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!

Yep you’re right, I’ll check in with my doctor first, I have an appointment in a couple of weeks. X

I didn’t actually know it wore off before 24 hours, I wasn’t told that! How do people get away with not splitting the dose then, does it eventually build up in your system? A question for my doctor when I see him! I don’t mind taking it twice a day instead of once if it helps and it adds up to the same amount x

I’m the other way around, no appetite at all!!! x

it’s interesting how much the mental can affect the physical. I got myself so scared by the horror stories and all the ‘what if’s in relation to coming off it if it didn’t work/stopped working that I think I might have self sabotaged and stopped it working for me! Hopefully it will do the trick anyway, we’ll see. so glad it’s the one for you! x

Venlafaxine was a life saver for me. It was the ninth antidepressant I had tried and the only one that made a significant difference. I still take it today, ten years later but it's just 150g per day now. The trick is to get the extended release format.

Hey Roberta - did it take time to kick in for you? I’m hopeful but still waking up so anxious four and a half weeks in. Sometimes it dissipates but the morning anxiety is just so hard. I’m on 75. Thrilled it’s working for you, I know how awful anxiety feels! x

I felt an improvement within 2 days. I have ADHD though and my brain desperately needed the “N” in the SNRI. I ended up on a high dose - 225mg - before getting proper ADHD meds. I’m still taking the 225mg because the combination works for me. I think I’ll be on it for life.

Is 75mg even a therapeutic dose? Seems microscopic! It's a very good drg, but an utter bitch to get off.

I wouldn’t take it at bedtime. It contains norepinephrine. Try taking it an hour before you need to get up. Eg. If you have to be in the shower at 7am, take it around 6am, doze and then up at 7am with it starting to take effect.

And just re. waking up with anxiety… do you dream? Do you remember them? I mention this because I dream very vividly and remember everything. I’ll wake up with a body and nervous system that has just “lived through” a tsunami, plane crash… sweating, trembling with the emotions real and hanging around. But I know I just had a dream, so don’t think of it as anxiety.

My recent ex used to suffer with morning anxiety, had done so for years despite ADs, but he didn’t remember his dreams.

i could imagine a situation where you wake up with the residual emotions and physiology of a dream and no memory of it, and that would deffo make me feel anxious

I think so? I’m keen to stay at the lowest dose that works for me (if it does) because of the withdrawal horrors I’ve heard about (while also recognising that the lower amounts are usually the hardest ones to come off which just isn’t fair lol) X

I have ADHD too but definitely didn’t kick in after two days for me sadly!! x

Don’t you have to take it with food though? x

I did once last week - as in remember my dream - but not usually! But it happens every day! Could be that I guess? x

I've been on it for 26 years on and off. Everything was tried and nothing helped at all until this. The highest I was on was 175 and I'm now down to 75 daily.
For the first time ever, I ran out this weekend and I felt so so depressed and couldn't stop crying .Thank god for a decent gp who called understanding how essential it is not to miss a day or two

Im on 75mg, unless I get ill again I dont plan to increase. Its worked very well for me.

Isn’t it scary though quite how MUCH it can affect us? Do you generally feel steady on it? Everyone that tries to come off it seems to end up going back on it! x

I’m on a low dose of extended release, 37.5mg daily at bedtime, and it’s saved my life. Have been on it and off and for probably 20 years and have tried many others. Originally for depression, more recently for depression + anxiety. Helps me manage my anxious thoughts and physical symptoms and my recurring, mostly seasonal depression. Hang in there ❤️ It’s honestly my miracle worker.

I wish it had reduced my appetite. Its well known to reduce appetite. Except in me!

It was awful for my dc who was given it for severe trauma, he received dire psychiatry and no support to get off it when he escalated. He was titrated by phone and upped by a call worker at one point. He was taking loads of other meds too. It lead him into really bad crisis and he can’t remember a lot of what happened. He’s off it now.

It is frightening really! However the times I've come off it I have felt so so sad (after the proper coming off time etc) so I definitely feel I 'need' it to stay well

I could have written this.

I'm sure bits of my cognitive thinking aren't as fast as they were before and it's been years since I took it.

Worst thing I ever did was take those things.

That’s what I mean. Our brains must become so used to it that we need it! Which is the scary bit. But if it helps eh?! x

Did you find coming off it a nightmare or did you manage as it’s a smaller dose? I would have really liked to have tried 37.5 for a decent amount of time to see if it was a good enough dose for me but I wasn’t given the option :/ I noticed my mood getting brighter as well but was only on it for 3 days before moving up. Did you ever go higher? I guess I’m on 75 for the forseeable! Really glad it has helped you! x

This is my main nightmare tbh, so sorry it happened to you :( x