Venlafaxine - How does it make you feel??

[Knowlesi]

Hi everyone,

I've been on Venlafaxine for almost 7 weeks now and have been considering the impact this medication has had on me. As some of you may be aware I came to Ven from Mirtazapine which at the time I felt wasn't working for me.

I suppose the thinking behind this post is to try to understand how people feel on this medication. Being new to taking anti depressants I naively thought that taking a tablet would (over time) get me back to my old self and I would then carry on as normal.

Unfortunately that isn't the case and I'm only now realising this. It is approx 6 months since this all began and reflecting back I don't really feel as though I have made that much progress; I still suffer from really bad exhaustion, I'm struggling with my appetite again, I feel sick all the time and I'm becoming almost obsessed again with my weight as I'm paranoid it is related to something more sinister.

I am the first to admit that I probably over analyse everything but I'm really struggling to put the picture together at the moment and see the good in which this med is doing. I increased to 150mg 3 weeks ago and other than increase my anx and everything else mentioned above I just do not know what to do or where to turn.

I feel as though I'm wishing my life away, I can't plan for the future as I don't see one (concerns over health - not doing anything daft) and I've genuinely forgotten what it feels like to feel 'normal'.

Can anyone else relate to what I am saying with regards to the tiredness/nausea/increased anx etc?? I'm really struggling, I feel really isolated at the moment. I've even considered stopping taking tablets entirely to see if I can get the control back myself.

I'm very confused any insights/ thoughts etc would be very helpful.

Thanks for reading,

K

[madhead]

Hi

I've been on ven for 3 weeks now before that i was on lexapro which had stopped working. I have just been to the docs and i have decided to come off the ven 75mg they make me very tired and make me feel like i'm someone else?!?!?!! I am struggling to sleep unless i have a glass of wine and when i do sleep i am dreaming and grinding my teeth and can't seem to wake up in a morning. I also suffer with nausea.
I know what you mean about stopping the tabs and getting control back thats what i've done this morning my doc gave me 37.5 tabs to take morning and night for 2 weeks then 1 a day for 2 weeks then every other day, hopefully the side effects will be ok. dreading it to be honest after what i've read.
Are you still feeling the same?

M

[Knowlesi]

Hi Madhead, it's nice to get a response :)

Yeah, I'm still feeling off but not as bad as I was a week or so ago. My anxiety has subsided slightly but I still get bad sweats and my appetite is not as healthy as I would like. This in turn as I mentioned previously has affected my weight, but I'm fighting it and hoping it should sort itself out soon.

For me it is the overall tiredness that is getting me down but I don't think that is the medication, although I too struggle with sleep which doesn't help.

Let me know how you get on with the tapering down as I've also heard this med is a nightmare to get off - I'm sure you will be fine though hopefully the short period of time it has been in your system will make it easier to stop.

I've an appointment with the dr tomorrow so will address my concerns with him then.

Thanks again and good luck.