How you all doing its getting lonely in here 😉
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How you all doing its getting lonely in here 😉
Evening all. How are things Maca? Congrats on the job Jo, brilliant news. I'm ticking along, going up and up on quetiapine and wondering if it might work sometime :blush:
Yer OK thanks.
Had abit of trouble coming off the last of the Mirt but just stuck at it and its out of my system now. At a point now where I think this is as good as its going to get so can't really complain. Have you seen much improvement DS.
Hi guys, been a bit blippy yet again these last few days but looking at my mood journal it seems the number of good days each month is improving :) here’s hoping Christmas will be a merry one and not a blippy one!
Great to keep a journal, sometimes I look back a read the early entries and its as if someone else has written it.
My view of christmas this year is not expecting too much and looking forward to getting it out of the way.
I've had periods of improvement and then crashes again. Damn those snakes! I'm off mirtazapine and considering weaning off venlafaxine too, but I know it's supposed to be hard to come off so might run that one past the psych. Journals are definitely a helpful way to keep track of things, and I sometimes find it useful to write down things I'm worried about and then put it down. As for Christmas, it's just coming round too soon! Glad you guys are doing ok.
Venlafaxine has a reputation for being very difficult to discontinue. It is usually best to change to a longer half-life AD such as fluoxetine and to wean if that rather than venlafaxine directly. Or, if you want to try another AD to switch to it from venlafaxine. That shouldn't be a problem unless switching to a MAOI which is unlikely (though they often work when other ADs don't).
Thanks PDU. The CPN has warned me off taking myself off ven so I'll wait to see what they suggest.
Main problem is now sleep, I just don't feel rested but I am not tired in the day so must be getting sleep. So I am still getting bad dreams and sometimes wake up sweating if its a bad dream then I have to get up and sit downstairs until I have calmed down. Daytime is better but I only feel relaxed when at work, when im in the house I feel like a cadged animal and cant sit still for long.
Guess you cant have it all perfect.
That's difficult, sleep is so important, but as you say you must be getting some. Is there anything you could do when you're not at work to help with agitation? Walking, swimming, running etc? Might also help with sleep.
Hey all! Hello! Well, I had a really good two weeks, but am currently in a bit of a blip, brought on by work stress/family stuff, I think. Just riding it out as best as I can. I'm still on 75mg XR Venlafaxine, this is 4 months now, just gonna sit here and hope to stabilise a bit. It's tough, coping with anx/dep and trying to navigate life in general. Doing daily meditation to try to lower stress levels. Gonna try to incorporate some daily yoga in the new year.
I find I still have some quite crazy dreams on the Ven, Macca. Does this ever let up, do you think?
I would like to say yes it does but for me sleep is an issue at the moment but remember I am on Max dose of Ven and only recently came off Mirtazapine so that is a factor. Problem with the nasty dreams is that I dont come out of them like I used to they last ages or seem to so woke up in a sweat the other night after a bad one.
I think it will let up, I just need to give it time.
I hope your all ok.
Wishing you all a restful Christmas and that the new year brings peace.
Same to you Maca and I hope everyone is doing well and that next year is a better one than 2019!
Merry Christmas to you all. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2020 x
Happy New Year Macca !
Yey, same to you lets hope we have a better year.
Still plodding along and have GP appointment Tuesday so I will suggest we stay on same dose. Mirtatazpine has now been out of my system for about a month with no major problems but it has affected my sleep so might be worth asking if 15mg at night be an option.
Hope we are all doing ok.
Very quiet here so I hope that this is due to you all feeling a little better. Everything is as stable as its going to get so I am able to function and although anxiety is in the background I can shrug it off much easier. Looking forward to spring so I can get out in the garden. Work has been a life saver for me I dont think I have ever looked forward to going to work in my life.
Hope to hear your all doing ok.
Hey Macca, yes , doing okay. Finally after nearly 6 months on the Venlafaxine, am stable. Minimal anxiety. Life is good! How are you?
Same as really, stable or as stable as its going to get. Ven has worked well for me but like you say its taken a while. Good to hear your feeling better.
Had my monthly phone appointment with my GP and we both agreed to go from 225mg Ven to 300mg. Will see how it goes but my gp has been brilliant over the last 8mths, she always makes me feel like im in the drivers seat and never lectures me which helps me relax.
She is looking to refer me if the self harming and ocd gets worse so hope it doesn't come to that as im not keen.
Good luck with the increase, hope it gets you where you need to be. Personally I found the jump to 300 not too bad, easier than the jump to 225. :)
How’s it going Maca? Any better?
Hey Jo
Its been a week now on 300mg so still early days but have the feeling of being spaced out a little like I did when I first started. Sleep is much better and the enjoyment of pottering in the garden has returned so thats nice.
You doing OK ?
That’s a good sign! I’m still not great, I don’t think going back up to 337.5 has helped, my OCD thoughts and anxiety are still hanging on 5 weeks in. Spoke to the psychiatrist and she wants me to try increasing the quetiapine up to 300mg, then if that doesn’t help the next step will be to come off venlafaxine and try something else, citalopram, fluoxetine or vortioxetine :wacko:
God when does it end, it must be frustrating having to change meds as your kind back to square one. Lets hope you wont need to change.
I really hope not! I really noticed an initial improvement when I started the quetiapine back in November but was so concerned about the amount of weight I was putting on I didn’t want to go any higher. Now I really don’t care, I just want to feel normal again, i’d rather be fat and happy than skinny and miserable! I can work on the weight problem later. I’m starting to look like a weeble but hey! Who cares?
Well if you Wobble you wont fall over so theres always a positive.
(You have to be a certain age to get that)
Just a quick update re Ven increase to 300mg, one month on.
Going well so far has kicked in over the last week or so and has made me feel quite well. Enjoyment of gardening has returned so have been working on some garden projects but have broken all heavy work into small chunks which has worked well. Now going to bed thinking about what im doing tomorrow rather than thinking how bad tomorrow might be. So far so good.
Lets hope so 👍
Hi
I am new to all this and this is my first post. Started Ven 6 weeks ago (75 mg) then 1 week ago raised dose to 150. Still experiencing really bad anxiety and wondering if this ever gets better. Would have hoped to see some improvement but it seems to getting worse not better. Also on Mirtazapene 30 mg.
Has anybody out there got some positive feedback.
:welcome: to NMP,
Unfortunately, antidepressants (ADs) often increase anxiety at the beginning and for a while following dose increases. It is caused by the increased serotonin activity, however, after a couple of week the brain and body responds to this by down-regulating serotonin synthesis and expression and this and other side-effects usually begin to diminish.
ADs typically begin to kick-in at between 5-12 weeks. Antidepressants have no direct effect on anxiety, or depression in the way say aspirin has on a headache. They work by stimulating the growth of new brain cells (neurogenesis) to replace cells killed, or prevented from growing by high brain stress hormone levels. The therapeutic response is produced by these new cells and the stronger interconnections they forge, not the meds directly, and they take time to bud, grow and mature, about 7 weeks although improvement may begin a little sooner. For a more detailed explanations see: Depression and the Birth and Death of Brain Cells (PDF) and How antidepressant drugs act.
Thanks for the reply. It's good to know others have been on the same journey. The way this has made me feel makes me want to stop taking it, but I think that would be a mistake. The anxiety is awful and constant throughout the day and the dizziness and light headedness is so debilitating. I will read the links you sent.
Thanks again
While the initial AD side-effects can be difficult the results are usually worth the trauma. As it's been a week since you increased the dose the side-effects are likely to begin diminishing soon.
The dizziness and light-headedness are mostly being driven by the anxiety spike. Talk to your GP about this and ask for something to reduce the heightened anxiety.Quote:
The anxiety is awful and constant throughout the day and the dizziness and light headedness is so debilitating.
It can get better just read the start of my Ven journey at the start of this post. Look forward more as it takes time to work well and you might have to adjust dose as I have but I know now to give each change 12 weeks or so before you decide if its working for you or not.
It has really worked well for me, nothing is perfect but I am happy with the results.
Thanks Macca & Panic down under for your replies. I do need plenty of re-assurance as up to now nothing has really helped with my anxiety. I have tried busperon, risperadone, clonazepam in the past which didn't work and am currently on quitiapine, mirtazapine, propranolol and 9mg of diazepam. Since starting the ven (75mg) 5 weeks ago the initial side effects (increased anxiety, burning sensation in arms, blurred vision ) never really went away and now with the increase to 150 it's just added to it. The level of anxiety, particularly in the mornings is unbearable and I get really agitated. It does seem to calm down later in the day but then I know it will be back the morning after, so just start to worry again. Its relentless. I agree the dizziness and light headedness is probably a result of the anxiety and one is driving the other. I just want this to go away and be normal.
Thanks again for your advice, it does help. Keep well.
I'd get a second opinion of these and the venlafaxine as you seem to be taking a lot of meds, two of which, quetiapine and mirtazapine, do basically the same thing, for little response. Just throwing more and more meds at a problem in the hope something sticks rarely works out ime, plus it becomes hard to know which is causing what.