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What time of day does everyone take their ven? Think I need to change!

Posted , 7 users are following.

Rhubarb57
Rhubarb57

So I have gone from 150mg taken in 2 x 75mg one AM and one PM to taking 225mg once a day in the morning. I increased 3.5 weeks ago and thankfully the side effects (headaches, dizziness and increased anxiety) have almost gone smile

The trouble I'm having atm though is my head feels a bit zappy before I take my ven at 9am and by lunchtime I feel so tired, I've actually ended up napping after lunch for the last 3 days! Then come mid afternoon and evening I'm full of energy and can't sleep until around midnight... the good thing is I'm sleeping right through until 6 or 7 which is fantastic as I suffered from insomnia for 5 years until recently!!

So my question is really what times of day did you find suited you and why? I'm thinking that if I moved to taking before bed I'd have the zaps and tiredness at night and the energy in the daytime?

Thanks for reading smile

0 likes, 31 replies

31 Replies

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  • pixie22
    pixie22 Rhubarb57

    Posted

    I take the XL sustained release formulation but i take 150mg in the evening and 75mg first thing in the morning. It works for me. The doctor prescribes 75mg tablets.
    • Rhubarb57
      Rhubarb57 pixie22

      Posted

      That's what I've been considering doing. When I was on 150 I took 75 morning and 75 evening because if I took 150 in one go I had withdrawal before the next dose was due. Splitting the dose made so much difference but when the doc increased me he said that the 225 should last the 24 hours but it's definitely not!

    • pixie22
      pixie22 Rhubarb57

      Posted

      Are you on the XL extended release sort? They are supposed to last the full 24hours. My psychiatrist suggested taking the 75mg in the mornings because that's when i felt worst.

    • Rhubarb57
      Rhubarb57 pixie22

      Posted

      I am, the max half life of the XR is approx 21 hours and they established that I metabolize fast on 150mg as I began to have mild withdrawal symptoms a couple of hours before I was due the next dose. Are you on XR?
    • Rhubarb57
      Rhubarb57 pixie22

      Posted

      You are lol, just realised you'd already said that! Did you try taking the 225 in one dose?

    • nigel45109
      nigel45109 Rhubarb57

      Posted

      Glad you noticed about the xr not lasting 24 hours, it can be as little as 18 hours. Doctors say it doesnt matter, but sure it does. Think thats why so many people complain about feeling so bad in the moring. Most antidepressants are xr. I take immediate release ven, so not so bad, still i take first one when i first wake up around 6.00am, go back to slèep. When i wake up again a couple of hours later, feel much better.

    • pixie22
      pixie22 Rhubarb57

      Posted

      I did take the 225mg all at night to start with, then the psychiatrist suggested taking the 75mg as soon as i wake in the morning and it helped. Mine are called Venlalic XL and the pharmacist explained to me that they look like hard tablets but they are actually mini dosing balls which slowly release the drug at a constant rate. Then the empty skeletons pass out at the other end - i've noticed them sometimes!

    • Rhubarb57
      Rhubarb57 pixie22

      Posted

      Mine are Vensir XR and are 18 x 12.5mg beads inside a gelatin capsule. I've actually split my dose to 150 this morning and 75 tonight so I'm hoping I'll feel a bit better in the mornings and not have the withdrawal feelings after a couple of days. If it works I'll get my doc to give me 75mg capsules so I don't have to take the beads out each time lol

  • karen_57593
    karen_57593 Rhubarb57

    Posted

    I take mine as soon as I wake and about 10 ish at night I'm on 75mg twice a day xx

  • Rhubarb57
    Rhubarb57

    Posted

    I've been taking 150 in the morning and 75 at night since I posted this and have had a massive improvement 😊 Doctor is happy with me doing this and has prescribed appropriately so I don't have to split each capsule now lol

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