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Venlafaxine does it keep working?

Posted , 3 users are following.

sue34151
sue34151

i have been on venlafaxine for six years 150mg and many times over this period I have been feeling quite down last year after speaking with my doctor we agreed to come off this medication slowly and it worked no brain zaps nothing thought I was doing really well until last May when I went in hospital for a knee replacement the operation went really well except I went downhill really fast and sunk into depression again and the meds was put up again it took until November to start to feel a little better and then my brain told me I didn't need them anymore and I came slowly off them again unfortunately I felt terrible again I seem to have it in mind that they are not working anymore does anyone else experience these thoughts after speaking to my doctor I have asked to change medication as there seems no point in taking them if they ar not working and he gave me 50mg of sertraline to take as well and slowly come off the venlafaxine it's now 8 weeks and I still feel very low has anyone gone from venlafaxine to sertraline and are they any better

(sorry for the length of this)

sue

1 like, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • betsy0603
    betsy0603 sue34151

    Posted

    When these drugs poop out anxiety and depression are resulting symptoms, like wd even though you are still on the drug. Not relapse but caused by the drug. When you had surgery the stress and drugs may have triggered wd when otherwiseyouwere doing ok. When we come off, our nervous system is very sensitizedand anything can cause wd to come up. Going off and on further sensitizes us so that taking a new drug can go paradoxical. Are you on both drugs still? Sert can't negate wd from Ven if you have been tapering quickly. Are you feeling the same as when you began the Sert or before?
    • sue34151
      sue34151 betsy0603

      Posted

      Hi Betsy thanks for your reply still feeling really low but it's only six weeks on sertraline and still on 150mg venlafaxine I have a docs appt in two weeks and hopefully start to lower the venlafaxine and increase the sertraline so I'm hoping it will improve things soon. I'm not sure I will ever be able to come off these meds as I have been on different ones for many years, and i do think the effects start to decrease in time

      thanks again - sue

  • Phil0860
    Phil0860 sue34151

    Posted

    I have been on 3 different meds down the years at different times.

    I was quite happy on citalopram but it quite suddenly stopped working and I felt very bad.

    I was taken off 40mg citalopram and phased onto 150mg Venlofaxin.

    I am aware that citalopram is an ssri and venlofaxin is an snri - but generally the advice given was that the brain will grow accustomed to a med over time, neutralising the effectiveness of the treatment.

    Six years sounds like a long time to be on one prescription - but i'm not a doctor.

    My sister has been prescribed setraline and speaks well of it.

    I hope you start feeling better soon Sue x

    • sue34151
      sue34151 Phil0860

      Posted

      hi Phil thanks for your reply when I asked my doctor about the effects over the years he said they do not work like that but I think they do but I'm  hopefull that the sertraline will improve things in time it's just when you are feeling at your worst you want a quick fix to get back to " normal "  but I honestly can't remember normal I have decieded to keep a journal so I can look back and know that things will get better eventually.

      thanks again for replying - sue

    • Phil0860
      Phil0860 sue34151

      Posted

      I've been there and done the same thing. One day at a time.

      I'very been terribly frustrated with doctors contradicting each other and the consultant psychiatrists eventually just telling me 'we honestly don't know'. It upsets me more when a general practitioner behaves as if you're challenging god for asking simple questions.

      Some v poor practice around.

      The transition between meds is just the worst - shamefully many doctors just don't understand how painful that transition is, or if they do, they fail to empathise at all.

      I hope you feel better soon - I genuinely do Sue x

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