Anyone on a long-term high dose of Venlafaxine: Do you suffer from emotional blunting?

[Coldwetlettuce]

I’ve been on a high dose of Venlafaxine for a few years for depression. It’s the antidepressant that’s helped me the most, but in the last couple of years I’ve found I’ve become a bit emotionally numb. I’m so chilled out I’m practically horizontal! I’m not complaining about it as such. I was an emotional mess before, but in the last couple of years I’ve noticed my default mood is almost always relaxed/calm/a bit ‘whatever’ about everything. It’s largely positive- everything is like water off a duck’s back to me. I do feel positive emotions - I feel intense love for my kids, I get excited about things (although not as much as I used to maybe). I feel pretty positive most of the time but I also sometimes feel like I’ve got a permanent filter on and all the stuff that would annoy/upset/frustrate a normal person just bounces off, and I’m not feeling feelings genuinely. I’m probably not explaining it very well, but does anyone feel similar on it?

Somatic therapy could also be really helpful here, if you're looking for a non-medication based alternative (which i appreciate you didn't ask for 🙃).

Yes
What suits one doesn’t suit another
Friends rave about sertraline and for
me it worked for age last for low mood but when anxiety also became an issue Venfalaxine was best !
It’s trial and error for sure

Definitely definitely ask for extended release @Lizzbear . It's a horrible medication for "running low" in your system, and I found the unextended release ones even worse. As @op says you NEED to make sure you don't run out of it or you'll have a horrible time until you get it - I've argued so many times with receptionists about needing prescriptions, but I've found most pharmacists really helpful with providing an emergency prescription. Coming off/lowering doses can be tricky but I think if it's a medication that's being suggested to you it's been suggested for a reason.

@LizzbearI have OCD and find it good for that.

The extended release tablets are so much better. When I used to take the other ones, I used to get bad pains in my head if I was late with a dose & had to take one tablet in the morning and one at night. Now I just take both in the morning. I think the worse side effect is the fatigue and very vivid weird dreams but I’ve been tired & had bad sleep for decades so I can’t pinpoint it to that on its own.