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Venlafaxine high dose, 8 weeks in and not working

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jo77975
jo77975

Hi. If anybody has any words of encouragement, I'd be so grateful... Suffer from recurrent MDD. Had lots of episodes 😞 more than a dozen. Was OK on Venlafaxine past three years (that's my go-to drug as found SSRIs less effective). Reduced dose too low though in late autumn - lots of reasons; all seem pathetic now and I wish to God I hadn't. Crashed five days before Christmas (great). Responded by quickly slamming up dose, first to 150, then 225 and on 1 Jan to 300. Here I am, nearly eight weeks after relapse kicked off, exhausted, hopeless and fighting suicidal thoughts.

Does anyone have any experience of a similar situation, where the Venlafaxine does kicks in after all? I am so afraid I've ruined my receptiveness to it by coming off it (misguidedly) a few times in the past.

Seeing psychiatrist tomorrow, but I really don't want to add in anything else. Already resorted to Pregablin to help with the high anxiety I'm experiencing.

Sorry it's long. Thank you if you've taken trouble to read and I hope you're doing good yourself.

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • PatientMod-B
    PatientMod-B jo77975

    Posted

    Hi jo77975

    We note from a recent post which you have made to our forum that you may be experiencing thoughts around self-harm. If we have misinterpreted your comments then we apologies for contacting you directly. But if you are having such thoughts then please note that you are not alone in this, and there are people out there that can help.

    If you are having these suicidal thoughts then we strongly recommend you speak to someone who may be able to help. The Samaritans offer a safe space where you can talk openly about what you are going through. They can help you explore your options, understand your problems better, or just be there to listen.

    Their contact details are on our patient information leaflet here: https://patient.info/health/dealing-with-suicidal-thoughts, which also offers lots of other advice on how you can access the help you may need.

    If you are having such thoughts then please do reach out to the team at the Samaritans (or the other people detailed in our leaflet) who will understand what you're going through and will be able to help.

    Kindest regards

    Patient

  • nigel45109
    nigel45109 jo77975

    Posted

    hello, im currently on 332.5mg. i found that ven took 10 weeks before i started to notice first improvements, and another 4 or so weeks, before i was sort of okay. improvements carried on by small amounts, for some time beyond that. people who take ven, cymbalta or mirt, are usually in a worse state than people that take ssris, as we have tried those first in the first instance and they dont work. our resistance to recovery is greater, and it takes us longer to respond. 10 to 12 weeks seems quite a commin period of time to see improvements. those around you will notice improvements in you weeks before you notice them yourself. you need to give it another 4 weeks at least. dont give up now, you could be giving up the answer for you. keep going. only reason i gave ven so long, 10 or 11 weeks, before improvements, is that logically, thats the minimum period you need to try them for. when improvements do come, after such a long wait, them happen quite quickly.all the best.

    • jo77975
      jo77975 nigel45109

      Posted

      Thank you so much Nigel, for that encouragement. Have actually had better couple days, so fingers crossed - could be finally lifting.

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