Switching from citalopram to venlafaxine

Depression primarily.

Oh I see..the snris work well for depression...so your effexor should work just fine....

Hope so. Its primarily depression. I never got anywhere near as anxious on paroxeteine (seem to stop working after a very long time), as i did on cit. Since I started dropping dose of cit, depression has got worse. At first after each drop, felt slightly better, as less anxious, but mood started dropping quickly. At moment don't want to do much at all, and have feeling it's not going to get better.

Pysc says its recurrent depression.

My phychiatrist prescribes celexa mainly to anxiety sufferers.. for depression she uses snris...trust me i have gotten my money's worth of information from her...

Other than that the only clue I have about the effexor is I lasted two weeks on it..the side effects where horrendous...plus the withdrawals from that effexor was even worst..but you gotta do what the doctor says.or do more homework..

Hello Lois, would value your option please. Was on 40mg cit for 6 weeks, anxiety was so bad, reduced it to 30mg, pysc agree, with a venlafaxine switch as back up. After 3 weeks on 30mg, had a complete meltdown, prescribed diazepam, dropped to 20mg of cit, was supposed to add can at 37. I didn't, as sensed gp had got it wrong. Stayed on just 20mg of cit, but my mood plummeted almost daily. After a week on 20mg, saw usual doctor, said straightaway, to do switch, as cit was not for me. Have been taking 20mg cit and 37mg of ven for just over a week. No noticeable side effects, mood has stopped dropping. However, it's now very low. Not doing anything, apart from enough to exist. I am supposed to maintain this for another week, then drop cit to 10mg with same level of 37mg ven for a further 2 weeks. Seeing pysc on Tuesday, going to push for stopping cit altogether, and increase ven to 75mg, which is still a low dose, and normally a starting level. Do you think that sounds reasonable, and pysc will agree? Quite a lot has happend since I saw pysc 4 weeks ago, and I cannot imagine my mood getting lower. Thanks.

Dreading dropping cit further, with no increase in ven.

Correct ..I think you shouldn't drop the cit right away because you don't want to get nasty withdrawals..and when you do drop the cit.. increase your ven.

Yes and all the things your feeling are quite within the norm of decreasing one med while introducing another...

And also I have heard that the xr version of ven.. works better than the regular release version of ven.

Thanks lois. Thought that myself, ie a gradual slow release, rather than 2 dollops a day. Will raise it with pysc. Thanks.

Anytime

Hello Lois, hoping you'll help a citalopram defector. Been on cit at 20mg, and 37.5 mg of ven for 10 days. I am so low. Spend most of my time in bed, only getting up to go to work for minimum time. Saw pysc on tues, he said to drop cit to 10mg and up ven from 35.5mg to 75mg. Been doing this for 2 days. No issues of ven as far as I Can tell. 2 more weeks of this, then drop cit and up ven. From what i can gather, it's not until you get towards 150mg of ven that you experience benefits. I am so low. Do you think I'll experience any improvements while on 10mg cit and 75mg ven? When do you think I'll see some signs of improvement? Not recovery or anything like that, just some slight improvement in mood? Still taking diazepam, but sparingly. Anxiety isn't much of an issue at moment, it's the very low mood. Thanks. Nigel

Feels like whole cit period has made me worse, ie I'm worse at end of 13 weeks on it, than what I was on seroxat when that stopped working, prior to cit. Depression is my main issue, anxiety seems to be secondary. Thanks. Nigel.

From everything I have researched of ven..it should take care of the depression ..this med is more for depression thanks it is anxiety..and yes lots of folks get better on 150milligrams ...and right now what you are experiencing is withdrawal from celexa ..as far as improvements it's up in the air.s hard to tell when going from one med to the other...take your diazapam while you are doing that swap...take care

Thanks lois. Been on 75mg and 10mg cit for 5 days. That's after 20mg cit and 35.7mg ven immediately before that. Anxiety is no worse, and sleep is same as before. Still feeling really down, only a few sporadic couple of hours feeling just about okay, in last couple of weeks. When I switched to cit from seroxat in Jan, think I wasn't in as bad a situation as i am now going from cit to ven. Did immediate switch from seroxat to cit, at least then I had mood swings, now nothing but feeling down. Sorry to whinge. Doing it all.over again is so demoralizing.

I bet..is not easy...😔

I hate you for being correct (not really). Been on 10mg cit and 75mg ven for 8 days, no cereal changes yet. Last 2 night, possible increase to 150 in 2 weeks. Last 2 nights took extra 17.5mg of ven. Didn't sleep Well, and so down all day. Will not do that again. I'm allowed 15mg of diazepam a day. Been trying to limit it to 2.5mg 3 times a day. With what I've done wrong with ven last 2 nights, thinking of increasing bedtime one from 2.5mg to 5.00mg to sleep well. At this stage would you not be concerned about limiting diazepam under max I'm allowed. Ie as long as I stay within max 3 5mg tabs a day, I should take what I feel I need, below max allowed, than worrying about trying to minimise/restrict them to half max allowed. I'm in a bad way, and now think I shouldn't be trying to halve max diazepam I'm allowed each day. Particularly at night, when I sleep much better on a max 5mg tablet? Thanks. Nigel.

Noticeable changes, rather than cereal changes.

Ie, is it best to take what I need of diazepam, as long as under max allowed, than trying to restrict them, to minimise issues coming off them. Now feel like I shouldn't be restricting so much, not exceed maximum, and deal with coming off them in future.

I think you should worry with whats going on today and worry about the diazapam..later...withdrawing from a benzo isn't complicated like antidepressants...you still have to withdraw if you want to..but the severity of the benzo is not anywhere near the withdrawals of a ssris..

So I say take your diazapam ..if you can half it..if not do the doctors recommended dose...

Another thing I find that taking diazapam for sleep..isn't necessary ..why don't you take ziplocone for sleep and save your diazapam for emergencies..???

Thanks Lois, it's what I will do. Perfect.

Not sure gp will allow me to introduce another tablet. They're very conservative in UK..

Minimize the daily dosage and save the rest for sleep..usually folks have benzo drama from day time usaged..

Much better today, afer upping night time to 5mg of diazepam. There's someone on ven forum that's taking 75mg of immediate release ven, only at night, and having problems. Told her shes likely been given wrong advice on taking them, ie should be 37.5mg immediate release morning and night, not justb75mg at night. Would you agree? She's on ven forum quite recently. Thanks

Yes I would agree ..I have a friend who started on 75 in the morning and moved to 150 to mornings..taking this Medication at night will make you feel sketchy...

Whats worse for her is that she was taking one 37.5mg immediate release at night, nothing else. Extended release would have been alright, but immediate release has to be split, because short life in body. Immediate release once a day sounds madness to me.

Yes the quick release of this med.is madness.. especially if you ever try to wean off..

Hello lois, been on 10mg of cit and 75mg of ven for 2 weeks, after 2 weeks of 20mg cit and 37.5mg of ven. Got so down Fri and sat, texted pysc, explained situation, seeing normal doc on 21st for review, could I switch to 150mg ven when I see doc on 21st. He said probably okay, and would call me this week. So down sun, thought bugger it, increased ven by 18mg for 2 days, felt a fraction better for a couple of hours, no adverse. Last night after slightly increased ven dose, felt calm, dreamy for a couple of hours without sleeping, but eventually slept okay, without any diazepam. First sleep without diazepam in weeks. Today dropped cit, upped ven to 123.5 mg, if I sleep okay tonight, will up to 150mg ven tomorrow. Today haven't felt any good periods, but a slightly thick head Feeling, but better than last week when so tragically down. I shouldn't be doing this, but it's only a week early than next doctors appointment. So far, have felt ven actually calms me, and increases in ven havent made me feel any worse. Feel my muscles relax about 1 hour after taking immediate release ven dose. I so hope this works. Get a slight inkling that it might, because of the muscle relaxation after ven. It's a case of what happens with anxiety over next few weeks on higher dose. Last sat stayed in bed all day, got up for half an hour to go to shops to get some food, that was it. Never been as low as last Fri and sat. Decided I couldn't wait for another week, so have done it now. I had waited 2 weeks on latest cit reduction and ven increase. I so hope it works. 3.5 months on cit definately made me worse than at xmas when i switched from seroxat. Not necessarily cits fault, just probably a ssri no longer does it for me. I so hope this works.

I remember my ups and downs, good and bad posts with you and gilip. Getting excited about having a few good days, worrying about a few bad ones, when is it going to work. Had some hope then. What I'd give for a few of them now. Seems an age ago.

I think you playing it by ear on your own ain't going to do you no harm...I look at it this way ..if your body is feeling comfort go for it...most of the times doctor's don't have a clue anyway..there just there to prescribe the antidepressants and send you on your way..with them saying see you in a month to see how you feel..then you tell them how you feel and they put you again thru a different ringer off meds...they don't want to give comfort meds like diazapam or ziplocone..they assume these ssris will clean and cook your whole house..iam not knocking it .. because my phychiatrist has given me comfort with meds thank goodness...so do you Nigel...I think you should just bite the bullet ...and go straight on to your milligrams goal of the ven.

That's what I thought. If i sleep okay tonight with no diazepam, will increase the little left to 150mg. Just been making sure no initial side effects by increasing incrementally. Pysc said it was probably okay when i see dofor next week, as that's what I asked him, and when my appointment is due. Didn't see much point in waiting for appointment. Will let pysc know when he calls this week, and let him know no initial side effects. I know there could be unbearable side effects in coming weeks, as it gets up to strength, but will be watching out for any. Cit experience taught me plenty about that. Thanks lois.

Hello again, just wanted your opinion. After upping ven, last might didn't take a diazepam to sleep. Today have taken usual diazepam of 2.5 mg twice during day. I am now dead tired, and will not need diazepam tonight. Tomorrow will try 1.25mg of diazepam. I seem to be more tired as ven has increased. Do you think that's a good sign? Thanks

The tired Ness with any ssri is quite common ..plus you taking it with the benzo..is going to make you more tired..if your not feeling all that yuckyness.. is working..

I rely on a benzo for along time..now body only ask for a .25 at night no more dosages during the day...in the beginning of celexa I was taking dosages two n three times a day

I seemed to need it with ssris, as ssris didn't make me tired, complete opposite. With ven being a snri, might be that a snri is working better. To me feeling tired, and needing less diazepam, seems to suggest it's working better. Odd, because snris can give you insomnia and get you wired.

Do you think requiring less diazepam this early is a good sign?

Yes

You are correct about the wired feelings..but when i took the ven I was wired like a bad lsd tripp.every one is different.

Strange isnt it, that's what cit did for me.