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Thread: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

  1. #1
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    May 2017
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    Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    I have recently started Venlafaxine for anxiety - mainly agoraphobia.

    I am gradually increasing the dose - just started on 75mg twice a day.

    My question is - has anyone on here used it successfully for agoraphobia?

    If so, did you just feel more able to go out because your anxiety was less?

    Or was it a case of pushing yourself to go out, but feeling less panicky when you did?

    I hope that makes sense. It's just that I have had agoraphobia for so long now that the thought of going out of my 'comfort area' just fills me with horror, so I don't even attempt it anymore. I am hoping that the venlafaxine will take those feelings away.

    Any help or advice would be great, thanks.

  2. #2
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    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    I was prescribed Venlafaxine for agoraphobia, but the thing is, no medication is going to get you out of the house unless you make the effort to go out. It's all about pushing yourself. The medication is there to help lower your anxiety levels, but you still need to do all the work. I've had both good and bad times since starting Venlafaxine a year ago, and I find that it's helped decrease my feelings of depersonalisation, but unless I make continual effort to go out and push myself out of my comfort zone, the situation worsens.

  3. #3
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    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    Thanks Ana - can I ask what dose you are taking?
    It's so hard - I wish I could just switch my brain off!

  4. #4
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    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    I know what you mean! My mind is always racing with thoughts and is telling me not to go places or do things. If I go somewhere my mind has deemed too far,I start panicking :(
    I'm on 150 mg. I used to be on 185 but it was too high a dose for me so I lowered it.
    Btw my therapist says that she has had the most success in her agoraphobic patients with Venlafaxine and a sedative.

  5. #5
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    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    It's awful isn't it.
    That's interesting about a sedative - does she mean something like Diazepam? Any idea what dose and when?
    I have had this now for so long, I'm just so fed up with how it has affected mine and my family's life.

  6. #6
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    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    Yes,like a Diazepam or a Klonopin. I take Klonopin on an as per needed basis,so I wouldn't know about a dose. She has told me,however,that she has had a patient who couldn't even go into her office without her husband by her side,but the combination of Venlafaxine and Klonopin was making her feel so relaxed that she finally started expanding her radius of movement.
    I've had it for 17 years,so I definitely feel your pain.:(

  7. #7
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    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    Thanks Ana - I might try that. I have had it for about 15 years, so I'm not far behind you :( Awful illness. I really hope things get better for us x

  8. #8
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    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    I'm so sorry you've been suffering for so long, Betty. :( It really is awful. Each day, I try and think positively and push myself to do more and to go out. It's never easy and it makes me panic, but I know I have to keep trying.
    I hope for the same

  9. #9

    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    Yes! And it's been extremely successful �� 18 months ago I had got so bad that I couldn't leave my bedroom let alone my house! X

  10. #10

    Re: Venlafaxine for agoraphobia

    I know this is a old post but just wondered how you got on I suffer with anxiety and agoraphobia I'm just cutting back on my steraline and then docs are starting me on venlafaxine

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