Can I sue my doctor for Effexor addiction?

[adco88]

I am addicted to Effexor. I know that a class action lawsuit will take many years. I was maybe mildly depressed. Actually, I am chronically fatigued, I think. I am thinking of suing my doctor in small claims court, and use the funds to go to a rehab clinic for withdrawal treatment. Even if I forget to take a pill one day, I will have vivid nightmares when sleeping. This is a common withdrawal symptom I hear. Then I am really exhausted the next day. I am age 62. When I have had these nightmares, sometimes I will awaken in the middle of the night with my heart pounding. Probably people have died of heart attacks from Effexor at 3 am and no one knows it. In the past,  I have refused drugs like Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil. Both my parents committed suicide. I did not want to take any addictive drug, or a drug likely to cause suicide. I do not take any illegal drugs, or cigarettes or alcohol. My doctor assured me that Effexor was non-addictive, and posed no suicide risk. Now I am reading that Effexor has been linked to addiction and suicide! I think the limit is small claims court in my state is $3500. At least I could go thru a supervised withdrawal. I would be afraid to go cold turkey. I hear you can get angry and suicidal. Also, I now have a costly drug habit of $5 a day, and I only get $610 a month social security. Has anyone sued their doctor in small claims court for getting them addicted to Effexor?

[greyghost9094]

Effexor is without a doubt a very nasty drug to get off of ~ I will tell you that my own doctor was not aware of the side effects or the withdrawals that come with coming off of effexor (even when tapering) - I wish I had never heard of effexor - almost ironic that the drug I can't get off of because I can't stand the withdrawals is the one that was prescribed to me.  The nightmares are horrendous, the headaches worse, the dizziness, and the throwing up are horrible.......however the WORST is BRAIN SHIVERS.  I could deal with all the rest the brain shivers make me want to scream.  I don't blame my doctor I blame the manufacturer who put it out there without giving even our doctors a clue has to what coming off the medicine would be like.  I pay sixty dollars a month for my prescription and I have insurance so I understand that it is a very expensive drug ~ I am thankful insurance at least covers it.  I am in the process of weaning myself off and doing "ok" - I wait until the 3rd day to take one and every 3rd day I open the capsule prior to taking it and remove a few beads.........once I get down to no beads I will go to every 4th day of taking it.  I have dealt with oxycotin addiction and I will tell everyone this - the relief that you get when you take your effexor after having missed a dose is felt within an hour - there is no buzz but the relief you feel once you feel better is similiar to that first time I ever snorted an oxy.  Sad......... :(

adco88 - I wish you the best - I truly feel and believe that even your doctor was not aware of the withdrawals you would experience from trying to come off effexors.  I will tell you this do not quit taking them cold turkey - and do not go through the weaning process without the help of your doctor.  I wish you the best and please feel free to contact me.

greyghost9094

[Billy__B]

O M G!!! that gets me livid!!! my current pain management doctor had me on effexor at very high doeses and then i told him bout the effexor not working......i didn't know it was an addictive one ; / but he took me off of it cause it made me more suicidal than i was normally.  Hey switched me from effexor to 100mgs of zoloft twice daily.  said that usually they put people in hospitals to do that and i would have liked to but he said " I think you can do this on your own" given i was also taking morphine at the time, AND well.  Keep in mind that right now at this very minute, i'm in SErious withdraw so i'm not, by ANY means, Sane or of sound mind. :P  But i was like super major disfunctional for bout a week or 2 during my transition.  untill i started reading this forum i didn't know that zoloft and effexor were/are addictive : /

-Billy B

p.s.  Read my post if anyone wants to support me through my trials..... i for one am in a very bad way.   Decision to Change, need support    is the name of my post.  thx all.  and try to stay positive!

[zyto]

hey eddy from aus here  mate go for it i was on oxycontin for 5 years and know drs told me it was addictive i onely found out obout 6monts later when i tryed to stop now becouse of a failed sue-aside atemt so theve put me on methadone and i dont wont to be now ther holding my life in there hands and dont give a **** how i feel is in some bad **** i dont know how to get out of

[Rose703]

My husband took Effexor a few years back and was also told there was no risk of addiction, yada yada, but when he tried to come off of it he had terrible nightmares, was extremely sad, and had rages. It took him about a week after he went CT off of the med to start feeling better.
Now ever since that happened he's really anti pill so you can imagine what he thought of me, LOL!! No seriously I think in your case, as with my husband, it's a situation of dependancy and not addiction. Also if the doctor is giving you a script why is this costing you $5 per day? That's an expensive co pay if you have insurance!
I would suggest that you not sue the doctor because I think he gave you this medication to help you not hurt you. Perhaps you could talk to him about how you're feeling and he could change your medication. You have to ask yourself why you were put on this medication in the first place and if it has helped you in any way. Good luck to you and I will say a prayer for you!!

[sadinmichigan]

Has Effexor helped you at all, besides when you forget to take it? Sometimes when we read things about a certain drug we can get really scared and "take on" it's side effects..Although you must do your research on anything your taking ,you need to first decide , is this medication helping, do you really have the side effects that your reading about etc..My sister in-law takes effexor and is a complete mess when she doesn't have it..I don't know how much of that is really from that drug. I do notice a difference in her when she does not have it (due to no insurance) This anti-depreesant helps her quite a bit she says..You often have to try several different ones to find one that works for you..I agree that suing is not the answer here and will only cause you more grief..I really would share your concerns with your dr. Best of luck to you..

[SableZen]

I have to agree with some of the points already made but wanted to sum it up:

1. There is a big difference between 'addiction' and 'dependence'. But the most commonly understood part of addiction is it results in over-powering drug-seeking behavior. Addiction arises from abuse or in other words, not taking a medication as prescribed or beyond it's specific purpose - and has a different psychological and social impact than what you described. And there really isn't any abuse potential to this medication... so I don't think you claim a doctor is guilty of malpractice for telling you it's not addictive - it isn't.

2. The previously thought increased risk of suicide completion (a 1.2 - 1.3% higher risk) compared to a placebo has been shown to not apply to adults in any way with the most recent clinical trials. For adolescents there has always been shown to be a greatly increased risk, as much as a 5 X greater risk of suicide completion and it is has always been contraindicated for adolescents. If your doctor prescribed Effexor to you and you are under the age of 25 - you may have some argument if you weren't advised of that risk. If you are older than the age of 25 - there just isn't really anything you can claim as malpractice.

To clarify, the 'black box' label warning only applies to adolescents and young adults.

3. Effexor does have a known impact on increasing blood pressure. The increased risk of heart problems with use of Effexor are all linked to people that had pre-existing medical conditions with their hearts. So by itself this isn't grounds for malpractice as the increase of blood pressure it causes can't be expected to harm a healthy person. So unless you had a diagnosed problem with your heart or blood pressure issue that your doctor was aware of, and the medication caused you damage to your heart - there isn't much of an argument for malpractice.