Venlafaxine (Effexor)

[SPC123]

Does anyone have any experience using this drug? I am considering asking my doctor for a prescription but I am unsure if this is the smartest move. I am positive I have anxiety, but I am unsure if my depression is clinical or just caused by failures due to anxiety. I would like to hear from others who have used this drug, and might be able to share their experiences.

I have read this article:

http://www.ccspublishing.com/j_psych/depression_and_anxiety.htm

It seems to conclude that venlafaxine is positively indicated for combined depression and GAD.

Perhaps it would be smarter to at least try an SSRI such as fluoxetine first? It seems fluoxetine has less danger of withdrawal and less potential side effects than venlafaxine...

My biggest issue is that I am currently only seeing my GP. I am in Canada, and the wait time to see a psychiatrist coule be upwards of 8 months (or longer). My doctor has already made the referral, but I have been waiting 2 weeks and still have not even heard from the psych nurse about an appointment time to be evaluated. I wouldn't even start the wait to see a psychiatrist until after a psych nurse referral, and for all I know they will call next week and tell me 2 or 3 months just to get my evaluation.

So with that in mind, and considering my GP probably isn't as knowledable as a psychiatrist in psych meds, I am trying to do as much research as I can to help treat myself.

 

[drminaq]

yeah i have been taking it for years it doesn't seem to do much for my depression but i use other drugs which probably cancel out any positive effect. Try it for 6 weeks but it is very addictive in the sense that every time i try and stop taking it i get brain shock, general lethargy and well depression

 

[scotty2captin]

don't ever take this drug. It will make you level headed and life bleak and uninteresting. its withdrawl is immidiate and intesnse. it was harder to quit than heroin because the "brain shocks" are such a foreign sensation. my advice? go to talk therapy if you have something wrong. whatever the cause of your anxiety/ depression is its better to try to find the root than try to cure the symptoms with a ridiculous pill that almost ruined my life, it made me practically psychotic coming off of it and it made me more depressed that i had ever been. depressed to the point that i tried heroin. thats how i know that withdrawl from heroin isn't as bad as effexor. if you want a clear head i can't streess enough don't do that shit

sure it might help you and some people. but you'd be curing symptoms, not the problems and those symptoms come back quick and strong. try to cure the problem

 

[nuke]

--> HL

I tried venlafaxine before. It did nothing at all, but that's not surprising because I have ADHD and not depression. It's also basically an SSRI, it does not have a huge affinity for NET compared to SERT, although the active metabolite desvenlafaxine has a slightly higher affinity for NET.

I'd say go with fluoxetine. If an SSRI is gonna work for you, fluoxetine will probably be the one, and it has a good track record. The only big thing about that drug is the weight gain, but all SSRIs can do that.

If you're proactive about it, you can see a psychiatrist within a month in Canada, just ask around and try to get a bunch of referrals because some won't even get back to you. Beware that the psychiatrists are often as overburdened as the GPs, and may not be able to give you a lot of time, too. You may want to try a psychologist in the meantime.

 

[Thorz]

I was using Effexor for a couple years straight at about 300mg about 2 years ago. I tried many different antidepressants for social anxiety/depression. Nothing worked until I met effexor. Maybe an SNRI is what I needed as opposed to the SSRIs. My anxiety actually began to lift and I started living a new happy life until I decided I no longer needed it.

Yes, the withdrawls are pretty terrible. Brain shocks are what I remember the most but if you taper to a low enough dose then finally stop, you only have a couple days to suffer the major side effects.

As you can see my story is different then everyone elses. That's how these drugs work. Usually always hit or miss.

 

[Z Y G G Y]

IMO see a psychologist before u try it. I tried several ADs and none of them worked as well as talk therapy did as it is long lasting and having more sound reasoning helps anxiety a lot more than any drug really can IMO.

Whatever u decide, this is just what I have experienced. I see those drugs as money makers and that is their first priority. Helping people would come later on the list.

 

[caff]

I felt flat and lifeless on this drug, so I can't recommend it at all, but some people have had positive experiences. The withdrawals were the worst feeling I have ever felt in my life, by far. I discovered that you can substitute Effexor for another SSRI with a longer half life (such as citalopram or fluoxetine). When you want to stop, take one of these drugs for just a couple of days and you will be able to get back to normal with no withdrawals. Truly works

 

[Perpetual Indulgence]

So with that in mind, and considering my GP probably isn't as knowledable as a psychiatrist in psych meds, I am trying to do as much research as I can to help treat myself.

Well you should not be trying to treat yourself. People who think they know what drugs to be on make me crazy. Information gathering is important though.

If you can wait until you get into the psychiatrist I highly recommend it. Unless you want to do something crazy to get yourself higher on the triage list...that is a bad joke.

GP's do the best they can. It isn't good enough when it comes to mental health and drug management. There is a reason for SPECIALISTS.

In the meantime, get yourself into therapy to learn coping skills and explore the root cause(s) of your failing mental health.

My husband is on 300mg Effexor (rx'd by a psychiatrist) for depression and anxiety. He has been doing great for the past 2 years. He sees the doc every 3 months now. He was being poorly managed by his GP for the previous 5-6 years. Different drug cocktails that only fucked him further.

 

[thujone]

GP's do the best they can. It isn't good enough when it comes to mental health and drug management. There is a reason for SPECIALISTS.

psychiatrists also "do the best they can," the difference is that a GP actually has knowledge of your insides whereas a psychiatrist couldn't tell the difference between your pineal and pituitary gland if you plucked out your brain and tossed it on their desk.

trusting a psychiatrist is putting faith into someone whose only means of diagnosing your illness is by talking to you about it, and then banking on the long shot that any number of drugs that have only existed in the past three decades or less will stir your courage and make you a productive member of society again.

doesn't exactly instill a great deal of confidence, especially considering their propensity to keep a person trying new meds until they stumble upon the one with favourable results, or failing that, give you a cocktail of other drugs to take the edge off the drug that falls closest to the mark.

short of a few years studying what's already been established about psychological disorders, there isn't a great deal separating a self-diagnosis from a "professional" assessment.

 

[Z Y G G Y]

Is there anyway u can see the psychdoc earlier? Like instead of going through public insurance, go see a doctor privately by paying some money. If u do end up waiting 8 months, that it the time u could be getting treated and by that time u might already have significant relief as if u wait u'll be at the starting point in 8 months. I come from a country with a public insurance system and if someone can't be seen by a doctor they pay out of pocket if the need is significant. Ur mental health is one of the most important things. Instead of waiting around, get a job and pay for the doctor. I had to pay out of pocket for a year of psychiatric treatment, $500 per month and it was wort every penny. I'm glad I didn't wait for the public treatment that would have been done a year later.

I know in Canada u have free healthcare and u should get these services for free but sometimes u need to find a different way of getting what u need. If ur life is being affected significantly, then u need to find a quicker way of getting help. By waiting u r losing valuable time.

Is it possible to see psychdocs in private practice when u want to? Like u can in European countries that have public insurance? Some docs there take patients on their free time, by taking a usually some money from the patient. When I vacationed there the amount I always paid was nothing compared to paying out of pocket in the states. I wonder how different Canada is from those countries in healthcare.

 

[thujone]

yeah, it's easy to get bumped up just by getting refered to a psych who isn't as busy as the one you'd be waiting 8 months for. think about it, 8 months for the first visit? doesn't sound like someone who is going to have the time to add you as a permanent patient. may as well look for someone who isn't as busy. there are some excellent psychotherapists who operate outside of healthcare coverage if you can afford it, but they can't (thankfully) prescribe you any harmful drugs. you could also get your doc to refer you to the psych ward at your local hospital immediately by citing some dire need (eg. suicidal tendencies) but then you run the possible risk of not being given help on an outpatient basis. i'm not certain if these rules apply outside of ontario, but healthcare protocol seems to be pretty consistent across the country from what i've seen

 

[Z Y G G Y]

trusting a psychiatrist is putting faith into someone whose only means of diagnosing your illness is by talking to you about it, and then banking on the long shot that any number of drugs that have only existed in the past three decades or less will stir your courage and make you a productive member of society again.

doesn't exactly instill a great deal of confidence, especially considering their propensity to keep a person trying new meds until they stumble upon the one with favourable results, or failing that, give you a cocktail of other drugs to take the edge off the drug that falls closest to the mark.

short of a few years studying what's already been established about psychological disorders, there isn't a great deal separating a self-diagnosis from a "professional" assessment.

I tend to think in a similar way when it comes to my own mental health. I just feel that it's odd that humans have existed all this time w/o meds and all of the sudden they are the best fix to our mental health problems. It's just odd. Doesn't make sense. I don't trust psychiatrists enough as often times they read the same journals as I do for information on meds.

I know for me therapy has been the best way to treat my mental health problems. It's long lasting and doesn't have side effects or "discontinuation syndrome". I see meds as a last resort type of thing. When all venues have been exhausted and the person is a danger to themselves or others. If I ever get really crazy or suicidal then I'll consider meds. I take pain meds as w/o out them I want to shoot myself up.