Venlaflaxine - scared to start but think I will

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I've had a prescription for Venlaflaxine for a while now but been too scared to take it. However I think I probably should and I hope it will do me good. Any positive or negative stories to share before I take plunge?
How long were you on them for? How did it help? Or not?
Thanks

Anyone? Am planning on starting them next week (am away from home at the mo)

It was fantastic for me - nothing else had worked, and this definitely helped lift my mood and give me more energy. I had less appetite for a couple of weeks when I started taking it, but not the nausea the other anti-d's caused. If I forgot to take them in the morning I'd be getting slightly dizzy by the evening, but nothing more. I tapered down when I came off them, and again, a bit of dizziness but nothing terrible.

If it works it works! But other people do react against it. Try it and see

I have been on it on and off for 15 years. That probably sounds awful but it is the only thing that will help me. I'm currently on, and I tend to stay on, 75 mg a day which may even be homeopathic - i honestly haven't had any of her horrible effects ever. Nothing else had stabilised me over the years.

I, too, have been on and off Venlafaxine for around 11 years. They work for me.
The first few days of taking them for the first time ever I felt spaced out and dizzy. But this was worth the long term effects. I am more rational, less anxious, brighter and more optimistic. I have more energy. I am enjoying things.
I am on 75mg a day. If I forget to take it for more than 48 hours I get dizzy and lightheaded, which goes as soon as I take it.
That said, I have always been able to wean myself off them without too much trouble.

I was moved over to venlafaxine 12 weeks ago, after 17 years on sertraline. Its been great, I feel better than I have in years (I've worked up to 225mg).

Yes I get the lightheaded thing too!

Ok thank you. Am going to do it!

I've been prescribed this too but I'm so scared! I've heard awful stories of terrible withdrawals, I'm scared it'll make me spacey or drowsy or a bad stomach. I really want to feel better. But I'm too worried about the possibilities to do it. :(

Sorry op to hijack your thread but those who are on it, what sort of time is best to take it?

It seems to work for some folks, and I think all SSRIs work better for some people than others - it's a matter of finding the one that works for you.

For me personally, Venlafaxine was satan's jizz. Absolutely horrendous stuff, compounded by the fact that my well-meaning but inexperienced GP just kept increasing the dose. It made me feel worse, and even worse, and have thoughts that felt like they weren't my own (only time that has ever happened), and suicidal ideation. Ended up with a brief spell of hypomania, ended my marriage, met someone else and was pregnant within two months (by which time, luckily, I was already trying to wean myself off). The withdrawal was absolutely horrendous, and when I finally got off the stuff I looked at the wreckage very different landscape of my life and thought 'what the holy fuck happened there?!'.

Still, DD is 14 now, so not all bad.

That's not to say you shouldn't take it, btw - it seems to work well for some people. Just don't let them keep increasing the dose if you are feeling worse and getting weird and disturbing symptoms.

Citalopram turned out to be the one for me - worked very well for over a decade. I'm now on its sister drug Escitalopram, which also works pretty well. None of them are much fun to come off, incidentally - you just have to do it very, very gradually - much more gradually than doctors think is necessary.

I've been on and off venlafaxine for a few years. I've tried a few different anti d and found these to be by far the best for me. Anti d's can work differently for everyone though. I've only ever been on 75mg.

I have found coming off tricky though, and am going through my 2nd withdrawal now.

All in all, they've been positive but I stayed on longer than I might have because I didn't want the withdrawal symptoms

Venlafaxine made me suicidal and hypomanic, and taking huge safety risks. Withdrawal was shit too. Went onto Prozac which I stayed on for years, only side effect from that was night sweats when on max dose of 3 a day. But Prozac caused long term damage and I am now settled on St Johns Wort with no side effects at all.

It was quite possibly literally a lifesaver for me, and I never had any negative side effects or any of the horrendous withdrawal symptoms that some describe.

I was on 150mg most of the time, apart from a few months on 225mg.

I took them (each morning) for a couple of years for severe PND after DS2 (was under a psychiatrist and CPN.)

When I was ready to come off them (which, under advisement of the psychiatrist, was only when I had felt back to normal for a full 6 months) I went down to taking 75mg one day and 150mg the next.

I stayed on that dose for a couple of months, then dropped to 75mg every day for the next couple of months.

Then I switched to taking 75mg every other day for the next couple of months. I believe you can get a 37.5mg dose, which would have been more sensible, but my capsules were 75mg and they said not to open them up to divide the contents (and by then I had emigrated and wasn't able to get medications without paying an arm and a leg) so I stuck with the packs I'd brought over with me.

Then after that, I stopped entirely.

Coming off them was a really long, drawn out process, but without any withdrawal symptoms.

Oh, almost forgot - they did raise my blood pressure, but not by enough to take me out of the normal range. Maybe something to be aware of if yours is already high or at the high end of normal?

Hit and miss like all drugs.

I tried a tablet and ended up with chest pains. Heeded the warning about take with food and tried another tablet the following day.

I ended up with such pain and with such a soaring rise in blood pressure that my vision was affected and I ended up in a scary A&E stuck on a blood pressure monitor.

One man's meat is another man's poison and all that jazz.

All you can do is try and if it's not right for you, then go back to your prescriber (GP or consultant) and tell him/her that it didn't work.

I've been on this for around 3 years now. I started off on Citalopram but had no end of problems with it.
Venlefaxine has truly changed my life, maybe even saved it. I had a week or so of slight nausea and getting used to the drug at the very beginning but it's honestly been pretty much plain sailing since.
Within the last 6 months I've managed to reduce my dose with the view to hopefully, completely, discontinuing use within the next year or 2. This is something I never thought would happen so it really has been a huge positive in my life.
Good luck OP

Hi op :)

I'm on 150mg of venlafaxine after being on fluoxetine for 3 years. I was diagnosed with BPD and OCD in November last year and the consultant was keen to get me off fluoxetine ( i didn't like them anyway )

I have been much happier on V, i don't have depression really, mine is more anxiety but this has helped me.
My head feels clearer, I look back at things i did whilst talking F and can't believe it, they seemed to completely change my personality-for the worse.

Like any AD's, they will not work instantly so go easy on yourself, give them a chance to work.
Very best of luck

Duckduckgoosey I take mine after my evening meal. If I have it on an empty stomach I feel so sick and blergh

Oh god! Ok thanks. Gulp. I feel I need to give them a go as my anxiety is becoming all pervading - though it is over a couple of subjects - I just feel I need to do SOMETHING to make me think a little clearer in order to make well informed decisions and also to stop me dipping down into a big black hole - which does come around every so often - existential dread type scenarios!
Thanks all for your help info and advice. Best wishes to you all x

I took in the morning as they gave me mild insomnia when I took in the evening. Had tried the morning so I could sleep through any other side effects e.g. nausea.

Like most ADs it's trial and error and see if it works for you.

Good luck!

I take mine in morning too, find I have a better day when I do :)

Actually I've had a thought in my anxiety riddled insomniac night!

We might try for another baby May 2018 onwards.

Is this going to scupper things? That's eight months away. Is that enough time? It isn't is it?

Eight months away is eight months away!

Enough time to try it. It may not be for you anyway, and if it is then when you're ready to start trying for a baby discuss it with your doctor. You could stop then, reduce the dose, or decide that the (very small) risk is worth it for the benefit it is bringing you. Or you'll delay your baby plans a bit.

Or by that point something else happens so this is not the right time for a baby or that things are so good that you're ready to cope without an AD.

There is no need to decide that at this point

I had horrific withdrawal from it. Auditory and visual hallucinations, horrific migraines, panic attacks, vomiting, the works. Every time I closed my eyes I heard screaming which stopped the moment I opened them, but this meant days of no sleep at all. The only way I could stop in the end was to open the capsules and count out the 'beads' inside, removing a few more each day. It was painfully slow and a very traumatic process. The manufacturers claim that despite these withdrawal symptoms being reasonably common the medication isn't addictive because you don't have a physical craving for it. But it takes immense willpower if you have withdrawal symptoms like this not to take the tablet that you know will make it stop.

I also found when taking them that I had incredibly vivid, unpleasant dreams. I would wake drenched in sweat. When I first started taking it I couldn't keep my eyes open and would frequently sleep for 12-18 hours per day. I was spaced out and detached in a surreal way, like I was watching someone else live my life, even after a couple of years.

For me, it is the worst of the many anti-depressants I was prescribed over the years except for Seroxat. Everyone reacts differently though, and I hope it works better for you if you go ahead with it. If you do, my advice would be make sure you keep the dosage low and don't stay on it for too long if you can avoid it.