Venlafaxine Experience (I'm sorry it's a bit long!)

[WaitingForTheSun]

Hey,

I was just looking for somewhere to write about what's going on with me and Venlafaxine as none of my friends really understand what being on anti depressants means and I don't have any support from my family at home. I'm 21 and living back home with my parents after finishing uni. So I've been having to take them sort of secretly because when my parents found out I was on Fluoxetine in 2005 they got pretty mad and unsupportive about it. Basically they think I'm fine. When really I'm now on my 5th type of meds, been through CBT, Counselling (email/face2face), Psychothrapy etc and been pretty much depressed and suicidal all through A Levels and Uni (Amazingly managing to graduate with a degree in youth work somehow).

Anyway, I was put on Venlafaxine about 2 months ago after coming down off 150mg Amitriptyline. Starting on 37.5mg and now up to 75mg for the last month. I was due to see my doc again a week ago on Friday but had to go to an interview far away so couldnt make it. Earliest appointment was for this Monday coming. I had enough prescription to last me till this Thursday but not through till Monday (which I didnt realise till Wednesday!). I know that when I see the doc on Mon she's probably going to increase the meds again or even try me on something else, because I've had no positive effects at all. In fact have felt more suicidal and down than usual, along with the side effects it's not been fun!
Prescriptions are so crazilly expensive and being an unemployed graduate with no chance of getting my parents to pay for the meds I couldn't afford to go pick up another prescription, pay the £7.20 for a month of pills and have the pretty sure risk that I might not be using them come Monday.

So I took none on Wednesday, one 75mg on Thurs and none on Friday. Seriously didnt realise the side effects would be this bad! Even after reading about everyone else! The thing I've most had that is driving me crazy can only be what people describe as the 'brain zaps'. They come on really sudden and make me shiver all over, which is very very difficult to hide believe me, especially as this evening I got them in the middle of Tesco with my dad! They're totally disorientating and make me just want to close my eyes, curl in a ball and cry (I am really not a crying person so this is very odd for me too!). Have had to decide to take my final 75mg about 20mins ago and the 'zaps' seem to have started to lessen which I guess is a good thing so maybe I'll manage through till Monday 5pm till I can find out what 'all powerful doc' wants to do with me next!

I'm pretty sick of the way they just experiment with meds all the time, never give you even a run down of the side effects or (especially with this one and Amitriptyline) tell you how hard it is to come off them/miss a dose. I've really struggled to connect with counsellors in the past because I find it near impossible to vocalise what's going on, writing is different. But I really think that it'd help this time though no matter what I say to the doc she just ignores it!
I'm also heading off to rural Kenya for a year in Jan so really need to be at least stable on a med or ideally see how I am off them totally for a while as I'm going to find it hard to get hold of them out there.

Basically it's all going a bit haywire and I needed to at least write it down somewhere, even if no one reads or replies. Not having anyone to really talk about this is so difficult, my friends really care and want to do whatever they can to support me but there's only so much I can expect my also only 21yr old mates to deal with or understand.

Thanks to anyone who has read this far, I'm sorry for the ramble!

[BexieB]

Hi Waitingforthesun (love the name)

Welcome to NMP, you really are having it tough at the moment you poor love. I really feel for you not being able to speak to your parents, they sound like the 'pull yourself together' types. Sorry to hear how hard you're finding it finding the right meds. It really is a hit and miss affair. But 5 different meds in the last 5 years? I wonder if you're giving each one enough time. I've been on two different meds, Seroxat worked well but Lexapro took ages to take effect, it was about 3 months before i was back to myself. You really can't bale too early on these meds and once they are working you really have to stay on them for a considerable lenght of time.

I found this out recently. I was on Lexapro for about 11months, came off them, 3 months later back at square one. Trying to ride it out without the meds (dread the start up side effects), but if i go back on them, it'll be for years not months. ADs are designed for this type of long term use. How did you get on with the Prozac? This med seems to get quite good press.

Whatever you decide to do, stick with it. I know how hard it is, we want relief asap.

I also know how difficult it is not having anyone to speak to. It was like that for me when i was your age. Parents just didn't understand. I didn't need them to understand i just needed them to be supportive when i looked for help. I know they were concerned, but this only resulted in them being stressed, not in any constructive support for me. I found their stress just compounded mine, so i stopped looking for their help. Today i have a great partner who understands and supports.

let us know how u get on with the doc.

Hoping you find some peace and happiness
Bexie

[sandi pawsey]

re venlafaxine experience i have suffered from anxiety and depression ffor some 20-25 years have been taking mirtazapin and now psyciatrist has introduced venlafaxine and i feel no better which is quite concerning, i have tried exercise, therapy, cbt, etc, you name it ive tried it. went to see hypno therapist last week booked three sessions, no positives from the first one but holding on. My main problem seems to be guilt which i know is all part of depression buy what then. I wwill keep in touch re next hypno session. Be kind to yourself.hugs sandi

[WaitingForTheSun]

Thanks Bexie,
I've been on all of the meds for at least 6 months each but had either absolutly no effects at all or only side effects or felt worse.
Been on
Prozac/Fluoxetine - 1 yr no effects
Citalopram - 8 months made me feel really sick everytime I took it, nothing else.
Mirtazapine - 6 months nothing but weight gain
Amitriptyline - 9 months all it's usual side effects but with little bonus of being able to sleep (all day and night!)
and now Ventafaxine, it's only been 2 months so I'm likely to find the doc increasing it this time but it's been making me feel so much worse over time and no improvement at all, especially sleeping.

I will literally try anything to ease this darkness and am willing to give everything a real chance even if it takes time to work. Having depression for over 8 years tends to give you an understanding of the passage of time...what's 6months in the scale of things eh?!

Hope you are doing ok and having a good weekend!

[WaitingForTheSun]

Hope the Hypnotherapy goes well Sandi! :-)

[BexieB]

Hi waiting

Just wondering, did your problems start around the time you started your periods? I had my first anx / depression about a year after my period first started. I remember keeping a diary (popular in the olden days) when i looked back on it my symptoms always emerged / worsened 1 -2 weeks before my period. High dose vitamin B6 really helped then.

I'm thinking of having hormones tested, though i'm not sure what the treatment is if there is an imbalance.

Do you attend a GP or Psych? I think you should seek out a doc who specialises in depressive disorders.

Hope you feel well soon

[Louise2009]

Hi waiting,

Just wondering how you are and if you are feeling any better?

Hope all ok.

Louise

[WaitingForTheSun]

Hey,
I'm not sure if things started to get bad around the start of periods, I'm pretty sure that the depression was around before then though.

Went to the doc last night and we had quite a long chat about things and how the Venlafaxine was making me feel worse. She thinks that since I've now tried at least one of every type of A/D that perhaps it's more of what she called a 'personality disorder'. Which at first I was a little offended by as you can imagine ;-) but she explained that if it was a 'depressive illness' then it should have responded in some way to at least one of the drugs they've tried me on. So perhaps it's more to do with how my personality deals with the things that have happened in the past and that happen now. Does that make any sense? Maybe for example if someone is an axious person by nature then that's not neccessarilly a problem but if it starts to take over their life and interfeers with decisions, work etc then it's a part of their personality that's not quite working right...So maybe something similar to CBT might help. At least I think that's what she was getting on at anyway!

So we've decided to come off the Venlafaxine and to sign me up for an online kind of CBT called 'beating the blues' that's funded by the nhs. She was going to refer me on to a clinic that treats these 'personality things' but it takes a really long time to get an appointment and to go through the treatment. Since I'm hoping to go to Kenya in Jan (Got my placement confirmed today, just have to raise the money now.), It probably isn't practical to go for the clinic option right now. She did tell me that my last GP had refererred me to this clinic in 2005 but they had not even responded. Makes me think that if they had maybe things would be better by now! NHS eh?! Doc reckons that going out to Kenya 'could do me the world of good anyway' and that being busy volunteering etc will take my mind of things.

So back to the good old venlafaxine story! Turns out it was a good idea not to get the new script of 75mg in the end anyway. She's given me a whole load of 37.5mg to taper off and then to come back to see her in a couple of weeks. I've not taken any since I mentioned here, Saturday around 6pm, decided I'd try and tough it out and see how it goes. Technically it should be well on the way to being out of my system (72hrs through now) and I'd only been on it for 2 months. The only main problem that I'm having is still the brain zapping effect. If I move my eyes too quick I get a 'Zzzt' to my head and then a dizzy spell for a min or so. It's also worse when there's a lot of stimuli, people moving around, bright lights etc so being in tesco again today was fun! Mum asked what was wrong, I just said I felt a bit dizzy and she blames it on the fact that I gave blood on Friday....clueless!

It's not fun at all and makes me want to go hide in a dark room and just stare at my hand till this all stops but unfortunately that's not possible. I have my driving test in a couple of weeks and so the intensity of lessons have stepped up. Monday's was interesting to say the least, having to move my eyes all over the place and concentrate through the zapping while remaining perfectly normal to the instructor was a task and a half! I may have to take a 37.5mg before my lesson on Thurs afternoon but I don't really want to because then it's back in the system and I kind of have to start again. What do you think? Does anyone know about how long the withdrawal can last? I know cold turkey isn't recomended and I also wouldn't say it's a good idea really either, even though I know that I'm not actually suicidal these days the thoughts are pretty regular and I've not self harmed for months but that thought is constant, along with thinking of the nice new pack of 37.5 pills I have, just taking one would make this go away for a while but I'm going to try and tough it out. I'll let you know how it's going!

How are you all? Hope everything's alright with you.

[Louise2009]

Hi Waiting,

Sounds like you have got a hectic time coming up with your driving test etc. I admire you doing all this at the same time as coming off of your tablets! I know you have sort of just stopped taking the tablets but did your Doctor advise you about how to taper off them slowly?.. I would be interested to know what she advised.

I too have been prescribed Venlafaxine after having a very bad reaction to Cipralex. I'm so terrifed of starting the Venlafaxine. I am wondering if I could just take one 37.5mg table a day and whether that would work. Did you find that one would have an effect? What sort of side effects did you have on them? ......... sorry for all the questions!

Thats great news about Kenya. Very exciting for you!

Louise.

[WaitingForTheSun]

Hey Louise,
Yeah the doctor did advise me to taper off slowly. That's because the withdrawal effects are a little interesting, as I'm sure you've been reading!
My story of venlafaxine started with coming off Amitriptyline. I was on 150mg of Ami at night, I cut it down to 75 for a week, then to 25 for another week combined with one 37.5mg of Venlafaxine (normal release), then just the 37.5 for another week. Then I went back to the doc and she put me on the one 75mg XR tablet at night. I was on that for a month but ran out before I went back to see her on Monday, so I'd not had any to take since Saturday night.
She didnt notice this and so suggested I taper off by
Monday: 2 x 37.5mg
Tuesday: 2 x 37.5mg
Wednesday: 1 x 37.5mg
then see how it goes for a week or so then maybe go down to one every other day, they every 3 etc.

But since it was already 2 days since I'd taken any I thought I'd see how it goes to wait out the withdrawal effects cold turkey and see if I could get off it a bit quicker. I've done similar with Fluoxetine, Citalopram and Mirtazapine by just coming off them and had no problems. Though I'd had pretty much no effect at all from them good or bad!
Amitriptyline was a little different since it had been really good at helping me sleep (being a sedative it would be!) but no other effects on the depression. So I really struggled to sleep when coming off it and had sort of flu like symptoms while I was tapering off it. But that's gone away now.

In terms of side effects of the Venlafaxine I didn't do too badly compared to what others seem to have experienced on here. Just a dry mouth for a couple of weeks, felt sick for an hour or so after taking them (but taking them before bed helped that, since I was asleep!), It also made me want to eat all of the time so I did put on a bit of weight but am hoping I'll lose that now. I think that it's made me sweat a lot more but Amitriptyline did that too so not really noticed that much. My concentration was pretty rubbish on it though but that could have been from the depression anyway. I didn't actually get any positive effects from it at all and that's why the doc took me off it now and said all the stuff about personality disorders etc.

What have you been prescribed? Usually the doc starts you off slowly to see how you react to them and that should help make sure that they're not going to mess with your system too much (of course they do a bit - all anti depressants do). To be honest reading all of the horror stories on here isn't going to help your fears over taking it. Or any of the other message boards about it either, I've noticed that people only want to talk about a medication if it's been dreadful, that's usually why they seek out a board to write it on. Only if someone's been using an online community regularly before they went on it are they likely to talk about it being any good...why would someone randomly go online to tell people that they're feeling better after taking a medication? They're far too busy getting on with enjoying their lives to take time to write about it online! But I do totally understand your fear of it though, I felt the same. Though really you're not going to know what'll happen until you brave it and see. Don't be surprised if you do feel some of the side effects that you've read about because sometimes just a tiny little dizziness from standing up too quick can be transformed into a side effect that you feel every time, because your brain is so hyper-sensitive to figuring out the side effects you're going to have. Does that make any sense? The docs do seem a bit cavalier about prescribing anti-depressants but they really just don't know what is going to make things better so it's trial and error for the both of us. They do really have your best interests at heart they'd much rather you stable and happy than having to come back to see them every week for a medication review!

Hope that makes some sense, feel free to throw questions at me I really don't mind!
Let me know how things go, Take care