Is venlafaxine good for reducing anxiety

[Damion123]

I have been on venlafaxine for years then i gave up smoking cannabis and depression hit me with suicidle thoughts and my anxiety has got worse.Ive been off the cannabis for 9 months but still feel depressed and very anxous.I would like to know if the ven will reduce my anxiety because it has been increased to 337mg.

[Pipkin]

Hi Damion,

Ven works really well for my anxiety (I'm on 150mg). I still get anxious moments but, overall, I'm far better than I've ever been.

I do find it works best for the psychological symptoms than the physical ones - I have beta blockers on standby in case they can too bad.

Hope that helps

Pip

[Damion123]

cheers im hoping to feel an improvement after my body is used to the increase,ive also asked for beta blockers but they want me to use all the lorazepam first but im not to keen on taking the lorazepam ill let them know.

Thanks

[nicola1980]

Hi before i started venlafaxine i was in a terrible state anxiety and panic wise, some days i was literally petrified to get out of bed as the anxiety was so bad and if i did id end up being physically sick and retching cause the panic was so bad, i was petrified i was never going to get better as some days the panic paralysed me with sheer terror and i couldn't even leave my house, my psychiatrist then decided to try me on venlafaxine and slowly I've increased my dose from 37.5mg to my current dose of 187.5mg its been a rocky journey and at first my anxiety rocketed due to side effects but slowly i got better, its a very gradual process tho and its not going to happen overnight, you night not even see it yourself its that's slow but stick with it, in my opinion venlafaxine is good but quite a slow acting med so you need to give it time to work but you must also help yourself, make yourself get out of bed, go for small walks etc, believe me i know its hard but the meds only do so much the rest has to come from you, good luck x x

[Damion123]

I do get a scared feeling in the morning when i wake up this was before the increase ive noticed that while on the increase its hard to get out of bed.And i feel anxious and not up to going outside if i have to i feel i cant do it.

I just realized i am on 300mg venlafaxine i got mixed up it was increased 37mg for the first two weeks then another 37mg for another two weeks.