effexor. I was given 37.5 mg of effexor last week. My doctor has told me she has great results for hot flashes with this. She said you also dont need alot to control the body temp. I can tell you one thing i am cold.I have had one small hot flash today and last night my night sweats were better than before. I also do not want to eat!! Can anyone tell me if this worked for you, how long did it take to kick in. My doctor told me it takes three weeks to get the full result.

I just started Activella two weeks ago. Anyone know how long it will take before it kicks in?

I took Effexor for 10-12 years. I began to have problems with eye/brain coordination and decided to wean off it. My doctor just side-stepped the issue each time I mentioned
my problem. After finding a blog about the drug, I had my answer. I took the capsule apart. It had 360 granules. The first night I removed three, the second 6, the 3rd 9 until after about 4 months I was home free. Never had one bad side-effect. I couldn't believe it, after reading about the hell everyone went though trying to kick it.

i was going through very bad menopause, couldn't get out of bed many days, very bad anxiety tried every natural remedy, then every antidepressant, nothing worked. went on prempro within a week i was back to myself and all symptoms gone. miracle drug, i reccommend it highly!!!

Neurontin helps hot flashes. It's not an anti-depressant, it's actually (originally) an anti-seizure drug. But it's used for lots of things now. I was prescribed it originally for restless leg syndrome. It's available as a generic, so cheap.

I am on Tamoxifen, for breast cancer, which causes hot flashes to ramp up a lot. But as long as remember to take the Neurontin, it's much better.

Also, taking fish oil helps too.

Just tough it out. It's not a terminal illness and it will pass one day. My instinct told me that Premarin was dangerous back when it was being touted as the best drug in the world. The doc gave me about 10 brochures praising the product and only one said proven to help and that was for Osteo. And I know most people don't believe this but it is true, any "natural" substance is just as dangerous. If it cures the problems it is somehow triggering hormones or giving them to you.

Woah! 20 lbs. in the past three years is no joke. You should be paying attention of your menopause symptoms. A friend of mine stopped HRT and took the advice of taking herbal products instead to eliminate menopause weight gain. It was really effective and lost weight within 6 weeks.

hi Iam a new user of prempro dose 625-5mg Iam just wondering has any of you ladies still get your period reg, and get so sick........... about 2 weeks before your period where u cant do nothing I mean just suffer sick to belly cant eat sweats chills, I tryed alot of orther things just would like to know does anyone have any good feed back how to feel better and how long it takes for the med to work?????? many thanks