venlaflaxine/effexor-anyone tried it?

[divastrop]

i have been on fluoxetine since 12 weeks pregnant with dd3 who is almost 5 months old.it worked ok during pregnacy but stopped working after the birth.when dd3 was about 6 weeks i tried changing to seroxat,but i couldnt cope with the extreme sleepiness,so the gp put me back on fluoxetine but at a higher dose(40mg).

after almost 3 months on the 40mg,i havent really felt any better,so the doctor has given me venlaflaxine to try instead.i ahve to have 4 days with nothing and am due to start it on wednesday.

i have never tried that type of ad before,does anybody have any experience as i dont know what to expect,wrt side effects etc.does it make you drowsy?put weight on?

any info would be most helpful,thanks.

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thanks dior.the main concern for me is whether i'll be able to tolerate it long enough to give it a chance to work atm.

its hard to know when somthing is working or not in those situations.

it was the AD that helped pull me out of massive PN depression

started at 175 mg, for 2 weeks, then 150 for a while, then 75, after having 20 mg of citalopram, seroxat, lustral etc...highest dose of any of those i was on was 60 mg...didn;t touch the sides

venlaflaxine was prescribed by consultant pysch. and really helped, kicked in within days rather than weeks

hope it helps you too x

I had it eventually..I think it made me feel a bit sex mad..but that was ok,i don't know if that is a common effect

thanks lulu

zippit-loli dont mind that effect,its better than having no sex drive like with some ad's.

bump...anyone else?

one last bump before i dive in on wednesday

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Venlaflaxine didn't do anything for me.
Side effects were just the brain shivers when coming off although my memory is crap so there may have been more.
Sorry that isn't much help to you.

hmm yes dior i practically couldn't sit next to dp..in fact i met him when i was just starting on it

Hi Diva, don't know if this is in time for your big start tomorrow, but I thought I'd write, even though I'm trying really hard to come off it at the moment!!

It really helped lift me out of my PND, from 6 weeks after DS was born til I started cutting down 3 weeks ago. I have to say the only real problem was if I forgot to take it - on holiday this year I forgot for two days in a row, and seriously thought the world was ending... cannot explain properly, but I then discovered that it's a relatively tough one to come off, hence the severe reaction when I inadvertently went cold turkey .

It does have a different mechanism to the others mentioned, so it may well do the job. The psych that recommended it to me said that it's particularly good for anxiety related symptoms............

hth

hi ,thanks jackaroo,ive just been reading other forums about it,and i can see that withdrawal is a big problem,but i am concerned now that weight gain could be another side effect

i will give it a go,but if i put even a lb on in the first week im stopping it.

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dior-i am obsessed with my weight atm as i am getting married in october,and im trying to shift the pregnancy weight.i found prozac made me lose weight when i was on 20mg but when i upped it to 40 i was really struggling,i have lost some weight but thats with practically starving myself as well as excersising.

Certainly weight wasn't an issue, I've lost 3.5 stone in the last 18 months :-)

Sounds as if you're putting yourself under a huge amount of pressure (trying very hard not to say "ridiculous amount" :-) losing all your weight in 6 months, having had a 3rd baby, PND (I'm assuming, can't rmember if it's "just" depression!)... please be kind to yourself. You've got at least 6 weeks until your wedding, let the effexor have 3 weeks - and if you haven't gained anything, great, if you've gained a lb or 2, you've still time to drop it!

How much have you got to go? I put my best weight-loss solutions in a thread on health (I need to lose 4.5 stone? I think it was..)

Good luck!

she is my 5th baby,i have 2 ds's as well

i lost the weight i gained in pregnancy with ds2 and dd2 within 6 months,thats why im getting impatient now i think.i have to get a dress soon and im worried i'll get one then put loads of weight on and it wont fit me.