lowering my dose due to night sweats & vivid dreams

[nicola1980]

Thanks Mr Andy that's reassuring to know XX

[pulisa]

Sometimes lower doses work better but the psychs don't seem to get this-they just up the doses and don't think about/know about potential side effects. I'll be very interested to know how you get on, Nicola and I do think that you are doing the best thing to protect your health xx

[MrAndy]

I agree I think the high doses they dish out are looking for a quick fix and ridiculous ,I was lucky in the end and had a good consultant that only ever kept me on a low dose of meds

[pulisa]

I think that having a decent and knowledgeable consultant is absolutely essential when it comes to prescribing and monitoring these meds. Time should be spent actually listening to patients as opposed to totting up the scores on questionnaires.

[Michelle1]

Hi Nic
I totally agree with Pulisa and Mr Andy. High doses are not always best especially if you are experiencing unacceptable side effects as a result. When I was on 150 (my highest dose of ven) I too experienced the nightly cold sweats also had no motivation and put on loads of weight, it also affected my blood pressure and colesterol.

Hopefully reducing will reduce your side effects of the ven, you shouldn't notice many side effects reducing from 187.5 to 150, the worst of the withdrawl effects are reducing from 37.5 to zero and must be done very slowly.

I'm off ven now (been off since end July), I really hope you feel better soon and will keep checking in to see how your doing. Personally I always felt better on a low dose of ven 37.5 to 75 max. When I first took ven about 14 years ago 37.5 mgs was the standard starting dose and 75mg was classed as a mid-high range. Also only pdocs could prescribe it, gps were not allowed. It always shocks me how many people now start on 75 mgs and increase again only a few weeks later, scary as it is such a strong powerful drug.

I think your doing the right thing in trying to reduce and know that you will do this slowly and with the support of your doctors.

Really hope it all goes smoothly for you.
Xx

[pulisa]

Good to hear that you are off ven and doing well, Michelle. I also don't think that GPs should have a free range with prescribing these drugs especially when they are unable to monitor them appropriately. It's shocking to read how freely they are administered and increased.

[MrAndy]

I had some terrible care when I was first becoming ill,shocking in fact
Then after I was released from hospital I was refered to a psychiatric surgery where you were only dealt with by experienced mental health doctors and nurses.it was a godsend and put me on the path to recovery,why they don't have more of these in the UK is anybody's guess
In the main GPs don't have the experience or time to deal with mental health issues

[nicola1980]

Hi Michelle, it's lovely to hear from you, how are you? So your off the ven then that's brilliant XX
Thankyou everyone for all your support it really means alot, I've managed to work myself up into a bit of a0state about reducing, looking for withdrawal etc, I think I'm just so scared to go back to that dark place I was in. Unfortunately my physc is absolutely rubbish so has no idea I'm reducing myself, I've no faith in her at all anymore, she's very old school and has to look in her bnf or whatever it is whenever I ask med related questions, my doctor is super supportive tho but gap admitted he doesn't know much about ven but I think I'm going to go and see him just so he's aware what I'm doing. I've got an awful cold coming so that doesn't help but you guys are amazing thankyou XX

[pulisa]

You know who you trust amongst the professionals you see. Having zero confidence in the psych is something I can well relate to. It's so bad when it comes to this and we shouldn't just have to put up with a shoddy service when such powerful drugs are involved. Finding the right support network is crucial as Mr Andy says.

I think it's a good idea to let your GP know especially as he's supportive. I can understand you being very frightened of withdrawal but I still say the hardest bit is the withdrawal from the lowest doses and you may decide that you feel better on a small to medium dose.

Anyway, that makes 2 people who have withdrawn completely from ven and lived to tell the tale!

[nicola1980]

Thanks Pulisa, I've had a few tears today but I think part of that is exhaustion too as the sweats and the dreams are waking me all the time and I've not had a solid nights sleep for months now, I'm feeling much more confident tonight tho, i don't expect it to be plain sailing but it's just the fear of the unknown but the positivity on here has helped tremendously XX