venlafaxine... please work again
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hello, I've also been having issues... I was prescribed venlafaxine immediate 75mg twice per day and I was doing really well .... then I was informed that the immediate release version was out of stock.. so i was put on 75mg prolonged release... within a few days I was suffering withdrawl symptoms and a a drop off in my mood.. so I gave it a few days and contacted my GP who said I may need a higher dosage so I went up to 150mg prolonged release once per day... the withdrawl symptoms went away but I was left feeling like I was starting allover again on the drug.. lots of side effects.. more anxiety and generally not feeling well... I gave it almost two weeks and then informed the dr that I wasn't getting on with the prolonged release and it felt totally different to me... anyway I decided as my local chemist was out of stock id try a few other chemists to see if there was any stock of the immediate release around... I manged to find someone with stock and so got a new prescription for 75mg twice per day... so I began taking them... the problem is I haven't managed to get back to the way I was feeling on the immediate release before all of this... so I'm a bit stuck as to what to do now... do I now need to increase the dosage... or am I sort of starting allover again... because that what it feels like.. my anxiety is allover the place again and my mood isn't great due to this... any help much appreciated..
0 likes, 6 replies
sandra01796 edward22674
Posted
Hi Edward
How long had you been on Venlafaxine before you started with the changes?
Venlafaxine has a very short half life, just a few hours so some people experience withdrawal effects/side effects quite quickly. If you were on 75mgs x2 and then changed to prolonged release 75mg, you were feeling the withdrawal symptoms of the missing 75mgs. You have now increased by 75mgs so you probably have side effects from that. A mixture of all things. I would think that if you were feeling okay before, I'm sure that if you wait for it all to settle down you will probably get back to where you were. It is important to take Venlafaxine at the same time everyday due to its short half life otherwise you are likely to get withdrawal symptoms.
Hope this information is helpful
edward22674
Posted
Hi, thank you for the reply. So I'd been on 75mg immediate release for just over a month before the change to 75 mg prolonged release, the as I was having withdrawal whilst taking the 75mg prolonged release the Dr added another 75mg prolonged release so I was then taking 150mg prolonged release.. But I felt I was then feeling over medicated or something.. So I manged to track down some immediate release and am now back on 75mg twice a day as I was before.. But I feel overly anxious with lower mood.. I hope that makes sense.
edward22674
Posted
sorry, I meant i was originally taking 75mg x2 immediate release originally... after the mix up.. im now back taking 75mg x2 immediate release. I guess maybe i should maybe stick with it for another week or so and if no different maybe look to increase the dosage... its very frustrating that the going on to the prolonged release seems to have upset my levels.. not to mention my anxiety and mood.
Guest edward22674
Posted
Hi, for the prolonged release do you have the capsules (which have little beads inside) or the solid tablets.
The tablets are rubbish... I would recommend the capsules. In the long term sustained release should be better without peaks and troughs in mood.
cheers
Ed
edward22674 Guest
Posted
Hi, well when i was switched to the 75mg prolonged release, first I was given brand effexor xl, this is when I went into withdrawl.... then when we tried the 150mg prolonged release I was given venliac tablets I think they were called ... this is when i began to feel sort of numb and over medicated I think... now Im back on the 75mg x2 immediate release and feel stable but just not as I was previously.. its sort of put me off the prolonged release tbh
Guest edward22674
Posted
Yes, I was on Effexor XL which worked for many years. My GPs surgery tried to switch me to venliac tablets because they were cheaper. They didn't work, so I switched back to the capsules (Effexor XL).