I Can't Exercise on Venlafaxine/SNRI/Antidepressant

the 1.5 year period of excercise started just after effexor started working for me.

I just cross tapered from 30mg Lexapro to 150mg Effexor. My average heartrate resting has gone up about 5-8BPM and working out about 8-10BPM. Doctor says this can happen bc of the N in SNRI. im an active runner. i wear an apple watch and garmin forerunner so im very aware of my HR even though i dont specifically do HR training. Ive lost a bit of fitness but not too much. it just made me a little worried to see myself exceeding the HR that previously was my threshold level.. ive tried to run on propanolol before and thats much harder (HR wont come up above like 60% of max). hoping it goes away bc other than this and some night sweats its helping a lot!

hello, taking 150mg of effexor, there is hardly any n effect, its almost all s effect. when you go above 150mg, thats when the n starts. your anxiety has probably gone up, due to stopping one ad, and starting another. it could well take 6 to 12 weeks, until it comes down. like i mentioned in previous posts, if you are exercising, try not to exert yourself too much. its fine if you arent anxious, but not good if you are. adrenaline from exertion, will exacerbate anxiety. i spent many years trying to manage anxiety with excercise, different types, prior to anti deps. never worked, as i was obsessive, and made anxiety worse.

let me clarify. effexor, like all anti depressants, initially increases anxiety, which increases heart rate, effects excercise. so yes, in a sense, it does have an effect. once the effexor is working correctly, then it will drop back down. if it doesnt, then effexor isnt working. you have the same issues, whether you take an anti depressant or not, if you are suffering from anxiety. its the anxiety that causes the issues, not the anti depressant. if you are taking biometric readings, then you are in an anxious state, and the slightest changes will worry you, and the issue gets worse. what i am advocating is trying to have a moderate approach to exercise, and try if you can to stop taking measurements in terms of your ability to do x, y or z. rein back your goals/targets, and your mental wellbeing, health and exercise performance will improve. since being on effexor, over a 1.5 year period, i look younger, have put on about a stone in muscle mass, my cardio and general health have improved dramatically. all as a result of sticking to a daily moderate exercise regime. the exercise i do , is not the be all and end all. i do it everyday, but once ive done it, thats it, out of the way, and pay it no more attention. it doesnt matter if x is this or that, or you can do this or that, you just want a long term sustainable exercise regime, where you end up with long term results.

Hi Chris

Yes it absolutely has. I too consider myself to be a fairly fit person (exercising my whole life) but since taking the 'extended release' venlafaxine I have and am suffering with so many side effects. One of the main one's is my resting heart rate is higher than normal and so when I exercise it increases really quickly and makes me feel light headed, heavy, harder to regain normal breathing and yes, I feel like somebody has strapped weights to my body. I have been taking 275mg in the morning and 75mg in the evening but am seriously thinking of changing as I do not think I can cope with all the side effects and weight-gain for much longer. JUST WANTED TO SYMPATHISE WITH YOU BECAUSE I AM GOING THROUGH THE SAME SITUATION. Good luck for the future.

hello!

i just wanted to jump on and reply because i found this thread doing all the same googling you were.

i've phased off long term citalopram (8 years) and onto venlafaxine over the past 6 weeks, currently on 75mg and in the space of three weeks feel as though i'm exhausted all the time. its as though someone has strapped weights to my legs specifically. i was enjoying 4-5 gym classes a week via Zoom and now can barely lift my legs and jog for five minutes - its incredibly frustrating. i've also had unexpected weight gain.

giving things a week more and then heading back to see the GP.

i think it's the medications. i alsofeel very lethargic on sris to such an extent i wouldlike to come off them

Hi Chris,

I realise I'm very late to the party, but I wanted to reply and say I'm finding the exact same thing. I run marathons, always 20+ miles each week. But since starting on the Venlafaxine (as it's called here in the UK) I find I can barely run 3/4 miles. I have to stop all the time, I sweat an insane amount and it's just really frustrating!

People on here saying it might be the anxiety are really missing the point. I've experienced anxiety and depression for years and this is a very different feeling, especially as mentally I feel good. It's just like wading through treacle, as someone else put it. But... I feel great on the these SSRIs and will push on.

Anyway, hope you're feeling better.

i'd look into other causes. i run 10-15 km a day on this med and no issues. The only side effect for me was headaches early on. My mood is stabilized and the panic attacks have decreased in severity. good luck.