Venlafaxine - scared to start

[Pierrederesistance]

I'm due to begin Venlafaxine next month. 50mg initially.

I'm absolutely terrified of the side effects of starting. Mostly:

Nausea - this and actual vomiting are part of my bipolar anyway, so I have a (probably) disproportionate fear.

Dizziness - terrified of fainting.

Palpitations - this is another big one as my health anxiety often focuses on heart issues and I have quite a high rate anyway.

I've tried lots of other meds and can't take a lot of others due to existing health issues, so this is pretty much my last chance.

I think I can deal with the depression, I can't remember a time I didn't have it, but I would so love to be free of the completely debilitating health anxiety.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for as some people will love it, some will have had awful experiences - I'm taking time to be gentle with myself when I start it, but the idea of the side effects is making me question it all. If it wasn't for the chance it might help the health anxiety, I wouldn't be trying it.

I have an incredibly supportive partner and adult kids, a great GP, and a useless psychiatrist 🤷

That's a good idea actually as it must be easier to keep that later time regularly - I think I'll go for that.

I think that if it works, I'll probably be looking at staying on it as it's pretty much my last medication to try but, yes, I'd definitely come down slowly if I do stop, thank you.

Are you bipolar as well? Did it push you up too much? I'm finding the lows much much more frequent than the highs these days which is why they're willing to risk it I think.

That sounds really promising for you, I hope it keeps working!

May I ask why you decided to come off it?

Started at 52 yrs old and have had no issues with it at all.

Thank you so much! It's pretty much last option for me but reading how much it's helped some people is quite reassuring. Was there anything you put in place that helped particularly? People have been saying to eat beforehand and have it at the same time each day.

Venlafaxine saved my life. I’m not being flippant. Nothing else worked.
I never had/have any side effects.
Side effects are a possibility. They’re not mandatory.

I'm so glad it's worked well for you, genuinely I love to hear this from people!

I think I'm just having a wobble because of my horrendous health anxiety so it's great to hear positive reports ❤️

Also on it and I’ve been fine - except as others have said , when I am late for a dose so I try to avoid that . I’m on 225 I think (started lower though )

Same for me! I’ve been on all kinds of antidepressants since I was a teenager. No, I’ll be honest. I don’t eat breakfast, I never have and quite often will live on a cuppa soup or similar until dinner. Doesn’t affect my sleep but I’m on long term sleeping tablets as diagnosed by my psychiatrist. I’ve always took my antidepressants with my other tablets every morning (vitamin D, antihistamine all year round due to urticaria and a magnesium supplement) x

No side effects for me either and it's very effective.

I was on that for while more than twenty years ago. I was also tried on various others. They all made me feel terribly ill.

I've learned to cope without any meds.

It did affect my sodium levels, that’s why I had to come off it. I didn’t know until a routine blood test flagged it up as they where low. Something to bare in mind

it was last chance for me too. i just take it now without thinking about it. if its as easy as this i hope that i can be as well for the rest of my natural

Good luck with the venlafaxine I hope it works for you. Maybe I should ask to try that as I feel I'm running out of options. Sertraline no good for me and don't really want to try another ssri as the side effects aren't great for my genetic makeup 😕. I suppose it is trial and error and we all are different and need to find what is right for ourselves as individuals. I wish you all the best and hope you get your best results.

It didn’t help me.

I started it at Easter and it's been great no side effects at all. My mood is lifted and I feel more 'steady'. I went up in bits at a time and now on 150. I take it with my morning coffee.

Have you started it @Pierrederesistance ?

I've been on it for almost a year for bipolar depression, no nausea or noticeable palpitations. I have a resting heartbeat of 90-110 so it's often fast. I've had palpitations before with medication but not this.
I'm on 300 alongside quetiapine and mirtazapine, no hypomania/mania but still got low mood. On the upside I also haven't developed psychotic depression like in my last episode so it's doing something.

I really appreciate all of these replies - my health anxiety has been pretty bad the last couple of days so apologies if I haven't replied to anything

Definitely - I get annual blood tests (which, of course, terrify me), but hopefully something like that would get picked up. I hope you've found something else that helps.

That's absolutely fantastic that it's worked so well for you - gives me hope!

Thank you so much. Sertraline didn't work for me at all and I think that's partly why I'm so scared of starting something else. Let me know if you do try it - there are lots of really positive stories here.

Next week.