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Venlaflaxine overdose

Posted , 8 users are following.

frieda31609
frieda31609

I discovered this site by accident while researching the after effects of venlaflaxine overdose. 2 weeks ago I took 56 150mg of vensir xl and Im incredibly lucky to be alive. I have absolutely no recollection of the event and was unconsious for around 60 hours. When I woke up with drips, cardiac monitors and an oxygen mask I thought I'd had a heart attack or something. A doctor explained that I'd taken a lethal overdose and had experienced several seizures and dangerously fast and slow heart activity and wasnt out of danger yet. I spent 9 days in hospital before being discharged to community mental health. I,ve suffered from depression since the birth of my son 5 years ago but have NEVER contemplated suicide. I have been on numerous antidepressants and started on vensir in Dec 2014 at 37.5mg, by the begining of may i was being prescribed 300mg daily and the past 6 months is almost a blank. Because of the OD I've been in cold turkey but now 2 weeks later my mind hasn't been as clear in years. I feel like on vensir I was buried under a layer of cement with no emotion, no appitite, no personality, no sleep and zero motivation. I spent my days while my son went to school literally staring at the floor for hours or playing candy crush, really, for 4 or 5 hours at a time. I couldn't concentrate on TV or read a newspaper or even listen to music. I have to learn to cope with the guilt of almost leaving my children without their mother or my husband without a wife but I can honestly say it was not a planned or consious act to take my own life but another terrible side effect of this very powerful and dangerous drug. Please think carefully before starting venlaflaxine because for me it was almost fatal sad

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • ian25191
    ian25191 frieda31609

    Posted

    Hi.

    When i was really ill i thought of suicide many times but never had the courage to do it.

    Your attempt may have been down to the drug that treated you although many on here will disagree.

    I am now coming off it with the advice of others on this site and am feeling better after only 2 weeks. I am thinking more clearly and generally feeling better. I saw the psychiatrist once who put me on this with no follow up so i assume he concluded i would be on it forever.My GP seems to have limited knowledge of it so here i am on here seeking help from strangers.

    Good luck to you it seems you have a good family around you and can now push on without venlofaxine.

    • frieda31609
      frieda31609 ian25191

      Posted

      hi ian thank you for the reply,

      I am totally convinced my od was due to my dose being increased too high too fast! Its a very powerful drug with terrible side effects and although it may work well for some I would advise anyone to apporach with cation!! I am so glad your feeling better and it is great to have the support and advice from strangers we cant seem to find from our healthcare system smile

  • pixie22
    pixie22 frieda31609

    Posted

    So sorry to read about your suffering. That just goes to show you have to be careful when you first start on a new drug. Tell the doctor if it isn't working, before you get to the desperate stage. Venlafaxine has been a life saver for me, given me back my sanity and a normal happy life. It doesn't suit everyone, but then nothing does - everyone has to find their own way. I truly hope you can find your's.
    • frieda31609
      frieda31609 pixie22

      Posted

      Thank you pixie22. I'm not on here to dis any medication because i know what works for some wont work for others but there does seem to be a lot of people on here having bad side effects and worse withdrawal from this med. I just wanted to share my experience and try to cation others because it seems to me many GPs are unaware or unwilling to share this info. A little caution of the perhaps the difficult withdrawal process a lot people seem to be going through would maybe encourage us to do a little research before starting a new med. I know my GP just gets out her little drug book to see what we havent tried yet and it just seems to be whatever is next on the list! I'm so glad its working for you and you're feeling better but be careful how high you let your dose get because it seems the heavier the dose the worse the side effects get and you cant remember why you started the meds in the first place..
  • helen10754
    helen10754 frieda31609

    Posted

    Hi Fieda I can totally understand where you're coming from as I had a similar issue.  I've been off this (and all medication by choice) after my OD episode 3 months ago but whilst I felt fantastic initially my depression has returned full circle. Please be aware that this euphoric stage may taper (after discussions with a pharmacist who went through exactly the same) just be on the lookout for signs as it really knocked me when they came back and am now finding it hard. I understand that this may not happen to everyone but to go from feeling the best I've felt in 14 years to now really knocked me for six as I'd stupidly thought I'd beaten it. Good luck in your future and be open and honest to your family & gp if you find things slipping.
    • frieda31609
      frieda31609 helen10754

      Posted

      Hi Helen, thank you for taking the time to reply smile. I really feel the need to pick your brain so I do apologise for all the questions! I've been home from hospital for almost a week now and I'm suffering from extreme memory loss. This it seems is very common after drug induced seizures or so I'm told. Did you experience this? I'm feeling very vunerable as I can't go out alone because I will get lost and very anxious about meeting people I'm supposed to know because I feel I'll need to explain myself as to why I don't know them (I'm a terrible actress). The euphoria I have been feeling is wearing off very quickly and being replaced by fear and helplessness, I don't want to apporach my GP with this because I know I'll be offered more pills to help me cope! I,ll be very happy to never take another paracetamol in my life!!! What have you been doing to try and manage without meds?
    • helen10754
      helen10754 frieda31609

      Posted

      Hi I'm glad to help. Have the crisis team not been involved yet. They should have been contacted by the hospital before you were discharged.  They visited every single day and would help you ( or whatever your problems are), I never experienced seizures but have absolutely no recollection of how the paramedics got into my house or the trip to the emergency room. In fact the first thing I remember is being practically kicked out of A&E with no

      money in my pyjamas early on a Monday morning with no way of getting home. I can understand your reluctance of speaking with your gp but I

      insisted that I was not going to take any more antidepressants until my body

      could adjust to having to go cold turkey. You can refer yourself for

      counselling and mental health assessment but it is going to take at least 6

      weeks for the medication to leave your system. I'm awaiting my first appointment with a new therapist (after referring myself) but the health service doesn't do anything fast and if it wasn't for accessing a trainee (talking) counsellor almost a year ago (through Open Door services) I wouldn be here today. So please be strong and contact your local crisis team or Samaritans or local mental health team (anyone you can think of) and tell them how you are feeling. You shouldn't have to go through this on your own. You can message me any time good luck and fight for what you want

    • frieda31609
      frieda31609 helen10754

      Posted

      Aww what a terrible experience! Crisis team came before I was discharged but said I would wait 6 weeks for an appointment with CMHT!

      Fortunately for me my GP had already refered me and I had my first appointment yesterday. It was really just a Q&A session with an occupational therapist and a lot of the questions I couldn't answer because of the memory issues and they hadn't recieved a report from the crisis team so knew nothing about the OD! I'm thinking it's going to be a long struggle but my head is clearer now and I'm done hiding in my bed crying. I'm fed up hiding my mental health issues and am determined to get better for my family and myself. I can't get any lower and I didn't die so it's not my time to go and I really want to have a life again!!!! Thanks again for taking the time to listen and share, I wish you health and happiness Helen x 

  • helen10754
    helen10754 frieda31609

    Posted

    Frieda31609 that is awesome to hear I wish you all the best. Be open and honest with yourself and others and you will move mountains 
  • adele45177
    adele45177 frieda31609

    Posted

    Hi Freida. I was just researching what happens when you overdose on Venaflaxine when I so your report on what happened to you. I've been fighting depression for more than 30yrs. I don't know how many tablets I took but I started to feel very strange. I wanted to commit suicide but somehow through feeling very strange in my head I called the Samaretions. I didn't feel that they understood me so I called 111 because I didn't want to be a burden on the ambulance crew. The next thing I remember is being in A&E and my head was all-over the place. I remember my head shaking and twitching very violently. I couldn't control it. I later woke up on a ward. I was told that I had, had 2 seizers. It was a very scary experience. After reading what happened to you I,m going to ask the mental health team to slowly wean me off this drug. I have just read that it has been banned in the USA. I hope that you are feeling good now and all the best for the future.

  • patricia67496
    patricia67496 frieda31609

    Posted

    I am on the same meds and it hasn't been discontinued or banned from the US (I live in California).  I tried going off of them but I honestly couldn't get thru the withdrawals.  I couldn't sit still and wanted to throw myself off a bridge. 

  • shazalia80824
    shazalia80824 frieda31609

    Posted

    Same thing happened to me with a life threatening overdose of venlafaxine and i totally stopped taking them after my overdose and I’m still having my memory zapps and loosing my memory a lot but I’m wondering will it get better as time goes on the seizures lefter me with lots of pain but I still don’t remember much what happened just know a lot from what my family and doctors and nurses told me all I know is I’m very lucky to be here, but I hope all goes well for you! 
  • maxxie
    maxxie frieda31609

    Posted

    I am sorry to hear about what happened; however, I need to ask how long did the venalaflaxine overdose take to show signs? I am asking out of fear, but I am a worry wart and don't want to worry my doctor unless I am sure.

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