HELP please- major new side effects from 75 to 150mg
Posted , 9 users are following.
hi, this forum is wonderful for advice, i need help from those that have survived the startup side effects. i was on 37.5 for a week no problems, 75 for two weeks felt great, now the doc has upped me to 150 with MAJOR side effects. this is day 7 on 150, no appetite, fatigue, extreme anxiety, nausea, elevated depression... is this normal???? how much longer will i have to endure this before my body adapts???? should i quit????
any advise and personal experiences here are greatly appreciated. regards, Hayden
0 likes, 44 replies
cheryl06744 haydenm
Posted
if you dont mind me asking. why does he think you need such a high dose ?
nigel45109 haydenm
Posted
hello, i couldnt handle increases of more than 37.5mg, and over 8 months went from 37.5mg, to 337.5mg, always by 37.5mg increments. 150mg is not a high dose, its a good dose. i always found after each increase, anxiety would go up for 2 to 3 weeks, then it would drop. you can either drop to 112.5, let things settle down a bit, sèe how it goes, or give 150mg a couple more weeks, seeing as youve already done a week.
haydenm nigel45109
Posted
im here in the states, my wife just left for a trip to europe with her mom for 2 weeks, i dont work so i have this time to white knuckle the side effects and hopefully be past them by the time she gets back.
do you think 4 weeks on the 150 will be long enough to see some depression benefit? (it will be 7 weeks total on the venlafaxine journey)
sarah24378 haydenm
Posted
why did you increase if you felt grear on 75mg ?
Venny haydenm
Posted
if you felt ok on 75 mg i would ask if you could go back to that dose
maz30472 haydenm
Posted
Hi Haydenm - Speaking as someone who has been on 75mg for 10 years and just about to reduce off them I would urge you to stay on 75mg if you felt ok on that! Increasing your dose when you feel ok doesn't make any sense, maybe the Dr is following an incremental rise he has done with many other patients but we are all different. I would go back to 75mg before your body adjusts to the new dose making it 10 times harder to reduce if need be, but like all things its very much a personal decision for you to make. This medication serves a purpose and is really good at getting through patches but the lower you can keep it the better. Obviously if the need is there then it should be used accordingly but just a warning dont take them unless you feel a benefit. Good luck hope all goes well.
nigel45109 maz30472
Posted
maz, you are spot on. go back down to 75mg, and carry on, to see what happens on 75mg. usually ven doesnt work that quickly, so could be placebo effect. go back down to 75mg, and take it from there. if after a while its no longer working, then increase by no more than 37.5mg, so side effects will less to get over. an increase in ven usually means an initial increase in anxiety, which then lowers after a few weeks. normally happens after each increase.
haydenm nigel45109
Posted
thank you all! some clarification- when i say i felt great what i should have said was it felt great to get a little relief from the anxiety, but it wasn't helping my depression.
Since im already a week in with the higher dose, should i stick it out and hope side effects will ease soon? or should i drop 37.5?
nigel45109 haydenm
Posted
its okay, i read between the lines, and knew what you meant. anti depressants first bring you out of depression, then you are alrightish, then you go through increased anxiety. its normal, and logical way recovery happens. the increase in anxiety can put you back into depression early on, you can go backwards and forwards initially between the two states, each time not quite so bad, until things level out. myself, knowing what happend to me, id drop 37.5mg, to 112.5mg. youve always tried 75mg and 150mg before. 112.5mg might be enough. your anxiety may get worse before you get better. i still had increased anxiety after 37.5mg increases.
haydenm nigel45109
Posted
that makes sense, nigel. these are powerful drugs to be respected. im so lonely and sad. i need relief soon.
celexa made me even more suicidal and zoloft turned me into a zombie so im praying this one works for me
haydenm nigel45109
Posted
ive defeated alcoholism to get to this point. for 30+ years i self medicated to deal with depression after a terrible childhood, and now two years sober i need to finally break the back of depression so that i can begin to finally live
nigel45109 haydenm
Posted
been on anti depressants most of my life. an extremely low place last year, one year on, feel better than i have for a long time. my addictions were obssessions in different hobbies and interests. they were all consuming and fun for a bit, but just a distraction from life. i owe you an apology for my previous post, i got you mixed up with someone else who messaged me about similar issues, same med and dose, but most of it still applies. i think its safe to say you need 150. eventuaĺly. you didnt have many side effects initially, as takes 4 weeks for each increase to get up to strength. your dr has increased you a bit too soon, and by a bit too much. they want you on 150 asap. given where you are, and that its likely you need 150mg, stay on it if you can. from experience, takes about up to 3 weeks to get over the initial increased anxiety, from a dose increase. if you find you need to go above 150mg, dont increase by more than 37.5mg at a time, with at least 4 weeks in between each increase.
haydenm nigel45109
Posted
that's good advice, nigel. ive got 2 weeks by myself as my wife and her mom have taken a trip to europe, i dont work, so i think i'll try and tough it out while its just me and the dogs here in boston, and see if im over the side effects by then. nausea already seems better today, its just the increased anxiety rhat gas me housebound. it's very reassuring to hear from you
maz30472 haydenm
Posted
Hi Haydenm i echo what Nigel has posted. There is no 1 size fits all and it is all very much dependent on your own experience and feelings. But just try and go up slowly see how you get on. whilst you have a spell on your won keep on the forum and read as much as possible. Just remember there are lots of us in the same boat, dont suffer in silence. Good luck on the journey.
haydenm maz30472
Posted
thank you maz, very kind. its good to have the support. after i got sober a year i took myself off meds to see if my brain was okay without. after a few months the depression came back, lesson learned... im still sober, over two years now, and trying to get back on meds and continue to put my life back together.