- Can My Son Ever Have A Normal Life?
QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
Thanks for the very informative information on your website. I actually stumbled on it while looking for information on Effexor and BuSpar.
My son has been taking Effexor 75 mg for almost 2 yrs. At first he was so much better with his anger and rage but now it is coming back. He has been diagnosed as an adolescent with ADD with some HD.
He dropped out of school at 16, served 2 yrs in the Army and is now in school again. He has a GED but he is really freaking out over a math course he must take in order to complete his technical course. Since this course in math started in early January, he has been unable to cope. I don’t know what else to do. He has just about every symptom of BPD. He had a head injury as a baby and last year he had a seizure of some sort. He had this seizure after I had given him some Benadryl to help him sleep. He was given tests at the hospital and everything was ok. He tells me marijuana is the only thing that keeps him from losing it.
I am planning on calling your office first thing Monday morning, but is there anything I can do to help ’till he sees you?? I saw on one of your pages you gave Remeron with Effexor. Will this help with the anger and the rage? He has only 5 more classes to go to finish this math class if he doesn’t get kicked out first. I know you are a busy man, but could you please respond ASAP? My son will never have a happy normal life if we don’t do something now. He can’t fail again!
Thanks for your help.
ANSWER:
I’ve not been impressed with Effexor, although some clinicians have reported good results, particularly at high doses. He probably has the generalized anxiety disorder – which he treats with marijuana. The BPD is a strong consideration as well. Being on Prozac is the most helpful thing a patient can do before seeing me, although it may worsen the anxiety disorder.
The good news is that he can do remarkably better.
