Starting venoflaxine....confused !!!!

I'm new to it too. So far at 75mg. People aren't likely to post success on the forums. They're all smiling and have moved on. I'm doing OK..it's been an OK journey. I started with sertraline and that didn't agree with me. There is positive feedback out there. Some great people even post on you tube...sharing their diaries. You need anything..message me...post here....so many great folks here waiting to help you. Good luck. Xx

Thanks to everyone for replying.

Yes it is so hard to make decisions when you are I'll. What is even harder is that I feel ok some days......like today but yesterday I could not stop crying or be around my baby.

I have been prescribed slow release.

I would like to recover on as small a dose as possible. On cit they put me right up to 40mg over 6 months and I have never felt so I'll.

I don t expect miracles but to be able to sleep through and not be scarex to go out and to stop isolating would be nice.

I am really worried about sexual distinction as my relationship has taken a battering and our sex life is not great anyway.....having previously been very good. I would really like to improve that as it means a lot to my partner....and me. How common is it?

In the long run.....if this works I would like to come off mirtazapine and diazepam whilst on ven and then when I am ready taper off the ven.

I am hoping that the lack of start up posts is due to the success rate. On cit forum it was co stant start up posts. I have tapered down fast on the cit with little problems....actually feel better.

Is increased anxiety a start up side effect of ven as it is with cit ?

Thanks again

Increased anxiety is a common start-up issue. Ven start-up can actually be quite unpleasant. But as you have already been on notable doses of cit it will be difficult to know which is ven adjustment and which is cit withdrawal. Just as well. Either way, if ven works you will get steadily better after the initial 2 week adjustment disturbances and in 4-6 weeks you should be in a better position to judge.

Ven dampens libido in a notable number of individuals, however it may be worth noting that once it starts to actually balance out and you start regaining composure/control of your responses (anxiety and depression begin to be managed) your capacity/desire should improve.

The most notable initial sexual issue is inability or difficulty to orgasm. If that's where it goes, you may be able to compensate by engaging in intimate pleasures without focusing on climax, for a while. Keep the pressure off yourself for a while.

I have been on 75mg for 4 years but it only helped 'manage' my symptoms until a certain point. 150 mg is when the 'magic' started.

Everyone is different.

Do not read too much into it all and give it a chance. Trust your doctor and trust you ar eon good medication.

Do not forget that it takes a while to get to a point where you are well. It is worth the time, effort and patience.

Are you in any other therapy in parallel? CBT etc?

I have recently had 6 mths of therapy but am not in any currently but hope to get some cbt soon.

I have not told my partner about the sexual distinction side effect as he is quite anti meds and that would really upset him.

Do you know how many woman lose their ability to orgasm.....is it the majority ? I don t mind decreased libido so much as I don t have one now so if my mood improves it may end up equal. Does list orgasm come back after initial start up ?

Day 2 on 37.5 mg. No obvious side effects yet. Still getting usual anxiety symptoms.

I hope the cit withdrawal is not too bad when it hits. I am getting headaches but that predates the ven. Now I am getting paranoid that as I am not getting side effects it is not going to work. When I went on cit I was fine till 7 weeks in then is was like it was toxic to me.

Making the decision to go on ven was so hard for me after my experience with cit.

My psychiatrist wants me to go to 75 after a week. Does this seem like a good idea to you or should I stay on 37. 5 for longer ?

If it is not too much too ask, can you describe the steps taken to get you to 40mg of cit? How were the increases spaced? At which point was mitraz. introduced? What about diazepam? How long were you on 40mg before the doctor decided to pull you off? You say that 7 weeks in it was like it was toxcic to you. This was teh final dosage of 40mg? can you please elaborate?

I am trying to understand how much of your bad experience was dosage/speed of increase related and how much time was offered to the brain to quit overreacting.

I do think ven is superior to cit from what i have seen in others with similar issues. But i am a little biased because ven was really good for me and many people i have met in therapy and after therapy. Ultimately, everyone is different and your own psychology and body chemistry will determine your response. Having said that, these medicines really need to be given time. Further, upping dosage after a certain level has to be done carefully. And if a certain dose causes reactions then the idea is to go down to the last comfortable dose and give it a month or so.

And how long ago have you given birth? I am assuming you had no prior history of depressive or anxiety disorders?

as for your anxiety symptoms - those will be somewhat persistant for a while until your chemistry balances out a little. Hang in there and try not to read too much into them. What will happen soon enough is that medication will only let it reach a certain level and make it impossible to escalate to full-blown crises. From that point you will be gaining some confidence and your mind will start dealing with it. This is what the drug is there for: to provide balance so that you can unwind and regroup and then work it all out yourself. The drug doesn't fix you - it gives you the conditions favourable to you fixing yourself. I hope this helps you understand that you are not at the drug's mercy it is there to help you, not scare you more or make things more difficult x

I did not have a good day yesterday and have woken up feeling very anxious today.

I do have a history of anxiety prior to birth.....not so much depression. I was on diazapam until I started to try to concieve and med free when I feel pregnant. I became more anxious than normal immediately I feel pregnant. At 7 weeks they trued serequel.....I got worse. After the 1st trimester they put me on diazepam then at 22 weeks 15mg of mirt. After I had my son I was better than expected but still very anxious. 5 weeks after having him I went to 30mg of mirt then about 3 months later to 45mg of mirt. I am not sure how much it helps.

As I was still getting severe bouts of anxiety I had cit added by my psychiatrist. I started on 17th july on 10mg for a week. Then is went like this

20mg for 1 week

30mg for 6 weeks......it was 5 weeks I to this I started to feel very unwell. I had been doing well up until then. Doctor said to up it.

40mg for 4 weeks.....in this time I was very anxious tingling all over. Having to take more diazepam. Psych said to drop.

30mg for 4 weeks......still felt unwell.....dizzy headaches nausea and anxious. With the odd ok day.

20mg for 4 weeks.....felt even worse. Suicidal at times.....had to go to a and e and was put under the crisis team

Saw psychiatrist was it was decided I would move to ven. So went to 10mg for 2 weeks then started ven at 37.5mg 3 days ago.

I think I am withdrawing from the cit. Don t think I am having startup effects from the ven. Feel very panicky this morning and my mood is low.

Really scared this won t work.

You were upped properly so there is no issue there.

In your case I would say you need to brave it until you get to the first therapeutic dose cushion which is 75mg next week from what i gather.

Trust your doctor - I was sure you were improperly brought up to 40mg and then rapidly brought down but, no...the method was regular as you have described. They are working to find the winning combo. Unfortunately this sometimes necessitates trial and error.

There is one more question...how is your diazepam being administered. You have been on it for a while. Are we talking steady daily doses? How much and how are they spaced?

Unfortunately the only way you will know is if you manage to keep this up until you reach a better concentration of venlafaxine at therapeutic doses. Minimum is 75mg. Your psychiatrist will likely speed this part up (you are due to start 75 next week) whatever your reaction s/he likely will quickly proceed to 150mg (to test your response to SNRI effect that comes to force at 150mg - at 75mg it acts as a SSRI like cit). The only way to know is if they try. Just keep an eye on any upheavals and in case of any major concerns call the doctor or go to A&E.

Have they run blood tests to check your iron and thyroid function? Is your digestion ok generally? Apetite? Anything you may consider noteworthy? Brainstorming to make sure all bases are covered.

Oh and have you breastfed at all? Have you got any residual milk? 

I am sure you are feeling very apprehensive to say the least. And it is easy to feel like you will never see the end of it. But anxiety disorder is not only manageable but also fully treatable. It just requires a lot of patience most of the time. I do wish you to feel much better very soon.

My digestion is fine.

I am currently very tearful and struggling to cope with anything. Thankfully my husband is taking care of our son.

Do you think the cit withdrawal is contributing to me feeling so crap ?

I do have a slightly over active thyroid but they are not doing anything about it. Also high cholesterol.

What i think probably won't change how apprehensive you feel right now.

I think it is a combo of your chemistry being a little haywire (recent changes and yes cit withdrawal as well as ven startup) and terrible experience that keeps your brain in a state of panic that medication will make you sicker.

No, diazepam won't be doing much the way you are advised to take it and after so long of taking it the way you have. But keep at it as it is now to not mess with chemistry more.

They did everything else more or less by the book.

Whatever the case, the only way to get to the bottom of it is to brave it until they get you to at least 75. Your background is now a little sensitive and it is important that you cooperate with the doctor. They are in a difficult position as well, because ideally they would want you on one or two agents only, but you are on mirt and diazepam, overreacted to cit and they had to drop it to attempt ven... and it complicates things a little to get a clear picture.

I think you are probably more affected by the anxiety over taking medication right now than you are actually suffering from withdrawal. Remember that you are safe, because you know that if anything feels off you need to reach out immediately.

It is great that your husband is helping with the baby. I think you mentioned he is against medication as it is. I hope this is not making it harder for you in terms of feeling insecure abbout your therapy though. You are right to try therapy. I am just sorry about your bad experience so far.

what i also found was that the problems of the depression still cycled, zoning out, deep thoughts including harm, zombie feeling not interested etc etc until i started private counselling the NHS counselling is ridiculously over stressed two phone consulations and that was it waiting for referral to CBT never happened despite being in tears over phone. So the point for me is that the meds alone masks problems but they still there and still high. so i decided to stop the meds after discussing with counsellor, DR said it was a small dose so rather reduce he said just stop ( This is prior to reading ANY ADVICE from this forum do not do it !!! My GP no help)

talk to GP about an end plan, yes they are a start, but i got the feeling treat, medicate, forget abt, is the plan on these.

Discuss a plan in total, 1 meds short term, 2counselling is an equal partner then discuss removal of meds (After adequate 2)

Withdrawal cold turkey has took 10 days and still got some effects but they have been hard, nearly gave up twice but i didnt want to prolong the effects or was in too deep.

good luck just dont let them become a single answer they are not !!