Hello to the wonderful community,
I am here to update my previous posts on my experience with Venlafaxine. Long story short, following a failed attemp at using Paroxetine for the nth time (it had worked wonderfully in the past) to cure my recurrent depression and anxiety disorders (w/ panic attacks), I was put on Venlafaxine at the end of July. I progressed from 37.5mg to 225mg, after a long spell on 150mg (mid August to mid November). Last week, I also changed from Effexor to a high-quality (according to pdoc) generic brand available in Europe (also extended release). I am also getting CBT.
Disclaimer: you should in no way be discouraged by what I am reporting, as this medication usually works better, faster and at lower doses than in my case. I am better but not OK yet.
Symptoms that have gone away for good (hopefully): panic attacks; suicidal thoughts; complete hopelessness and despair
Symptoms that come back at times (not every day): mild anxiety; waking up in the middle of the night (but if I’m not waking up with a panic attack, I’ll go back to sleep quite easily); confusion/brain fog
Symptoms that have NOT gone away: oscillating low mood (not THAT low, but not good either); difficulty concentrating; drowsiness and some confusion when I wake up, lasting about 1/2 hour.
Symptoms that have appeared at dosage above 150mg: a strange headache which I can only describe as a feeling of internal pressure, appearing around 1 hour after medication, which I take in the morning, and lasting until mid-afternoon (this is not painful as migraine, but it really makes it hard to do anything while I have it); tinnitus in the form of a strange buzzing (all day long, but I can distract myself from it); some memory impairment (need time to recall what I did in the past days); vertigo (at times)
Concerning the last point, I find vertigo and tinnitus quite strange, since they look very much like the symptoms I had when withdrawing from Paroxetine (and, based on what I read, also like symptoms that appear when withdrawing from Venlafaxine). Yet so far I have just kept increasing my dosage.
Positive note: I had no increased anxiety when moving from 150mg to 187.5mg and then to 225mg.
Negative note: I strongly felt the change from Effexor to the generic brand, which I did at the 225mg dose.
I think I have some difficulty with this medication, as it has been working pretty decently with my mood, very decently with my panic/anxiety, but I still feel away from normalcy, possibly because of all the unresolved/new symptoms I have listed.
Honestly, I am a bit afraid that my doctor is going to suggest a further increase, although he has also mentioned the possibility of adding another medication on top of the current dosage (don’t know which medication, wasn’t told).
I look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions. I also hope that these experiences may be of help to some in the community.
Best, T21.