Please Help, Venaflaxine or Seroxat??

[Tabatha]

Hello
I have suffered from Anxiety and OCD for nearly 15 years and I am only 29. My GP finally put me on Escitalopram but it was not helpful. Now on a reducing dose which is making me feel dizzy and lightheaded. My GP told me to think about the next alternative - Venaflaxine or Seroxat. I am really undecided. Seroxat has a reputation for suicidal and self-harming. I used to self-harm until recently with the help of CBT and I dont want to start that again. Venaflaxine I understand is very toxic and terrible when withdrawing.

It sometimes appears that you guys are more informative and helpful than my GP!! Which would you suggest?

Oh by the way I have been referred for MORE CBT - maybe third times a charm should hopefully be correct!!

Take care everyone
Tabatha xx

[soggypops]

Hi
Im so sorry to hear what your going through. Im only 39 and have had OCD , Anxiety and self harm for the past 28 years. It never really goes away to be honest. Ive been on various types of medication from Prozac to Mirtazipine and to be honest none of them have really helped. I currntly take escitalopram ( cipralex) 5mg daily which is not much. Im on my 5th week and i did feel better at first then anxiety crept back up and i feel all jittery and pounding heart again. But im going to stick with it and probably up the doesage.
I did try CBT but i thought it was no good because its all about positive thinking . I would come out of each session thinking that was a waist of time!!
Anyway I have been on Seroxat and they made me very angry so came off them ,but you should try them because it may work for you. Its worth a try. All tablets are toxic if you think about it and if they were dangerous docs woyuldnt be allowed to give them out. So stick with it and give it a go .

This site has some fantastic advice on tablets .

Hope this letter helps and i do wish you all the luck.
Take care
Elly
x

[jo61]

I've been on both. Came off Seroxat no problem 6 years ago. Was put on venlafaxine last year and when I was well and truely hooked a new psychiatrist decided it wasn't doing anything and I needed to come off it. I'm down to a low dose now but am having great difficulty getting off it fully. maybe voice your concerns to your doctor about these two drugs?

[knightbabe]

I'm currently on seroxat. I was originally on 20mg daily but I had bad side effects. Reduced to 10mg. I've been on it 8wks now. I am able to get out and about and have returned to work. I get the odd tremor in my hands but thats all. Also the first couple of wks I had trouble sleeping at night but now I sleep right through. Its really just a case of giving something a try as what might work for one person may not work for another.

[margaret911]

Hi Tabatha
I have tried both venlafaxine and seroxat and i found the seroxat helped me the most, however I have a friend who takes venlafaxine and she is very well so you can never tell as we are all so different. Take care.

love Mags xxx

[fretty freda]

i have been on both of those medications and i would say definately venaflaxine , in my opinion whatever you do DO NOT START TAKING SEROXAT it was an absolute nightmare to come off and i mean NIGHTMARE my legs were auful i couldnt keep them still i felt like they were being pricked all over with a nerve pain ,

i am sorry if this upsets anyone who is taking seroxat if your reading this i suppose everyone will react differently but my personal advice for you is take the venaflaxine

hope you get on ok xxxxxxxxxxx

[Bill]

I tried both of these and just like gill I really suffered as a result so I preferred the other option of learning how to cope without any types of medication and I feel better off for it!

I'm sorry but after trying them all, I really hate the way doctors prescribe these ad's like sweets misleading sufferers into thinking that the "right one" will magically cure them, and all because they haven't enough resources to provide the treatments that Really work.

Sorry but I found medication side-effects just as bad as my anxiety symptoms and even if they aren't actually addictive, a sufferer can still become hooked on them because of the anxiety caused by thinking of coming off and being without them.

I realise we all need something to ease the symptoms but when i felt ill I'd have preferred the occasional sedative for that really bad day.

I'm very sorry but medications and what they do to people just as they have to Tabatha, just really irritates me. Anxiety symptoms replaced and compounded by another lot of symptoms.

I have more faith in your 3rd lot of CBT Tabatha.

[joannap]

hi bill

i do agree with you but its so hard! i came off lustral v slowly from may to october. i was in the middle of a lot of stress - i had helped care for my grandma for 4 years, our dog had pups, i had to rehome my parrot and i started a new job - all of which sent my adrenalin sky high! i look back now and see that i was building up to another mini breakdown. my stress levels were through the roof and yet i never made time to relax etc - just pushed and pushed myself more. i finished my last tablet on holiday and 3 days later ended up at the doctors with the biggest panic attack in my life but i am sure it was not so much the a'd withdrawal but the simple fact my body could not cope anymore and that was the way it was letting me know!

i too have suffered anxiety in retrospect from a child - it did upset me then but i accepted it and so i had good/bad times. its only as an adult that it has freaked me out and got much worse.

anyway - i tried to struggle through but have started taking a'd's again but a big part of me wants to simple try and live with it and slowly get better on my own. adding all the what ifs does not help - what if i need medication, what if i have to come off it some day and i cannot cope etc.

its because we all want that instant fix to make us feel better but i am starting to learn that my lifestyle (which is completely my responsibility) has a big part to play - also my character traits of perfectionism, black/white thinking etc. and so i have started to sit down and relax of an evening, limit my responsibilities to others etc, begun to exercise and improved my diet. its hard to accept that we will always be prone to worry/anxiety - just like some people are prone to other conditions. i suppose the way forward is total acceptance of it and then finding ways to live with it.

[Tabatha]

Thank you everyone but I am still undecided but leaning towards Venaflexine. Have to decide before Friday when I see my GP next. Hope he suggests something which will actually help this time.

Thanks again xx

[fretty freda]

Please Dont Take Seroxat If You Have Any Doubts Trust Me I Have Been Through The Withdrawal When I Came Off Those Horrible Things It Was My Worst Nightmare!!!
And I Also Watched A Documentry Called Secerats Of Seroxatt I Taped It I Will Even Send You The Video If You Like.
I Wish Someone Would Sue Glaxo Smith Klein The Makers Of The Drug For Producing Such Crap

Take Care And Let Me Know If You Want The Video Of The Documentry