Ad’s feel no pleasure happiness anyone feel like this

[Windmill34]

Been on different ad’s for over 40 years, never been off any in that time

recently over the last year I’ve realised that I’m never happy, I never really laugh a lot .
If I won the lottery I’d probably just say
” oh right “
I never feel enthusiastic
Ive become a more serious person like dp will laugh and I don’t even find it funny

I want to genuinely feel happy and have that
WANT TO feeling again
I a miserable 66 yr old woman with no pleasure in life

Have you felt like this on your Antidepressant

Definitely speak to your gp about coming off them and see?

This was the reason I came off AD’s after being on them for approx 8 years.

Life has changed for the better in those 8 years, and I don’t need them anymore, but it’s hard to know if you still need them until you come off them.

Hi, sorry to hear about how you're feeling. I take antidepressants long-term, alongside a mood stabiliser, for bipolar. I have a similar experience to yourself with feeling, sort of numb I guess. I don't get excited about anything, I don't really look forward to anything, I feel like I derive much pleasure from anything. I am in this kind of detached, limbo state between "normal" and depressed.

I have tried to talk to my psychiatrist about it, and even tried different medication. But that just made things worse with depressive symptoms and mood instability in general. I was diagnosed with PTSD a few years ago, but that diagnosis and subsequent treatment didn't change anything with my mood.

I broached the issue with my psychiatrist again last year, and subsequently got sent for an ADHD and autism screening. So now I have a diagnosis of higher functioning autism as well - which again hasn't helped - and I am waiting for the inattentive ADHD to be formally diagnosed in a few months - all at the age of 53 years!

So you are not alone in feeling this way, and the quest to find "normal" can be quite elusive.

GL, and be kind to yourself.

Thanks for your replies it’s nice to know it’s not in my mind !

DRS1970
you give a great description of exactly how I feel
I find it’s a waste of time to talk to gp or psych’s as there medication driven. It’s like try this one
add this in

I nit think having a diagnosis helps because it’s just a word , we still have all the symptoms but with a reason why.

I’ve really got to be strong and brave as I’m on the supposed Mother Of Evil meds to come off
VENLAFAXINE 😡
and I’m scared stiff of trying
but I’m gonna have too be brave and start at a very low drops of 5% each time when I feel stable each drop

I just have to make THAT decision and go for it

Hello @Windmill34 ,
I have taken Venlafaxine for many many years and like you felt I needed to come off of it last year. I went very slowly and took about 11 months to reduce from 225mg to 112mg. At Christmas I started feeling wobbly so I upped it to 150mg to get me through the holidays. Unfortunately I had some severe stress and then a full blown anxiety/panic attack at the end of December which I had never had before. It was the most horrible experience of my life. I had my DH drive me to a&e. I had to take diazepam for 2 months plus back to my full dose of Venlafaxine and am also now beginning to take a small dose of another AD to wean me off the Venlafaxine and on to this one so I can eventually stop AD'S altogether. Maybe.

All this to say to you to get help from your GP or psychiatrist to get off Venlafaxine. It is really difficult and I wasted a year and am not in a good place yet. Good luck to you.

Whataretalkingabout

sorry only just checked “what I’m on”

so sorry it didn’t work for you to come of this very powerful horrible drug
I read about a lot of people having to go back up when anxiety as kicked off again.
I also read that when they’ve completely come off after a slow decrease that after six months they’ve had to reinstate it again

there really good at giving out these drugs but never tell you how really horrible it is when you try to come off them.
Its only by listening to other people who are on the same drug that you really get to know how bad they are and what they do to you.

Really sorry you were another of the venlafaxine takers to not make it and have a terrifying experience that was so frightening you needed a&e input. ( that’s the only thing they can do is give you diazepam )
my friend also came off it completely slowly and was doing ok for 3 mths then all hell let lose again. It’s terrifying that’s why I’m so so frightened to even contemplate it, I got scales to weigh the beads and empty capsules. I just can make that tiny tiny reduction I’m a wuss.
Im 66 yrs old and suffered anxiety with bouts of depression since my early 20’s
but I think (I’m not even sure) it’s doing nothing for me now
I feel I have no emotions , I only cry when I’m mad and laugh : hardly ever
Im just glad I’m retired and don’t have the pressure to go out to work

Im guessing it’s Prozac your now taking along side venlafaxine ? As that has a longer half life . Why did you want to come off venlafaxine?
Have your symptoms lowered now so you have order some kind of life back ?

Best Wishes

Hello @Windmill34 , thanks for writing. I agree it really helps to hear of others' experiences. And if I can help one other person get off Venlafaxine......
To answer your question, no, not Prozac. I asked my psychiatrist for the newest AD out there. ( might as well live dangerously!)
So before decreasing the Venlafaxine 225mg, have been added 2.5mg Brintellix (vortioxetine) for one month. Just added another 2.5mg this month. Have not yet begun to decrease the Venlafaxine. I am following my (new brilliantly educated) psychiatrist scrupulously for a change.

Brintellix was US approved in 2016. It has a much longer half-life than Venlafaxine. 66 hours I recall? Right now on this very low dose added to my Venlafaxine I have noticed no effect at all. I ran out of 2 doses last week of the Brintellix but did not feel any difference. I have no idea how long this will take but it doesn't matter. The goal is to eventually get there. Sigh!

Why do I want to go off Venlafaxine after 20 years? I am tired of being dependent on it and frightened of missing a dose. I too feel stuck , a bit indifferent and emotionless and would also like to feel happy again!

I also am simply tired of relying on medication to feel better. Meds are supposed to be a support "to do the work" to get better. Remember ADs only treat the symptoms- they don't heal depression. They are an excellent crutch for periods of crisis , which can admittedly last a very long time and for many, be necessary for a life-time.

However today, we have much better information that we didn't have when we were first depressed 20 -30 years ago , on how to heal - so many different methods of self-help on-line, i.e. meditation, deep breathing, good sleep and diet, yoga, exercise, journaling, therapy, hobbies, etc.

I am trying to help myself by making myself do some of these things in small doses and then hoping the motivation will come. Like exercise, but no I am not doing 10k a day. If I can get myself out of the house and go for even a short walk every day, I consider that a success. And I feel better!

I am learning to not be so hard on myself and have compassion for myself no matter what others might think. I am trying to learn to make myself happy instead of expecting it coming from outside of me. And it is beginning to work!

Good luck to you Windmill. ;)

Yes, I find SSRIs even out the peaks and troughs in both directions - I don't get awful lows but I don't get real highs either. When I needed to go on them that was always a blessed relief. By the time I got to missing the highs I was generally ready to wean off. People obviously vary though.

I also came off venlafaxine years ago - I made a fairly ill-advised youthful decision to go cold turkey. I basically white-knuckled my way through 2-3 truly grim days and 3-4 fairly bad days, but then I was fine, and honestly even now I could probably manage the same again with the help of a few sick days from work. It's definitely not the easiest to come off, but it's not impossible, and I could have made my life easier with a slower taper.

We are all different I know but here is my experience of coming off Venlafaxine.
I had always come off ADs tiny amounts by tiny amounts. My psychiatrist set me a 5 or 6 week decrease timetable for V but I decided that that would be too quick and little by little was the better way. Unfortunately, for me, even tiny tiny decreases gave me side effects and I eventually realised that the psych's timetable was better because I would have the same side effects for a much shorter time. I did it.
As to ADs generally - yes I don't feel much joy or pleasure. It's the first thing I notice when I come off them - little sparks of delight at random things. I'm just too scared now of my mental health taking a further dive though I've been as ill as I've ever been whilst on them anyway. I don't know what the answer is. The psychiatrists only ever want to increase my meds but I'm already six stone heavier on current meds and I'm not interested.