can you tell me more about venlafaxine and solian?

[lotus]

I saw a new psychiatrist today and he recommended I try Venlafaxine and Solian. My problems are depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and some obsessive thoughts.

Is this a normal combination of drugs? I know Solian is used for treating schizophrenia, and I can't say I'm willing to take it.

Another doctor that I saw a couple of days ago recommended Cipralex and Fluanxol. I don't know what to do.

[Dahlia]

Hi

Venlafaxine is certainly one of the meds used for depression and anxiety. Some people on here have had good results with it. Again, some people have had good results with Cipralex. Venlafaxine works on more neurotransmitters than Cipralex, and is often used in the UK if none of the SSRI meds have worked well (although that may just be the protocol in the UK).

I haven't heard of that particular anti-psychotic (Solian). However, psychiatrists sometimes prescribe very low dosages of anti-psychotics for people with anxiety as they have a sedating effect. I am taking 2.5mg of Olanzapine, which is an anti-psychotic, for that reason. However it is prescribed in much higher dosages for psychosis. Another anti-psychotic sometimes prescribed in low dosages is Seroquel. If you look through the posts you will see that there are some people on here on both Olanzapine (Zyprexa) and Seroquel. Olanzapine and Seroquel are relatively new and expensive drugs.

I too was concerned about taking an anti-psychotic, but my psych explained that I was taking a tiny tiny dose.

I hope that helps.

Dahlia

[suzy-sue]

Low doses of antipsychotics are sometimes perscribed as the first treatment for anxiety ..I had Flupentixol ..It made me feel a bit tired but took the edge off the anxiety for a year ..After that it didnt seem to do anything .The side effects were hardly noticable ,and I usually get every one going ..The doses given for Schiz /Bi polar are much higher ,,So dont let it worry you ..Its worth trying at least . All the best Sue x

[lotus]

I read about Venlafaxine's bad withdrawal effects, and I'm reluctant to take it. I'll talk to my doctor about other options, if he insists on not prescribing an SSRI. He said he thinks the combination he gave me would be the best for me, but I'm worried about it.

[lotus]

I decided to give the meds a try. It's been 4 days on them, and I feel extremely sleepy, I can barely keep myself awake, and I feel run down. Side effects I guess.

[merlinaut]

I love Solian. I have been agitating to legalize it in the US for years.
My first year I did have some blinking and eyes shutting but it went away.
It did raise my prolactin pretty high and caused lactation, but with the
old pill, bromocriptine, as side-effect drug, this eventually went away.
Normally I don't have patience for side effects, my least favorites being weight gain or depressed affect, but for some reason I stuck this out
(an adventure) and now it's great.
Not only is a small dose great for the paranoia/hallucinations/voices of schizophrenia, but it is also good for bipolar(mood regulation) and has a holistic anti-depressant effect which bipolars(who otherwise shouldn't take anti-depressives) can tolerate without danger of suicidal anxiety.

It will make you less shy but also a little less hard-working at rote tasks. Does not hurt creativity at all, in my opinion.

Now, it is a bit new so I can't foretell its future effects and caveat: there is a 2% incidence of heart arrhythmia,
(which is why you have to have it mailed directly to your shrink in US), so you should get an EKG with your annual checkup(My last one was totally fine).
Oh, so happy for ten years now.

[merlinaut]

Sorry to hear that, Lotus. It's up to you how long you want to tolerate it and see if it gets better. It actually took me a year. I wasn't all that tired but my blinking made some people think I was falling asleep.

[lleksam]

Venlafaxine is very hard to come off, it has some of the worse withdrawal effects and can lead to P.A.W.S.

I would not take it unless you really have to.

[merlinaut]

I have been tapering down the Solian because I think the raised Prolactin is bad for bone health and also raised cholesterol levels, to say nothing of the 2%
incidence of heart arrhythmia. So there is finally a new drug you can buy on Amazon.com, Lithium Orotate, which does NOT attack the kidneys. It goes directly into the blood cells, says my doctor, so we do not need to overdose.

I have to say, I feel pretty calm. I'm a little more back down to earth. A little! I'm almost completely off Solian. But OMG, in an emergency,
if you were down, I remember sometimes for instance when I just could not
be happy with Invega which is supposed to be a more upbeat version of Risperdal(on the new packaging you saw a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit).
Solian is definitely better than that. I recently read that the whole world is allowed to use Solian but the US.

But I think natural is better. Plus a US hospital may have Lithium-O, if need be.

[merlinaut]

I'm going back on Solian. First was too down without it, then too manic. Trying to find out
now if you need to taper back on. Probably yes. And the bromocriptine and the blood tests, and the EKG for heart arrhythmia every year. That's a small price to pay, though. It's experimental and no one has really taken it for decades(it's unsafe for the elderly), so there is some risk. It's available, I read, everywhere in the world(!) but here. Although I think I did see that it is beginning to be sold online.