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250155 tn?1485295939

Scared to take new medicine?

My dr just prescribed me Effexor for my anxiety and he also gave me a prescription of Hydroxyzine (an antihistamine).
Has anyone else taken either or possibly both together?
I started the Effexor yesterday, but am reluctant about the antihistamine.
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Avatar universal
Are you seeing a psychiatrist or a regular doc?  Do you suffer just from anxiety, or is your main problem depression?  Have you ever tried therapy?  How badly is your problem affecting your life, because if you are doing okay therapy is a better place to start than strong medications.  Have you tried other medications, or is this your first try?  I'm asking because, first, general docs don't know these meds or these conditions very well.  Effexor isn't usually given to someone with a primary anxiety problem, as it's a stimulating antidepressant that targets norepinephrine, basically adrenaline, as well as serotonin.  It might make you more anxious because of this, though there's no guarantee of this -- we're all different in how we react to medication.  I'm also wondering why you were put on an antihistamine when you don't have allergy problems, or haven't stated you have them -- you're being put on this because it has an unwanted side effect of sedation, but taking two meds at once won't tell you if Effexor will work by itself.  It might, however, temper the stimulating side effects of Effexor, and if you're going to try this you probably don't want to temper bad side effects -- you probably want to see just how it makes you feel.  Also, Effexor is one of the two most difficult meds to stop taking for this problem, Paxil being the other, and the whole snri category Effexor is in are very hard to stop taking and can adversely affect the liver.  Meaning, usually a good psychiatrist will start you out on the easiest drugs to handle as experience has shown among patients over time and move to the more difficult ones if they don't work.  It doesn't mean never take them or that they'll necessarily be hard on you, but it's just good medicine to do that.  That's why usually a good psychiatrist or doctor will first evaluate how bad your problem is, and if it's not severely affecting you send you to therapy before trying medication to see if it will work, just as a surgeon will usually send you to physical therapy before cutting on you to see if the least invasive procedure will do.  When a doctor starts with the most difficult course, you have a bad or uninformed doctor.  
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3 Comments
I have anxiety, not depression. I get actual anxiety/panic attacks. I haven't taken the antihistamine yet b/c I am unsure about it so I have just taken the effexor.
Is effexor in the same category as zoloft?
No.  Effexor is a very stimulating antidepressant for the reasons I mentioned above.  Zoloft is an ssri, not an snri -- it only targets serotonin.  It would usually be considered a better category of drug, assuming you need a drug at all, if anxiety is your main problem.
Anxiety and depression go hand in hand feeding off each other in a vicious circle so sometimes it is hard for the victim to figure which is the cause of the other.

Paxiled asked you some important questions.
Avatar universal
I couldn't have said it better than Paxiled. I would like to add my experience with these meds however. I have taken both Effexor and Hydroxyzine together for a number of months and never had any kind of bad interaction between the two. Everyone is different though. I would suggest maybe waiting a while to see how the Effexor makes you feel before trying the hydroxyzine.

Hydroxyzine can be sedating and has anxiolytic (anti anxiety) properties. If the Effexor ramps you up too much you could take a small dose of the hydroxyzine to see if that helps. If the Effexor does cause more anxiety I would ultimately suggest talking to your doctor about trying another medication. Best of luck.
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