225 mg Venlafaxine

[Hemps]

Hi I haven't posted for a while. I am currently on 225 mg of Venlafaxine which I have been on for about 6 months. I am finding that I can now have some really good days of very little anxiety and then other days feel really horrible, especially at weekends when my family is around.

I am wondering if this is still part of the recovery process or maybe a need to go onto a higher dosage. I am sick of struggling.

My physiastrist has discharged me but said I could go up to 300 mg I felt too stressed again, but the thought really freaks me out as last time I only increased up by 37.5mg it was hell on earth.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice?

[SADnomore]

Hiya, Paula!

I was also told to go ahead and increase as the need arose, too. With winter depression it is usual for people to need an increase during the months with least daylight mid-winter. I was nervous too, but I was becoming a little less functional as the winter wore on. I followed the ven posts on here, and there was at least one person on here on 300 mg, who seemed to be happy with it. Anyway, I ended up taking it for several weeks and was okay. If I remember correctly, when I moved up from 225, I spent a month on an added 37.5 mg only, so 262.5 mg. Just to be on the safe side. That was probably the slowest titration I have done. I honestly find that the side effects are never what they were at start up, although the brain "tingles" were a bit off-putting when I had those for a couple of days. Nothing like a brain zap, more like just feeling a bit of energy happening in part of my brain. I figured it was to be expected, after all, that's the point, lol! The nausea was transient and even though I wasn't hungry I would have some ginger biscuits and tea, or crackers and ginger ale or something, and do regular snacks for a few days. The headaches were more problematic. It was actually while decreasing in May/June that I had migraines. I went into Emerg and got them treated a couple of times. I suppose I had maybe three bad ones inside of 6 weeks, then, *poof*, no more since!

Anyway, that would be my advice, to take it really slowly ... Are you on extended release, or the tablets? I asked at our drugstore, but they don't get in the tablets, as I had thought about just splitting one in half for a couple of weeks ...
Marie xx

[Hemps]

Hi Marie, thanks for your reply. So you are on 300 mg now? Do you notice it has helped much? I think if I did increase I would only go by 37.5 mg at a time.

Its so hard to know what to do. Some days I feel good, other days I fee. semi-okay and just try not let the anxiety take over, and other days just can't cope. Those days don't happen so much now though. But I constantly live with the fear that things will get out of control again.

I think next time I am at my GP I will talk to him about it. I am a little worried as I have heard the venlafaxine can increase your blood pressure and I have just been told I have to decrease it as it is high. can't win lol

I am on the extended release capsules.

Paula

[SADnomore]

I am not on 300 mg again yet, that will probably be my maximum dose for mid-winter. What I found was that at that level it helped enormously in avoiding negative thinking, made it much easier to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and gave me the energy to keep on going. I can't say as I felt particularly happy or zen, but it was finally possible to ignore the thoughts that would derail me, and instead to get on with what needed doing. Huge!

The winter before that, until I got onto the ven, I was in tears daily, so depressed that it hurt to breathe! I would push away the negative and anxious thoughts only to have them return again and again. Doom and gloom, living in fear of the future and regret of the past. I avoided going out, ate like crap, and my sleep was all over the map. I became non-functional, and that's when I went to see the doctor again. I'm glad I did, and I'm so glad he put me on ven, it really is a good med, it needs a little adjusting now and again, but don't they all?

I am now starting my slow increase, as the days get shorter again. I go up by 37.5 each time as well. I think I will allow 3 weeks to a month for each small increase to take effect before moving on to the next, so as to minimize side effects. I just now started 150, but I am thinking I will go back to 112 until the end of the month, give it a little more time again.

I kind of wish we had the tablets here, so I could split the small ones and take those two weeks at a time, but all we get is the capsules. On the other hand, the extended release are the best for a variety of reasons, so I will just take it slow and be patient. You too, yes?!
Oh, and my blood pressure went up too, but this is a side effect and it normalized again after awhile. I didn't find that it went up more with the higher dosage. You and your doctor can keep an eye on it and if it goes on too long, he may prescribe something temporarily to see if it helps. Is it propranolol that a lot of folks on here take? If you normally have had high blood pressure, then your doc may be more concerned, but mine was not in the least bothered by it, so I think he knew it wouldn't continue.

Good luck with whatever you decide, keep us posted!
Marie xx