Increase my ven

Hello alan, saw your post, and just had to comment. You are not giving your new meds chances to work, you didnt with cit. I took 9 weeks to notice first small improvements on ven, it took another 3 weeks to generally feel okay, and another 4 weeks to think of myself as recovered. 18 weeks in total now on ven, with last 8 weeks on 225mg, im still improving. Improvements took ages to happen, when they did, they snowballed. The ven and mirt combination is the best option you can get. You need to give 150mg of ven at least 8 even 12 weeks, before deciding to change or not. You could be discarding medications that would have worked brilliantly, by not giving them long enough. Beyond mirt and ven combo, theyres nothing better, apart from older style anti depressants which work well, but have more side effects. Changing meds so soon isnt going to get you anywhere, as they take so long to work. I hope you will give ven long enough.

Hi Alan thank you yes I’ve been on venlafaxine for 17 years. But never more than 150.  

Hi Nigel, I have been depressed for 4 months! It’s been a torture and hell on Earth for me and my family! I was told by the doc I can increase to 150 after 2 weeks and then wait and see how I feel for the next few weeks. I hope I won’t have to change again as I am already emotionally and psychically drained by depression...

Citalopram was a big ‘no’ straight away.... Tiredness and sleepiness to much to cope with! Ven is different! Ven gives me energy and hopefully lifts my spirit!

Just an idea to consider. When venlafaxine wasn't working well enough for me, my psychiatrist added mirtazapine and that did the trick.

Hello alan, i hear what you are saying, ive been through the same. My depression started in december last year, when my old anti depressant stopped working. Tried cit first for 3 months, had raging anxiety for 6 weeks no let up during day. Reduced dose, went onto diazepam, depression plummetted. Wouldnt get out of bed unless i had to, didnt get up on weekends, couldnt speak to family and friends, watch tv, read couldnt do anything except vape in bed. No interest in anything, and all too upsetting. Saw a pysc for first time started on ven. First 9 weeks, getting up to 187mg, had no improvements i was aware of. Thought i would end up being admitted to hospital, as i was just closing down, and couldnt function. Didnt believe ven would work, thought there was no point. I did lots of research on anti depressants, knew you have give them as long as 12 weeks to see if they work, each dose increase you have to give it 4 weeks min, for small signs of improvement, unless you know you are going to need a higher dose , so you can do one after 2 weeks to speed things up. When i went to 187mg saw small improvements, 2 weeks later went to 225mg. Small improvements continued initially, then after another 2 weeks, improvements snowballed and took off. Over next 5 weeks until now, improved to extent i can call it a recovery, although im still improving. Doctors talk about 6 to 8 weeks for revovery. Thats not the case for the majority of people. 6 to 8 weeks you are only likely to get initial to medium improvements at best. Doctors cant say 12 weeks as it would crush modt people. After 6 to 8 weeks, they can see some improvements, and so people will give it longer. There are no miracle anti depressants, that are going to give you a quick recovery. Only reason i didnt give up on ven in first 9 weeks, is that i knew i had to give each dose increase at least 4 weeks for signs of improvements. If you know you are likely to need a higher dose, then you can increase after 2 weeks, to speed things up. Some people talk about 6 months for a recovery. I wouldnt give up on an anti depressant, unless id been on it for 12 weeks, especially when its likely you have had a few dose increases within that period. Took me 10 weeks on ven, before i felt i was heading in the right direction. 15 weeks for what can be called a recovery. Im still improving now at 18 weeks. I know the misery involved in waiting. The alternative, you switch too early from one medication to another, getting no where fast, and you could be discarding the best one for you, by not giving it long enough. There are only a limited no of options you can try, you need to be certain that a medication isnt working for you, before changing.

Depression is a horrible illness.... have had enough of thi best nasty friend. I want it go away!!! I only tried Sertraline really( for a month) and I was upset by not being able to sleep ( in the UK GPs usually start you on Sert, I then researched that Sertraline is the cheapest SSRI, so now I know why....I think it could have worked but GPs were sending me away with nothing so I switched to Mirt). I have given Mirtazapine at least 10 wks now.... to the point I was suicidal being only on it.... I didn’t suffer with depression as deeeep in the first place.... I have hopes in Ven, I used to be on 150 before and it was the highest for me, I did not need more then. I felt slightly lighter yesterday and even managed to do shopping. Today it has not been that good but 2 wks is nothing yet... I have been off work for 4 months now and feel like my life is nonexistent. I have a small child and just want to feel there is hope and I recover like last time. You must feel so relieved now you are back to life!!! Thank you for your support x

What dose of Mirt are you on? Have you been on it for long?

It is a horrible illness. I tried citalopram earlier this year, and ended up worse than when i started. Ven took ages to work, but its working well now. Ive always woken up a few times in the night, but go back to sleep. Ven hasnt effected this positively or negatively. I dont think i could have coped without diazepam. It got rid of the anxiety. Initially took 2.5 mg 3 or 4 times a day. Down to twice, morning and night. Gps seem reluctant to pescribe benzos in uk, when starting a new anti depressant, unlike in usa. It helped considerably, with waiting for ven to work. Will need to reduce diazepam further at some point. All the best, i hope ven does it for you.

I'm on 225mg venlafaxine and 30mg mirtazapine. Been on them about 8 years. Tried reducing mirtazapine v slightly but withdrawal too bad & decided better to stay at that dose since it was keeping me well.

How would you day mirtazapine helps? what symptoms does it eleviate?

hi

I have increased to 150 mg been on it for a week so hopefully it will kick in and help with anxiety.

sorry what is mirt please

mirt is mirtazapine. it works extremely well with venlafaxine. I've been on ven of 150mg, and mirt 30mg, for 2 years now. best I've ever felt and functioned, EVER. I do lot of self help as well. mirt is sedative, so ven morning and lunch time, and mirt in evening. mirt of even 7.5mg or 15 mg, is great for sleep. have found no point in going above 150mg of ven for myself. went up to 335mg. needed to keep increasing ven, just to stay still, and even then, no where near as good as now. tried reducing ven further, and increasing mirt to 37.5mg, it doesn't work for me, get too hyper/anxious. when I started the combination, reduced ven, and added mirt. worked within a few weeks. gradually reduced ven, and increased mirt to where I am now. mirt is used at low doses of 7.5mg and 15mg, for sleep disorders. from experience, and from others, mirt doesn't seem to work well above 30mg.

increase in ven will take quite a while to work, looking at 6 weeks min, probably up to 12 weeks. Stick with it. you need to give every med long enough, min 3 months, otherwise you could be throwing away your solution.

I did sun salutations every day, for last 3 years. it's a strenuous moving yoga practice. 25 to 30 mins a day. built up reps gradually. very good for physique, suppleness, and health. recently started cycling. I now do the sun salutations one day, cycling the next. bought a fitbit for cycling. essential for monitoring heart beat. essential so you can make sure you don't excert yourself too much. you want to limit effort so your heart beat doesn't exceed 80% of your calculated max bpm. that way, you are not increasing adrenaline much, otherwise adrenaline would worsen anxiety. I love the cycling, it gets my resting heart rate down, and the feel good endorphins. I make sure not to exceed 140 beats per minute, as that would make anxiety worse.

don't know if you are still on this forum but would be interested to know how you are now

hello Mark, I don't follow patient any more, but do respond to messages. I'm doing good thanks. I take 30mg of mirt, and 150mg of ven. Haven't changed dose for last 2 years. that's the best combo for me, so don't even think about changing. Active yoga helped me hugely. did it every day for 3 years. recently dropped to every other day, and added cycling. cycling got me fit enough, to start swimming. now swim 3 times a week, yoga and occasional cycle on other days. always had issues with aerobic exercise in past, making me more tense. now use a fit bit, make sure I train at 85% of max heart rate, and don't exercise for any longer than 40 mins a day. I do exercise every day. there is a very fine line with exercising benefiting mental well being, and making it worse. shouldnt exercise too hard or for too long, if you suffer from anxiety. when you get it right, gives you a great mood lift, get it wrong, and I tense up like a rock. how are you doing?

are you available to this forum