Hi there - does Venlafaxine help with social anxiety and increasing confidence? Currently on fluoxetine and not helping social anxiety much.
Hi David, fluoxetine didn't help me either. But then neither did venlafaxine either! The best one I found was citalopram, but everyone's different, what works for one person may not work for another
Hi gilly - thanks for your reply - a lot of people I know with anxiety are taking citalopram - in what ways does it help you? Sorry for being nosey but just trying to get medication right once and for all! Many Thanks.
No, David. My experience with venlafaxine is that it doesn't help with any kind of anxiety.
Ur not being nosey lol. When I first starting suffering with panic attacks I was put on citalopram. I hadn't left the house in 7 months, and within a few days of taking 10mg I was out and about! My life was back to normal for 5 years, i had no more anxiety and not a single panic attack. I came off them and was great for nearly a year, then one day I had a panic attack in a shop. I stupidly went running back to doc and demanded I was put back on citalopram, which unfortunately didn't work as well that time, so I asked for something else. To cut a long story short, I tried a few different ones and none worked. I am now medication free for 3 weeks and feel better than I have done in years!
Yes...it's one of the major drugs prescribed for social anxiety...worked really well for me in this respect (along with therapy)
Just read the other replies....it's true, everyone is different...citalopram didn't work for me but venlafaxine did...so i suppose it's worth a try...
The good thing I found with citalopram is that I had no side effects whilst taking it and no withdrawal symptoms when coming off it
Hi Lucy did you have any side effects? Are you stil taking it?
Well Venlafaxine did help me with social anxiety. A warning though, it is a really difficult medicine to withdraw from, so don't take it unless you feel it will help you.
If you are a shy rather withdrawn person to begin with I am not sure about increasing your confiudence. Do you feel that the illness has taken away your confidence?
That is great news. Shows that sometimes medication is not the answer, but it can help us through a rough spot.
Fluoxitine helped me for several years but then stopped working. Venlafaxine been effective for me in combination with mirtazapine. Citalipram made me dozy and more anxious. As other people have written, everyone is different so I'm afraid you have to try it to find out. Also I've found all medication takes a week or two to show its full effects.
Hallo David, after several other meds I was prescribed Venlafaxine 6 years ago. It really did work compared to the other anti~depressants & at the time I was very anxious & paranoid. It got me back into a far better way of life & I am glad for that. I would say that due to various things happening in my life over the past couple of years my confidence has come on leaps & bounds.
I thought I could take myself off the Venlafaxine and that's why I've had a horrible crash of feelings & emotions. I have to accept that for me it's just not the right time due to work, study & onset of winter.
I am going back to see my GP to get advice about if it is practical for me to be on a lower dose & planning for when I will slowly & safely reduce it altogether. That's what I would advise for anyone who is going to start taking it ~ look at possible side~effects & what happens if you no longer take it.
For me it's been on the whole a positive med to be taking. The weight gain hasn't been the best & I had very vivid dreams so my GP changed my prescription so I take med at bedtime.
Sorry for rambling on...Good luck with what you decide to do!
Hi David, I have been on venlafaxine for 10 years now, as for your question this is my personal experience in my answer. I found that venlafaxine deos not so much increase confidence as more numbs your feelings so you are less aware of your own anxieties, as I say it more numbs you but it does not make you socially confident. I have been on many different medications and I say that there is no drug which solves social anxiety, in the long run it is up to yourself to seek counselling of some kind though that does not guarentee you will be more extrovert, it is a decision you have to be willing to make and with myself I have withdrawn from outside activity.
Hi Anne it's a strange one as when I'm in my comfort zone I'm told I'm very self assured and eloquent yet if I'm in a meeting or meeting someone for the first time I'm so aware of potential nervousness that it turns on an anxiety switch...even when with family which never used to happen. I've had this for about 20 years now and never really addressed it properly. I've had a bad time with anxiety over the last 4 months and I feel like I'm making progress but can't seem to shake off this erratic anxiety around people when I know that when my confidence kicks I'm usually the very confident! It's like I'm at war with myself! I've had counselling which helps at the time but I think I really need to break down my thought patterns ....the problem stems from a lack of confidence as a child according to my therapist...I was a bed wetter until age 15 and felt abnormal and at a loss at the time.
David have you heard of 'tapping' ~ EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)? It is something I discovered via my best friend earlier this year. It's difficult to explain but if you google it you will be able to read about it. I've found it to be very effective & used it before an interview as I felt so anxious...
Hi Lisa yes I've tried that with a therapist and did feel some relief but haven't tried it before an anxious event maybe I should. I remember trying Sertraline once for depression but came off it stupidly because it made me nauseous ...but remember it did numb my self consciousness which is what I need.
I am wondering if it might be useful & worthwhile to look at alternatives to medication to decrease self~consciousness? I know that I've found the EFT to be useful & my best friend has just completed a course in it. She's going over it again with me later this week. I know that there are many ways of managing anxiety & feelings of self~consciousness. I'm not the most confident of people ~ especially in new situations but I find that focusing my mind in a positive way does help. Which can be easier said than done & something I'm still working on!
THANKS for sharing this! Gilly.
As an 18yo I had a panic attack just before doing a choral perfomance in front of 20 aged people. I don't think I really mentally got over / addressed this situation so anything else after was put back on this incident.
Anne240's I right I think. It would be great to have a headache tablet solution which kills off things for a day or so, BUT that doeesn't have an issue coming on / off. I was actually put on Methamphetamines at one stage [would you believe it was only because I had the name of the tablet on a folder sticking out of my bag when I went for the appointment?!?]
Perhaps people will have to keep helping other people like several husbands on the forum
We have a daily paper for the trains and any comments are "HEY this school kid didn't give up their seat" etc etc.. I come back with "well did you respectfully ask them?" cause my experience is they say "Ooh sorry and get up"
SO in the panic attack context, I wonder if there was a little extra good publicity about "helping people in distress" Then when you say - I'm sorry i'm having a panic attack", people will actually help instead of thinking they are going to be sued for abuse or filmed or something ..
VERY interesting comments Thank you David + lisa
I've been told that I scenarioise too much - got a video memory that can remember sights/sounds/smels/feelings from 41 years ago.
I then pre-scenarioise during a stress event and I think its like having 15 televisions on at the same time so I can hardly listen to the Real Me, cannot remember what was being discussed or anything.
Thks to Attenborough et al , I go back to ancient times and think what would this reaction be useful for? well security of the tribe, emergency situations like floods, etc. So maybe would have been a "crazy person" on the edge of the tribe untill the situation arises where the tribe needs to be saved, then it does its job.
NOTE: This scenarioising has a really good modern application in I.T. support where you get presented with It doesn't work and the tv's go on showing network issues, or screen problems, or memory, or, or, or.
Unfortunatly I got pushed from IT into management *waah* :P