venlafaxine,have you been on it ever???????

[petepie]

im going on venlafaxine this week,have any of yous been on it before?whats your verdict?its to help my depression and severe anxiety which is destroying my life at the moment:shrug:

---------- Post added at 17:25 ---------- Previous post was at 17:24 ----------

help me please:hugs:

[lleksam]

I've taken it for almost 9 years now.

It can be very effective in treating both but for me it does nothing for my anxiety and very little for depression, I do take a very low dosage tho.

Like all meds it helps some people a lot and other not at all.

best of luck

---------- Post added at 19:48 ---------- Previous post was at 19:46 ----------

Yes, stopping it can be a nightmare.

Best thing to do is very slowly tapper down, do not cold turkey! I ended up in the hospital when I did that.

[Carys]

I was put on a very high dose of venlafaxine (Effexor brand at the time) 13 years ago. The medics tried a number of other drug treatments first, and effexor, I believe, got me out of a catastrophic episode of anxiety, depression and hormonal psychosis after giving birth.

I no longer need to be taking any venlafaxine, and am on a tiny dose, only a 1/6th of what I was originally on daily. However, the side effects from withdrawl are dreadful.....I have reduced to this level...but at the moment seem to be unable to get further despite advice from my GP. I have tried slowly tapering off for months and infact years lol, but I have reached a plateau for the last 2 years. I don't want to describe all the side effects, but the most disconcerting one is electric shock type sensations down one side of my body that get worse and worse by the 1/2 hour if a dose is missed. I have also since had to swap to generic venlafaxine, as Effexor stopped making the type that I was taking, but I have found no difference in taking different brands, I believe the formulation is identical (?!)

Forgot to add - I personally tolerated the medication really well. I had no side effects at all when starting it, and the only problems have been the withdrawl issues. (quite helpful if you easily forget taking tablets, as you don't need a reminder, my body tells me if I have missed a dose lol) You are meant to have blood pressure checks and cholesterol checks as part of your periodic review of venlafaxine. I didn't know this until this year when an enthusiastic locum doctor decided to be professional, fortunately all was well.

[petram]

i started 3 days ago on 37.5 mg s hun very low dose , have u started urs yet?? let me know how u get on? xx

[gwtitus]

After trying several different anti-depressants with limited success my GP prescribed Venlafaxine to help me combat anxiety & depression. I ended up on 150mg a day and I found that they did help with both my anxiety and depression. In conjunction with counselling - this medication got me to a stage where I could function on a day to day basis and start the long fight to get well.

About 2 years down the line and I am now medication free and feeling more positive than i have for a long time. I still get anxious but I deal with it so much better now. :)

[robinbrum]

Venlaflaxine did nothing for me except make me want to sleep all day.
I hope you fare better with it like many others here seem to.