I Can't Exercise on Venlafaxine/SNRI/Antidepressant

not to sound rude but have you consider that its because your getting older

I was on Venlafaxine a few years ago, and was able to run for 25 minutes three times a week at the gym. I don't think it is the venlafaxine.

What are you eating? You need to take in sufficient carbs to be able to run.

I would not say that only being able to run 3-4 miles is bad at all - seems pretty good to me.

I wonder whether you feeling bad about not being able to run, is itself a symptom of your anxiety?

wow, this is the first and last time i post anything on a forum / community support board

can appreciate some peoples comments on here, because there a lot more worse issues you could be facing. HOWEVER, fitness and the ability to carry out certain standards are very important to some people, reassures them of their own health. you are older, so you are going to find it difficult. its not the ven thats causing your issues though, its anxiety thats working against you. anxiety tightens up muscles, and makes excercise much more difficult. as you are sort of fighting yourself. when you have anxiety, you cant attack exercise, as the adrenaline you produce, will fuel anxiety, which will tighten up your muscles. this worries you, you produce more adrenaline, which makes things worse. you have to set your standards lower, so they are achieveable, without causing too much adrenaline. then you gradually build up the amount of excercise slowly, always remembering, to keep your adrenaline as low as possible. relaxing while doing your exercise is key, you relax into the excercise. this is why some even top atheltes, bottle it, and fail, they let the adrenaline and anxiety overcome them. the more you fight to improve your anxiety, the less you achieve, because you are working against yourself. i know this, because i tried many sports, to overcome anxiety and depression for years. same thing happend in each excercise. i would start off well, become obsessed, push myself too much, and increasing my anxiety too high. relax yourself as much as possible when excercising, and be aware of creating too much adrenaline, which is going to work against you, and cause you to fail in your goals. relaxation while excercising is key.

, but think i can help you. fitness and the ability to perform at a certain level, are

To add: Whenever I am suffering from the symptoms of depression/anxiety, my desire and drive to exercise is completely stalled. I can't even walk fast.

I syspect that exercise while you are doing it causes depression - but when you stop your body releases antidepressant chemicals. I once had a depression relapse happen when I was at the gym - so I stopped going.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that exercise is something that you can/should do when you are well- but when you are ill, forget it and concentate on getting better.

hey all please remember that people post for support and not to be ridiculed.

chris, your concerns in figuring if venlaflaxine is causing your energy issues are valid. BUT it seems that there are more likely possibilities before even assuming its the medication. go to your doctor and do bloodwork and cardio stress test etc. i had a friend who told me he often found it a struggle to get through his exercises only later to suffer a mild heart attack as it was found that one of his arteries had clogged up. after they put a stint in he says he feels much more energy now when exercising. also, another possibility could be thyroid. get that checked as high levels indicate hypothyroidism which can make you feel fatigued.

hope this helps.

You say yourself you have never been on Venlafaxine so how can i possibly explain to a thicko about how this drug affect's your heart , If i had more knowledge about this poison i would not have taken it from a doctor that we are ment to put our trust in you fool, So i would suggest you go somewhere else and talk about something you know nothing about maybe facebook would suit you more

Hey Chris,

Realise I'm a bit late to answering, but yes, it COULD be the Venlafaxine.

I found that Citalopram did exactly the same thing to me.....really slowed me down, felt like I was running through treacle.

It actually wore off over time, and I was never a competitive runner so it didn't really affect me. It was just a bit annoying, to be honest.

Hi Chris, I totally agree with you, the same has happened to me.

It has nothing to do with age or the anxiety, as some people have suggested, it has everything to do with the Venlafaxine.

I started taking a 75mg dosage 8 months ago, after suffering anxiety attacks and feeling absolutely awful.

I have been exercising all my adult life, running 10k several times a week with ease. As soon as I started on the pills I could hardly make 5k and was sweating so much it was ridiculous.

I've gained a considerable amount of weight as a result.

The pills were a godsend in that they almost immediately made me feel better, but I stopped taking them a fortnight ago and have suddenly found my fitness levels back to where they were before.

It is like a huge weight lifted from me and I can run and exercise with the same amount of ease and freedom as I did before.

to everyone claiming age/anxiety/depression are causing the struggle to work out it could in fact be the effexor

I prior to taking effexor i was in decent shape-was a dancer and an aerialist for fun after work so was dancing 2-3 days a week and working out another 2-3 days a week. after 2 weeks on effexor xr i could barely get through a dance class and a month in couldn't walk from the parking lot to my work building without stopping and taking a break, my muscles would be so weak and my legs would be shaking and so sore just from walking that by the time i got to my desk i was exhausted.

told my dr, dr said it was all in my head so i tried it for another month. my muscles deteriorated so much i could barely carry bags or simple things like put my hair on a ponytail. doctor ran other tests nothing else was causing it finally ran bloodwork then promptly took me off the medication. a year later im still rebuilding the muscle mass i lost and am no where near where i was prior to effexor. i still struggle with a basic push up let alone a pull up (used to be able to do 10).

muscle weakness and deterioration on this med is no joke. ive been told i may never get back to where i was. if something isnt right with your meds speak up, you know your body and meds effect everyone differently

its not the effexor, its your anxiety thats causing your training/condition. taking an anti dep, will initially increase your anxiety, for sometimes 3 or more months. i had the same issues when suffering anxiety for years, before i started taking anti deps. the fact you are concious of the issue, causes you more worry/anxiety which makes it worse. anxiety increases muscle tension, which makes training more difficult, as you are working against your increased muscle tension. i used to train to extremes and was fine, after getting anxious, i know i cant exert myself too much, the increase in adrenaline increases anxiety and muscle tension. you have to concentrate on relaxing into whatever training you do. i do sun salutations every day. theyre quite strenuous. i very slowly increased the number i do each day. over last 1.5 years, have gone from 6 cycles a day, to 20, in the same amount of time. all while on effexor. key was relaxing into it, not pushing too hard, increasing no of cycles every so often. need to exercise without too much exersion, ie not go for the burn as it were.

6 cycles is actually 12, as one for each side. so from 12 initially, to 40, in the same amount of time. during this period, my anxiety has dropped, loads fitter and stronger, and doing the 40 feels easier than the initial 12.