Venlafaxine for social anxiety?

Posted , 11 users are following.

Hi there - does Venlafaxine help with social anxiety and increasing confidence? Currently on fluoxetine and not helping social anxiety much.

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  • Posted

    Fluoxitine helped me for several years but then stopped working. Venlafaxine been effective for me in combination with mirtazapine. Citalipram made me dozy and more anxious. As other people have written, everyone is different so I'm afraid you have to try it to find out. Also I've found all medication takes a week or two to show its full effects.
  • Posted

    Hallo David, after several other meds I was prescribed Venlafaxine 6 years ago. It really did work compared to the other anti~depressants & at the time I was very anxious & paranoid. It got me back into a far better way of life & I am glad for that. I would say that due to various things happening in my life over the past couple of years my confidence has come on leaps & bounds. 

    I thought I could take myself off the Venlafaxine and that's why I've had a horrible crash of feelings & emotions. I have to accept that for me it's just not the right time due to work, study & onset of winter. 

    I am going back to see my GP to get advice about if it is practical for me to be on a lower dose & planning for when I will slowly & safely reduce it altogether. That's what I would advise for anyone who is going to start taking it ~ look at possible side~effects & what happens if you no longer take it. 

    For me it's been on the whole a positive med to be taking. The weight gain hasn't been the best & I had very vivid dreams so my GP changed my prescription so I take med at bedtime.

    Sorry for rambling on...Good luck with what you decide to do! 

  • Posted

    Hi David, I have been on venlafaxine for 10 years now, as for your question this is my personal experience in my answer.  I found that venlafaxine deos not so much increase confidence as more numbs your feelings so you are less aware of your own anxieties, as I say it more numbs you but it does not make you socially confident.  I have been on many different medications and I say that there is no drug which solves social anxiety, in the long run it is up to yourself to seek counselling of some kind though that does not guarentee you will be more extrovert, it is a decision you have to be willing to make and with myself I have withdrawn from outside activity.
    • Posted

      Hi Simon - thanks for the reply - I find it confusing the amount of SSRIs and SNRIs available - whenever I discuss these things with my GP they reach straight for the citalopram or sertraline. My main problem at the moment is this crazy obsesion of making a fool of myself in certain social situations - all my life I seem to have obsessed over one or more things to the point where I create a hard line rule for behaviour and reaction. People say venlafaxine is hard to withdraw from but I thought these medications could be managed with gradually lowering the dosage?
    • Posted

      It isn't that easy, David.  It's not like when you withdraw from a narcotic. A nasty week, maybe two at worst.  Not at all.  When you take these drugs, your brain stops producing the neurotransmitters it requires.  The drugs provide them.  When you stop taking the drugs, you go through withdrawal.  At the end of the physical symptoms, your brain is still not producing.  Have you tried other modalities?  Have you done one-on-one work with a therapist?  Tried group therapy?  Tried EFT?  My suggestion is that venlafaxine should be the very last thing you try.  This is a horrible drug.  I am almost seven months without it and my life is a nightmare.  The worst thing is probably that it never worked properly for me so the psychiatrist kept increasing the dose.  I was at 350 mg daily and still extremely depressed.  So I took the drug, continued to suffer and must now suffer additionally to get my poor, broken brain back to its baseline.  As I said, I'm nearly seven months from my last, tapered dose.  Nonetheless, I burst into tears at the grocery store check out or talking to the teller at my bank.  I sleep about 3-4 hours a night -- that's it and I am exhausted all of the time.  I have the kind of impulsivity that causes automobile accidents.  I am prone to rage.  Don't take this drug if there's any way to avoid it.  Doctors don't tell you about these things.  They just hand you the pills and hope for the best.  But it's a crap shoot.  I know that I sound like a doom-sayer.  I'm sorry.  Think long and hard before you enter this arena, David.  Long and hard. 
    • Posted

      I am on a gradual reduction now I was at 225mg am now down to 37.5mg so far so good, however venlafaxine has a habit of giving you withdrawl even stopping the lower doses.  At the same time I do have to say through the worst crisis it has seen me through and for that I am greatful.  SNRI's like venlafaxine not only control uptake of seratonin but also noradrenalin so stopping is difficult and for me the next stage is 0, and I have to say this worries me some as the withdrawl can be a nightmare to go through, I tried cold turkey, big mistake.  I can see where you are looking for something to subdue the automatic coping mechanisms that come into play when in social situations.  My advice would be to weigh up the pros and cons before you decide to continue, venlafaxine may not make you more social but it can numb nerves when in social situations, which may supress those coping mechanisms.  Whilst I a not advocate of venlafaxine as I said earlier it did help me, so yes it may help you but just weigh it up, I am not sure I would have started taking venllafaxine had I been aware of the addiction factor.  My doctor still says I should take it for life, but also understands my determination to switch fom SNRI to SRI.  Sorry am going on a bit, maybe it could be of help for you as per what you describe as the difficulty in social situations.  I hope some of my rambling is of some help to you David, keep in touch.  All my best.
  • Posted

    From what I've gathered venlafaxine is the hardest one to withdraw from, I looked at a website where they had done a survey and venlafaxine had the highest withdrawal at 82%, escitalopram 75%, paroxetine 69%, duloxetine 69%, sertraline 62%, citalopram 60%. But as I've said before everyone is different and will experience different levels of withdrawal
    • Posted

      This is what I know.  Venlafaxine is the go-to drug of the United States Veterans Adminsitration.  It is one of the drugs VA doctors most often prescribe to soliders who have war-related depression.  And when it doesn't work, they layer on other drugs and jack up the dose.  I know this because I have been getting my healthcare through the VA.  Right now the VA is staggering under the numbers of American war veterans who either kill themselves or attempt to kill themselves while withdrawing from this drug.  It's my opinion that doctors do not have a clue about what happens to a person coming off of this drug.  It's not a grin and bear it kind of thing.
    • Posted

      Hello Maureen.  I am 73 years old and last year I weaned off this drug over 10 months with no symptoms at all.  If it is done carefully and slowly there is no reason that IU can see why it cannot be weaned off.

      I have been on numerous anti depressants over 20 years.  I am not a strong person, but I think if I can come off Venlafaxine, then anybody can.  I was very meticulous about withdrawing.  Yes it is difficult to withdraw from with no withdrawals.  I have even stopped it cold turkey, as have many others who post here.  I don't think it is bad as you say.

    • Posted

      Hi All

      - I think there is a lot of relearning that the brain needs to do before it settles back cause VF was putting it in automatic.

      - The brain needs to stop shouting over the VF .. perhaps thats the rage that Maureen talks about.

      - I personally have an additional issue with I'm expecting me to be improved, but I'm not.. I'm getting very Intolerant ie shirts dry creased in the dryer cause I forgot them.. so they take a flight into the swimming pool. (highly suggest that one .. its better than destroying someones enjoyment / party / dinner / mobile phone etc.)

      BTW Simon, Lifeline geve me a little card "STOP | BREATHE | THINK/DECIDE"

      - I've got a 'First emotional reaction' to stuff - believe its genetic. IF I remember, I can sometimes become logical rather than emotional example is the lost keys.

      HTH

    • Posted

      I do like 'the brain needs to stop shouting over the VF'....so very true. On reflection I have been getting kittled up recently over the most trivial things. It's been a process of learning for me & I know I've come a long way....

      Focusing on breathing definitely helps! 

    • Posted

      - mentioned it before, but its a party situation where the music stops and everyone is still talking loudly.

      - Additional is more energy instead of yeah right i'll do that mm maybe to RIGHT GOTTA DO THAT NOW. Scary for others.

  • Posted

    Im just starting Venflaxine and I should warn you in the early stages ( and I am now just finishing week 1 ) my anxiety was worse. This is a known issue my doctor said and I have diazapam for when my anxiety is at its worst. I know in a few week I guess if it help or not. But if my anxiety is not managed then it will be a fat waste of time as an anti depressant too.

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