Venlafaxine / Efexor dosage

Hi everyone,

I have been on Venlafaxine / Efexor (whatever it's called ;) since Christmas. I had the usual side effects for about a week.

I was suffering from severe anxiety- with only one symptom- chest pain. I had heart tests, and was told the pain was caused by anxiety. However, I could never rationalise when confronted with pain near the heart, and after several trips to A&E I was referred to a CBT therapist then a psychiatrist - who put me on 75mg of the drug.

Just before I saw the psychiatrist, I was on an upward roll- caused by a months exercise in a gym, and also the wonderful Dr Claire Weekes.

I now wonder what the drug is actually doing for me. Lately the pains have returned, although I am coping a lot better. Should 75 mg of this drug be enough to suppress the anxiety to an extent where the pain is non-existent? Or at least where I am not still fixated with my heart? Or is this hoping for too much? Does anyone have any views on the dosage? Also, just what should I expect from taking this drug?

Thanks for any comments! Also if anyone has suffered from similar symptoms as me- I would love to chat with you. Please mail, Yahoo, or MSN me!

Cheers people!
Martin

Hi Martin,

The drug will not stop the anxiety totally, the idea is that it alters your mood thus hopefully keeping you in a non anxious mood.

Do look at our symptoms page and health anxiety pages on the main home page for more info of why you might get that chest pain plus Claire Weekes talks about it.





Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk
You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

Hi Martin,

I have been on Effexor since last August and have found it very helpful in helping me combat my anxiety and depression
with not many side effects. I still get some anxiety symptoms but I am not so fixated on them now and this drug has helped me to get my life back on track but it is not a miracle cure.
Also I wouldn't advise you to suddenly stop taking them as I tried this a few weeks ago and had horrendous withdrawal symptoms - a return of the bad anxiety, agitation, tiredness, sweats and like electric shock sensations through my whole body, needless to say I went straight back on them and was fine once again. I don't want to scare you but get advice from your doctor if you are thinking of coming off it. I think you should give it a bit more time as sometimes it can take a while, everyone is different, I felt better after about 6 weeks but it can take longer. And also some people don't get any withdrawal symptoms at all.

Ps. I am also on 75mg.
Take care
Lisaxx

hi martin, most of us on here know what your going through with the dreaded new medication thing. In my experience of these sort of drugs, it does normally take about 3weeks(at the very least) to start to level out. I know this seems an eternity on them but stick in there and you might find that they do a tremendous amount for your problems. Remember, no medication on this planet completly removes all symptoms of anxiety, otherwise we would all be on the same thing and this place wouldnt exist. Its all about trial and error. With your nerves about your chest/heart pains, try talking to someone, or maybe gentle exercise?
good luck