Just thought I'd share my experiences. Started a couple of years ago when I realised I was just generally \"down\" and easily irritated by little things. I'd recently had an episode where the HR head lied to the directors about something which was bad enough (I don't think to this day the directors know who to believe) but then I had a major falling out with one of the directors over something else (which he later apologised for) and went home and burst into tears - a grown man crying! The next day I went to the local surgury and the triage nurse was superb, explaining things and generally being understanding. I couldn't see the GP straight away but did in the next few days and he started me on Fluoxetine 20mg. These were fine, no side effects apart from feeling drowsy and needing a nap most afternoons. After the suicide of a close friend I went up to 40mg daily for several months before coming back down to 20mg again.
However, I noticed that things weren't really improving so I went back to the GP and asked what could be done. He suggested Venlafaxine which I accepted, not knowing the consequences. The plan was to stop Fluox straight away, leave for 3 days, then to start on Ven. No tapering but then I didn't have any side effects really. But within a day of starting Ven I was off sick from work because I physically could not function. I wa sweating profusely, I felt drunk, nauseous, nearly vomited, and a whole host of other things. Still, I had to give it time to work and fair enough most symptons subsided after a week - except for one which, after a month, I realised wasn't going to go away. Basically I just wasn't interested in sex at all, which didn't go down well with the wife.
So come week six and, after the occasional missed dose where I suffered \"brain zaps\", I decided to see the GP again. This time I was armed with a list of antidepressants and their pros and cons. He barely looked at me as he wrote out a prescription for Mirtazine instead. Fortunately this was on my \"good\" list. He wanted me to stop Ven completely for 3 days and then start on 15mg of Mirt for a week before going up to 30mg. I asked about withdrawal symptoms and he said, \"don't worry, you've only been on them six weeks\". How wrong was he?
My last Ven was Monday morning. By Tuesday lunchtime the brain zaps were starting as the Ven's half life ran out. Wednesday was rather blurry and by lunchtime I felt completely plastered - I couldn't focus, had brain zaps several times a second, couldn't remember names, and couldn't walk a straight line. In the end I had to take a train home and leave the car at work. I started the Mirt that evening (doc said better at night as it could be drowsy). Thursday I couldn't stay awake. I got up at 11:45, had some breakfast, then sat on the sofa. The next thing I knew it was 5pm and I was still struggling to stay awake. I didn't feel like eating but had some dinner anyway. I was really irritable by this point, snapping at the smallest things. Yet despite all that sleep, I still slept through the night. Friday wasn't much better, though I only slept half the day this time. I had my regular singing lesson in the afternoon and the teacher said I appeared to be stoned.
Thanks to the bank holiday weekend I didn't need to go back to work until Tuesday when I felt sufficiently recovered from the brain's shock withdrawal of Ven. I was still getting the brain zaps though, but one every few minutes rather several a minute.
It's now Thursday, 10 days after stopping Ven, and I have a hell of a hangover. Yes, it quite clearly states in the Mirt box and the pharmacist label that alcohol should be avoided. But I'd read that this was because the effects could be enhanced. I had about 1/2 of a bottle of wine (normally I can drink 1-1.5 without a problem) and plenty of water but my head was extremely painful. It was our anniversary hence the wine, however I think I will cut right down on the alcohol now.
Finally, my libido is back!
So the things I have learnt:
- Don't take Venlafaxine. Ever.
- If you're already on it, try to get rid of it. Try to put up with the withdrawal symptoms as they should subside within 1-3 weeks, but you might want to get your GP to sign you off sick for that time.