Hi there
Just wondering if anyone out there suffers a delay in side effects. I seem to be able to get started and over the initial side effects relatively easily but after about 8 months or so the drug appears to stop working and I have the most awful side effects. At the moment I have the full fuzzy painful head and face, dizziness, nausea and a bit of a loose bottom. Feeling very irritable, anxiety creeping in and mood getting lower by the day. Don't know if this is 'poop out' or my depression and if I need to go up a dose or not???? currently only on 37.5mgs bd (had to reduce a couple of months ago as 75mgs bd had too many side effects). Confused???
Gillian
Firstly DO NOT PANIC!
I've been taking venlafaxine (not the extended release form) in high doses up to 375mg since 1996 and have had almost no trouble with side effects once the levels have settled down and the drug has saved my life.
Sounds like you might have a stomach bug which could be affecting the absorption of venlafaxine so you may be getting withdrawal symptoms. Or have you missed a dose?
Other possibilities are that you have recently changed to an extended release form or generic form and the absorption of the drug is not exactly the same as usual. If so your body should get used to it in a few days.
Good luck and I hope this helps!
Hi there
thanks for your reply, I missed a dose about a fortnight ago surely I am not still feeling the effects of that 2 weeks later? No stomach bugs but plenty of depression symptoms - can't imagine being on this for 14 years!!!
Hmm. Time to consult a medical person. I really haven't had the withdrawal symptoms you describe, except when I've reduced the dose under supervision. A lot of them do sound like a virus or some other bug though possibly the worrying isn't helping. I've also been very strict about taking the pills at the right time because varying it can cause problems. Not every drug suits every person though.
Actually, I was first given venlafaxine in December 1996 so I've been on it 13 years and they've been the most stable ones of my life. The 10 years before that were hell - I can tell a lot of stories about weird medication effects. I used to be on four different things simultaneously and none of them worked. I was so depressed I couldn't move, or think or speak sometimes.
Nowadays nobody needs to know I was ever ill, but I'm on 300mg per day and my third baby is due in a month or so -which is why I'm finding it hard to sleep and stay up so late. I've been reading up on the drug again because I've just switched to the controlled release form because of persistent morning sickness.
Anyway, you will get past this.