Effexor (Venlafaxine)

Hi,

I am on day three of this medication. I am aware there are some it doesn't help (and that is the way of medications); also some people dislike it intensly and it is difficult to wean off.

For me, after four years of taking (more than) several for anxiety and depression (I have PTSD) I am trying to be optomistic about this one as it is crucial my mood improves. Some of the meds I have taken were brilliant. One in particular I'd rate as 100% for anxiety but 1% for mood. For this reason (with all the "stuff" going on in my life) I have been assertive with my therapists (psychologist and psychiatrist) and asked for an effective, enduring, high probability of a good outcome med.

Effexor was offered to me thus as a kind of last resort and I'm looking for positive feedback about Effexor from my peers. Are there any pro-Effexor peers here? I'd love to hear particularly about mood brightening successes (if any) :- (

regards

Antipodes

Hi Antipodes

I'm on Effexor and have been for about 7 months now. Like you I have been through all the others, some good for depression and not anxiety and some the other way round.

Got to admit amongst all the bad press, this is the best one I have been on and has worked for both, I feel a lot like myself these days.

Hope this helps



MANDIE XX

Will I ever escape this?
Will I ever be free?
Wake me up from this nightmare.
Please just give me the key!

Thanks for this pinscrumpy.

I've started on 75mg XR and ramp up to 150mg on day eight. I should have said this in my post. I am windering how long it takes to achieve a therapeutic effect. I know the documentation says a month or more but my psychiatrist told me "much less than that". I figure the month + is conservative as it may take that long for some. How long did it take you (and/or others) to notice an improvement?

Antipodes

I'm on 75mg and that has been enough for me.

It was not as long as a month that I started reaping the benefits, my doc said a month aswell.

If I remember it was quite quick that I started to feel a little better.

MANDIE XX

Will I ever escape this?
Will I ever be free?
Wake me up from this nightmare.
Please just give me the key!

hiya,
just to add to the positive posts.. i am on my 6th month of taking 75mg of efexor xl and am almost back to my normal self. i still have a long way to go in terms of what i have learned during this time and putting it into practice but my anxiety is way down and I am able to enjoy life again.
I started noticing the effects even after a week, only slightly but as my main problem was anxiety it was easy to see i wasn't nearly as anxious as I was. Just building on confidence now.
good luck with it, i hope it works for you too.. Are you getting some form of counselling too as you really need this along side the meds?
take care,
lisa
xxx

"do not fear to hope...Each time we smell the autumn's dying scent, we know that primrose time will come again"

Thanks,

Anxiety was my main problem and it was beutifully controlled with moclobemide (Aurorix). But it did nothing for mood. I stopped taking moclobemide and requested something that would work on mood aswell as anxiety (I'm a PTSD-er). I'm into day 5 of Effexor now and mood has got much much worse. I'm worried and have alerted my psychologist and psychiatrist (waiting for return calls).

Yes I've had regular sessions with both disciplines for over four years. I did switch from private to public for psychiatrist as GBP80 (equivalent) per hour was too costly. Now I see the public guy (a world renowned expert) for free. I still see my psychologist (private) and he calls me every day.

As I write this I don't know if the Effexor is making me worse or whether my mind is making me worse and the Effexor hasn't kicked in yet. It's very unpleasant and scary :- (.

Thanks again

Antipodes

It can accentuate issues whilst you're settling on it . May get worse before it gets better for a few days

This is fairly normal- give it 3 weeks or so to know


Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?