Terrified of starting Venlafaxine again!!! Please help!

[SpecialAgentSara]

Hi Lalaa,

Yes those are all very common side effects. However an increase in anxiety is also a side effect for the first few weeks or so and they are also symptoms of anxiety. Either way they will go away so don't worry

I'm on week one of ven and my stomach is so tight is actually hurts. It's really uncomfortable and my muscles feel really worn out all over my whole abdomen. If you look a few posts above SADnomore has a really good tip about how to relax hen by breathing deeply and sighing it out audibly.

It's all normal as far as I can tell. I'm suffering from them all too.

Sara xx

EDIT: SADnomore has also done a great thread about how to deal with different side effects. Give it a read

[Laala]

Thanks so much. I'll try to relax about it all! Know what you mean about the tight stomach. Very odd. Xx

[SpecialAgentSara]

Ok guys. Sorry if this is TMI but I need some advice. The constipation I'm suffering now is terrible!!! It's been about 3 days since I managed to pass anything at all. I'm not in any pain yet, just a little uncomfortable. I go to the loo and try and try but even though it's right there it just doesn't want to come out (TMI, sorry). I've tried prunes and fybogel and spoke to a pharmacist today who suggested dulcolax (bisocodyl). Has anyone else tried this and does it work? I start to get worried about my health if something isn't right. Or should I go back to the doctors tomorrow?

Sara xx

I've also tried pints and pints of water, double the amount I usually drink...nothing...

[Laala]

Hi Sara. Are you eating normally? If you've taken the dulcolax then this will start to work its way through and should help you out tomorrow. Don't worry about your health, it's just another lovely side effect. It'll all come out eventually x

[SpecialAgentSara]

Hi Laala,

Yeah I'm eating normally. I've even increased the amount of fruit I eat in an effort to move things along.

Just taken the dulcolax. If that doesn't work then next stop dynamite XD

Sara xx

[SADnomore]

Lololol!!

Better give the laxatives a chance first! I think Dulcolax are pretty gentle, good luck and just keep up with the package directions. This side effect will pass soon, so no worries about taking them when necessary. I had to use both the gentle laxative and prunes. Magnesium at night (take with vitamin D) helps. You can build up from 100 mg or so. Magnesium glycinate is a good choice, better absorbed.

[nicola1980]

Oh god constipation this is my only long term side effect of the ven, i can go a week without going!! I have to use laxatives or suppositories all the time to help me go it's gets very painful and uncomfortable at times, just be careful with laxatives that are a bowel stimulant tho as they triggered an ibs flare up with me as my bowel was just contracting, i felt like I was in labour again!! My doctor told me to take senna laxatives which are herbal but do work but don't stimulate your bowel, i do need to take 3 of them tho to do the job lol plus Lactulose is good but beware this gives you terrible wind haha but it softens your stools so works a treat after a few days of doses!! Oh the joys!! XX

[Pipkin]

Sara,

I had this too - not much fun and it actually freaked me out because I'm a bit funny about this at the best of times. GP told me to do all the things you're doing (fibre, water etc) which I was already doing. He also recommended senna which was the thing that did the trick. This was just in the first couple of weeks and, since then, no problems at all.

Tbh, we can't win as some ADs have exactly the opposite effect! Stick with what you're doing and it will sort itself out. The problem is that the more anxious you get about it, the worse it gets.

Pip

[Laala]

Hi Sara, how have you been getting on?

All, I have now been on Ven for 3 weeks - 1 wk at 75 and 2 weeks at 150. I still feel rubbish but if I look at how I was then there have been small improvements....less anxiety when I wake up in the morning, I haven't been in tears at all or had any meltdowns (I was having those most days before I finally saw a psych rather than my useless GP and came off Cital), my appetite has got a bit better.

After dealing with failed Citalopram since April, I've now been feeling this way every day for at least 4 months and it feels like an eternity.

I just wondered how long it takes to really start feeling like my old self again?? I know everyone is different but would love to hear experiences.

I've been overly anxious in certain situations all my life and started having panic attacks in a stressful job about 10 years ago...I managed to get over it by moving jobs but then I suffered with PND (mainly panic attacks) after my second child. I managed to 'overcome that' with Citalopram (have no idea if it worked that time either!) and therapy and came off those last Spring, but everything reared it's head again this year after my mum got ill. I really thought I'd never have to go through this again as I was SO enjoying life and I'm petrified of having a 'mental illness' for the rest of my life on and off. Does anyone else worry about that?

I'm just scared that Ven won't work for me and I will never feel normal again. I can't tell if it's anxiety or depression I'm feeling at the moment tbh. Just a general fear that this will never get better. It's so frustrating.

Any advice is much appreciated. I have two kiddies on summer hols at the mo and it's really tough to sit this out and hope it gets better.

L

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi Laala,

Yeah I'm eating normally. I've even increased the amount of fruit I eat in an effort to move things along.

Just taken the dulcolax. If that doesn't work then next stop dynamite XD

Sara xx

When my dad had an operation to remove a growth recently he had constipation. It's common after ops according to the nurse that came out to do the follow up. He suggested clementines and pears. These seemed to do the trick after a few days.

Nuts can be very high in fibre too.

As Marie mentioned you could try magnesium. If you do this you want something like citrate which is a laxative version or oxide which turns to Milk of Magnesia when it hits the water in your stomach. (EDIT: just noticed Marie suggested glycinate.)