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Venlafaxine

Anybody here on this Spawn of Satan that is legally prescribed as an anti-depressant?

I want a rant.

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Reply 1
*bump*

I've missed one dose and I'm seriously withdrawn.
Reply 2
AMathStudent
Used to take it. Stopped after a year got all the bad bits but none of the good.


What dosage were you on and how did you manage to come off it?

I'm struggling at just 37.5mg!
Reply 3
girl afraid
What dosage were you on and how did you manage to come off it?

I'm struggling at just 37.5mg!


I'm also a former victim of the evil stuff. I was on 150mg at the most, but I don't really remember how I came off it, I think I went down to 75mg and then just quit and stayed in bed for a few days while the side effects went away.
Reply 4
I know it's probably stating the obvious but have you talked to your GP about coming off it and the problems you're having? They should be able to prescribe you an alternative of some sort. Sorry i'm not an expert on these things but have known friends with similar problems. Hope you get it all worked out anyway :frown:
Reply 5
I used to be on them for OCD and they didn't really help. I stopped taking them for a few months and I started feeling like crap again, took them for a month and I'm thankfully (for now) completly over them.
Reply 6
.:fluff:.
I know it's probably stating the obvious but have you talked to your GP about coming off it and the problems you're having? They should be able to prescribe you an alternative of some sort. Sorry i'm not an expert on these things but have known friends with similar problems. Hope you get it all worked out anyway :frown:


Yeah, that was pretty obvious. I might as well be addicted to crack. You have no idea what you're talking about here.
Reply 7
Yeah, that was pretty obvious. I might as well be addicted to crack. You have no idea what you're talking about here.


Maybe not, but i was only trying to be nice...
Reply 8
girl afraid
Yeah, that was pretty obvious. I might as well be addicted to crack. You have no idea what you're talking about here.


Whoa, that was a little harsh.

But to answer your original question: yes, I am on the 'spawn of Satan' as you call it (150 mgs) and no, I'm not having any problems with it.

(I'd say the 'spawn of Satan' is....Chlorpromazine and, yes, they do still prescribe it.)
Reply 9

I used to take it. Weaned myself off it but it took around 18 months. It did help but i had to stop taking it when the side effects got too hard to handle.
Reply 10
Sarky

I used to take it. Weaned myself off it but it took around 18 months. It did help but i had to stop taking it when the side effects got too hard to handle.


I don't seem to be experiencing side effects (apart from hypersomnia)...touch wood. It's done wonders for my free floating anxiety. The only thing I'm worried about now is not being worried...even about things I *should* be worried about...comfortably numb.
Reply 11
Anybody who thinks Venlafaxine is a good drug is a fool.
Reply 12
When I was really bad with my depression I was put on 3x75mg per day and struggled a bit to begin with sorting out whether to take it 3 times a day or 2 in the morning and 1 at night etc. Once I got sorted i found it really did help so long as I didn't miss a dose, then I felt awful.

I found it loads better than fluoxetine (otherwise known as prozac) which did nothing other than make me feel worse.

I very very slowly reduced my doses following my GP's advice and had some pretty bad withdrawals for a few weeks but I feel ok now. I honestly believe without it I would still be suffering from my depression, whereas now it's at a level where I feel I can cope with it on a daily basis.
Reply 13
BellaCat
I don't seem to be experiencing side effects (apart from hypersomnia)...touch wood. It's done wonders for my free floating anxiety. The only thing I'm worried about now is not being worried...even about things I *should* be worried about...comfortably numb.


Its good you're not having side effects. My main one was hypersomnia. Might not seem that bad but when you're sleeping 12-16 hrs a day it starts to take its toll. I also had nausea which sucked. The numbness is weird. Now i'm not on anything i am so oversensitive and don't know how to handle it.
Reply 14
+~*Gemmagical*~+
Have you got a chip on your shoulder because your attitude seriously sucks, and everywhere I go on this forum you post. Jesus.


Are you on Venlafaxine? Nah. I didn't think so. So you can swivel on your opinions. You can't even take a bleeding joke about dated waistcoats FFS!

Venlafaxine is a very powerful drug, and probably the worse 'antidepressant' there is. Anybody who thinks it's a wonder drug has clearly never experienced the side-effects which are simply hellish.

If you don't like me, you know where you can go!
Reply 15
The side effects are horrible. I still think the drug probably stopped me from doing something terrible to myself a few years ago. So i'm not stupid for thinking its a good drug with some bad side effects. Finding a drug that does everything we would want it to do is easier said than done.
Reply 16
Have a look at some of the comments on this petition.

I've been trying to wean myself off this drug for 3 years now, and I'm finding it impossible. The almost instant withdrawal symptoms just aren't worth the hassle.

The drug has done nothing for me, apart from creating a dependancy.
Reply 17
girl afraid
Have a look at some of the comments on this petition.

I've been trying to wean myself off this drug for 3 years now, and I'm finding it impossible. The almost instant withdrawal symptoms just aren't worth the hassle.

The drug has done nothing for me, apart from creating a dependancy.


You don't have a right to tell me i'm stupid because it has worked for me. Yes it took me a long time to come off of, and yes it has side effects and i wouldn't go back on it without trying everything else first. It also took enough of the edge off so that i didn't kill myself when i thought that was the only thing i wanted. So for me it balanced out at a time. For you and many others it hasn't and thats awful because they don't tell you just how powerful this drug is. But calling people names who don't agree with you is immature.
My mum's on it, and yeah, the withdrawal is really bad. If she runs out on a Friday and doesn't know if she'll be able to get any before monday, she starts to panic, because it makes her severely ill. She once actually had a seizure, from a day's withdrawal, and the doctors refused to admit that it was the cause. Had to dig through a mountain of smallprint to find the line that says "withdrawal may cause [huge list of side effects] and on rare occasions seizure" :rolleyes:.

By the way, how old are you? As far as I'm aware, venlafaxine isn't supposed to be taken by teenagers as it has additional adverse effects.
Reply 19
Sarky

You don't have a right to tell me i'm stupid because it has worked for me. Yes it took me a long time to come off of, and yes it has side effects and i wouldn't go back on it without trying everything else first. It also took enough of the edge off so that i didn't kill myself when i thought that was the only thing i wanted. So for me it balanced out at a time. For you and many others it hasn't and thats awful because they don't tell you just how powerful this drug is. But calling people names who don't agree with you is immature.



It hasn't worked for many people actually. Around 99.9% of feedback I hear about Venlafaxine is negative. I didn't call anybody names. I implied that a positive disposition about this drug is foolish, considering what it does to people, regardless of what it personally did for you. I'm sure prozac or seroxat would have had the same effect, without all the nasty side-effects venlafaxine has.

And for those who have weaned themselves off venlafaxine, I'd like to know how they'd managed to do it, if they haven't done it the easy way by switching to another antidepressant.