Venlaflaxine for child

[snakgrill]

My 13 year old has just been prescribed this for anxiety disorder and OCD. Does anyone have any experience of it please? I'm so worried about the side effects making him worse initially

Have they tried other antidepressants first? Sertraline or fluoxetine?

Venlafaxine is good, but can be very very difficult with withdrawal symptoms when the time comes to come off it.

Is it CAMHS who prescribed it?

Yes CAMHS. Not tried anything else, we're desperate for something to help him, so I'm not worried yet about coming off it.

Great to hear it's good. How about side effects? I'm worried about his anxiety getting worse...

I would want to understand the rationale behind starting with venlafaxine. It isn't licensed for children and young people. Normally the first antidepressant tried is fluoxetine, and the second line is usually sertraline or citalopram.

Also, are you being offered therapy as well? Therapy should always be offered alongside medication, medication should not be used on its own.

Things often get worse before they get better, unfortunately.

I would query why this medication. We had Fluoxetine for OCD and other issues which helped. I don’t know if any child put on this for a first try of medication.
Sorry I haven’t seen any examples on here or reviews.

It's an unusual one to be prescribed first, however I have taken it for years and it works amazingly well for me.

I felt quite strange for the first couple of weeks and then it made me feel a lot better. It's a hard one to come off though and needs a very very gradual dose reduction.