Venlafaxine

[AnxiousAlicia]

Has anyone had any success with bad anxiety with 75mg of Venlafaxine please? If so, how long did it take to kick in? A month and I’m still feeling pretty rubbish. Thank you!

I've taken Venlafaxine for years but at 150mg. I definitely know if I've missed a day. It was a long time ago but I think I was told 3 to 4 weeks to feel the difference. Maybe give your doctor a ring?

Do you mean you're having bad side effects or just that it doesn't seem to be buoying your mood?
I personally found venlafaxine did take more like two months to kick in, mood-wise. But then fluoxetine never worked for me at all and the side nausea never wore off. Sertraline was fine for a long time. Some drugs just don't work for some people and you do have to experiment sometimes. Maybe give it a couple more weeks and go back to the doctor?
Sending you

For me 75mg was too small a dose to make a difference. I am on 187.5mg and this keeps me safe. Definitely takes about 6-8 weeks to notice any changes. Go back to your GP as everyone is different..
Good luck

I take 37.5mg each morning & 75mg each night and it’s working very well. I’ve been on this dose for just over a year and, for me personally, it’s the maximum dose my GP is happy to prescribe due to my heart issues.

i do remember initially being upset that I couldn’t increase my dose so there must have been a settling in period but it would have been about 6-8 weeks max.

I found it to be the worst medicine I’ve ever taken. It took me a year to come off it safely and sadly never felt any better on it.
Everyone will have a different reaction and this is just mine.
I hope you get some relief from your anxiety soon as I know how awful it can be.

I take 75mg. It took about 8 weeks before I noticed a difference. I certainly know about it if I miss a day.

I take venlafaxine but a much higher dose - 225mg with a mood stabiliser also- lamotrigine. They normally say wait 6 to 8 weeks, then go back to the drs and ask maybe to increase the dose.

Yeah another venlafaxine person. I take 150mg twice a day, but that is for my depression. I also take Pregabalin 150mg twice a day for GAD and that works well generally, but I think I need it tweaking again because I am having issues with anxiety again.
Venlafaxine does take a while to work, but do go back to your GP/psych if you are concerned it is not working for you. They will talk you through it and help you decide what to do next, whether you need to change med or increase the dosage.
I hope you feel relief soon

I take 75mg, but initially I needed 225mg and have since stepped down. I remember it taking about 6 weeks before I noticed improvement, if that is any help.

Thank you! Sounds like it has been effective for some! I’m only on four weeks and my mood has lifted from a depression perspective but still feeling very anxious. Has anyone taken diazepam or Propanalol with it to help this? I’ll see my dr in about three weeks. Really appreciate the responses! Has it been life changing for anyone? Anxiety has literally changed my life so much in the past six years and I’ve tried so many meds… I feel a bit hopeless xx

Propranolol might be your friend here. It’s not addictive and works well for anxiety. Personally I’d try and stay away from diazepam unless it’s a last resort as it’s so addictive.

Thank you! x

It’s been massively life changing for me. I’ve gone from surviving to living a happy life after ten years of being a guinea pig on lots of other antidepressants. We are all unique and some will work for others while not work for others. They would have to prize it out of my cold dead hands if they said people couldn’t take it anymore!

Did you have really bad anxiety too? What dosage are you on? I’m starting to have a little bit of hope as I’ve had some ‘better’ moments this week but also some rough ones still but I know it takes time to kick in properly x

Side effects aren’t fun but I can live with them (sweating, dry mouth mainly), it’s more that I wasn’t noticing a difference really but I had a ‘good’ night anxiety-wise last night so maybe…. 🙏🏼

How long have you been on it and does it still work as effectively now? x

Did you just trust and keep going up? Doesn’t each dosage change require about six weeks to take effect then? You must have so much patience?! x

Thank you! I’m on just over four weeks now so keeping everything crossed for the next fortnight! Hope it keeps working well for you x

Thank you and I’m really sorry it didn’t work for you. Have you found anything that has? I hope so. I’ve heard how difficult withdrawal can be (and have been through similar with Pregabalin) which is why I’m so desperate for it to work and give some relief after seven years of anxiety! x

I’m on 225mg it’s definitely helped my anxiety but my depression / mood is so so low still.
it did take a good few weeks to kick in but I take it more for depression and self harm.
stick with it but keep talking to your gp if you feel it’s taking too long

I specifically asked for this but mine is mainly depression although I had anxiety too, it wasnt the main presenting feature. I would say I noticed only a slight difference in 4 weeks, much better in 6 weeks and then very good after about 8 weeks. I wont be coming off these for years I reckon. I can function very well

I initially started for 4 weeks on 37.5mg morning and night and then swapped to the slow release 75mg once a day. I wont go up a dose untiless I start getting ill again.

I guess that’s a real sign that it’s working then!! Do you worry about withdrawal given that? x

What made your doc add the lamotrigine? I have a friend on that, she finds it really effective. I have been keen to stay on the lowest effective dose I can but I guess you need what you need and only trial and error (hideous though it is) can tell you that x

I’m on Pregabalin too but tapering off though I’ve stopped the taper while starting on the venla as my doc didn’t want variables or we wouldn’t know if the venla wasn’t working or if it was withdrawal from the pregab. I actually found pg really effective initially but my body got used to the dosages too quickly and before I knew it I was on 500mg daily and still had anxiety so I figured it probably wasn’t the best long term solution for me as we only really had another 100 to play with before I was on the max dose x

Yes I do, in fact I worry a lot about it. Also, every time I think about coming off it, something happens in my life that makes me decide it's not the right time. The first time I thought about it the first lock down happened, the second time I was diagnosed with breast cancer and the third time my husband was struggling with his own health. None of this was connected to Venlafaxine per se, but it did make me think that I didn't want to struggle with withdrawal symptoms at those particular moments.

Actually, I sailed through breast cancer treatment with very few emotional struggles and I credit Venlafaxine for that.