Hi, new here, read a chunk, but if I have missed this somewhere, sorry for posting in wrong place!

I have been on Venlafaxine for about 5 years, 225mg (standard highest dose in UK, unless hospitalised, I beleive). Over this time, my depression has slowly got worse. I can't tell if the Venla has helped at all, I can't remember how I am without it! My Venla is now blamed for lots of my problems, the most prevalent being the wacky nightmares and nightsweats, which leave me a complete shell of a human and follow me like a shadow. I wake up and I am literally running with sweat - not smelly like, but still gross!

I have seen all sorts of professionals, but recently saw yet another, a GP with a special interest in mental health. He recommended to my doctor that I slowly reduce my Venla dose, as he says the noradrenaline or whatever it is that it makes you make more of (as well as seretonin) was causing the sleep issues, which were a fundamental issue in me losing my job earlier this year. He recommended taking Mirt at nighttimes to help me sleep and as an alternative AD.

I am now in my second week of this, taking my normal Venla (for real, I drop it 75mg, bedridden. This will take a long time!) and 15mg of Mirt. I am doing it month by month, slowly raising Mirt and lowering Venla. I have the killer side effects I dreaded of Mirt - an insatiable appetite for cr*p food! I have gone up a dress size in two weeks. It makes me feel horribly stoned and can make me sleep for up to 16 hours a day.

Just wondering if anyone else has taken this treatment and how they dealt with it, if theres any advice? I see my doctor again next week, and will be demanding appetite suppressants or something if she insists I carry on with this. I am not sure what is side effect or depression anymore, and sometimes wonder if I would be normal if I took nothing! Feeling a bit lost on this one. Hope to hear from someone else who has been on this combo. I really want to get off the Venla, it's made me a prisoner in my own home. Not sure if I'll be better on something else, but that's what I beleive atm!

I've babbled on a lot - it's something I feel strongly about - in my eyes, Venla shouldn't be on the market - although I am sure it has helped lots of people, it's left me... semi human, tbh.

Uhm, help? lol

x

Some people do seem to have severe reactions and a hard time coming off the Efexor (Venlafaxine) and its unfortunate because it can be a really effective medication.

I've experienced the withdrawal off of 150mg last year, and it lasted a good 5 weeks and was not fun. I also didn't wean down very much and just went on a less effective med.

That being said, i'm actually trying Efexor for the 2nd time as the benefits really outweigh the withdrawal later on. And this time when I do withdraw it will be done properly.

Apparently Prozac can help with withdrawals? I'm not sure about the Mirtazapine combo... but i've heard alot of nasty things about Mirt, and the weight gain being notorius. Not something i'd want to put up with!

Good luck

Hey there! Depression is an awful thing you can take more than 225mg of efexor in the uk im on 375mg and have never been hospitalized!
Dont be afraid of mirtazapine i have taken it on its own and in combination with efexor, i only put on around 4lbs with mirtaz in about 4mths!
The combo didnt wrk for me tho it made me very edgy but it did help with sleep!

i found the effects very intence but i know everyone is different! Let me know how you get on!

James

This post has been edited by Isabeau: Jun 18 2008, 03:58 AM

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Thread-merge-magicness from a mod?

More isn't always better with venlafaxine, as it acts differently at different doses. I also had ridiculously bad night sweats on 225mg - some nights I would have to change all my clothing and the sheets in the middle of the night, they were so soaked.
I did better on a much lower dosage - and no sweats. The drug worked miraculously for me. When it began to poop out I added Mirtazapine and it brought me back to life - only with those dreadful carb cravings. I was also on 15mg - at higher doses, it is apparently less sedating - so there is a chance you might feel better on less Venla and more Mirtaz.
Best of luck!!

I am also trying to quit Venlafaxine. I attempted to quit from 300mg cold turkey, and in two days had almost lost my mind and my stomach and everything that is below that. So I went back and reduced 75mg per week, for 2 weeks, I´m now on 150mg, with terrible nightmares and my depression is not much better, I just feel sedated with the Venlafaxine and my hands sweat and I´m nervous for no reason. I also think Venla should not be on the market as it has these horrible effects.
I was about to ask the same question as talking to a friend I found out Mirta helps with withdrawal from Venla. So I´m starting 15mg Mirta tonight and I´ll wait and see how it goes. As I lower the Venla tomorrow, and finally quit it in a few days, I will also start Fluoxetine, it is used for these withdrawals frequently.
As to Mirtazapine it is normal to feel very stoned, including the change in the eyes which marijuana produces. I always feel stoned when I take Mirtazapine, but it has very good effect on me makes me up and ready for life, and although sleeping a lot is a problem it is not a big problem for me because when I do wake up I´m ready for it all, I do more in 8 hours than I would do in 14 without Mirta. The weight gain and craving for food is the downside of Mirta, this is why I foolishly stopped it and tried Efexor. It only made me feel numb, physically weak and without appetite. This last one is good, but I can´t manage the other effects. I will try to go off Mirta too in 2 weeks and stay with just the Fluoxetine.

I was on 600 mgs EFFEXOR + MIRTAZAPINE which really helped the sleep pattern when that started to s*** themselves they introduced LITHIUM up to a level of 1000 mgs when it all went to s*** they hospilised me and dropped the LITHIUM straight off along with MIRTAZAPINE and dropped EFFEXOR @ 150 mgs a day then switched over to CIPRAMAL. They introduced LAMAOCTAGINE to replace the LITHIUM and gave me DIAZAPAM prn to help me with any withdrawal problems i usually managed with 5 mgs in the morning and 5 at night with no major issues. By the way CIPRAMAL didnt work and i am know on CYMBALTA which is another ssri same as EFFEXOR but without the wait gain and not using MIRTAZAPINE now just LAMOCTAGINE as the mood stabilizer and DIAZAPAM in the morning.
CYMBALTA has only just come on to the PBS system over here it might be one worth chasing up if its available for you.

Hope this helps,have a nice day.....

600mg Venlafaxine plus Mirtazapine... that is very interesting. Lamaoctagine you mention may be a commercial name for Lamotrigine a mood stabilizer.

Yes it is a mood stabilizer / anti-psychotic and no 600 mgs wasnt intersting just a nessacary evil... i am glad Cymbalta has been released on our pbs system its allowed me to change with out having to go down ECT thats next....

Enjoy your day.....

Lamotrigine is an anti-epileptic, also used as a mood stabiliser, as well as augmentation for Major Unipolar Depression as it has anti-depressant properties.
I don't think it has any anti-psychotic action, though.

I think the 225Mg thing is just the most a GP will prescribe rather than a pdoc....

I'm into my 6th day of mitz. (15mg) and I've noticed that the daytime tiredness has gone and I'm fresh as soon as I wake up. I also sleep less now. I think the body gets used to it. As for appetite, the cravings are also less (or maybe I'm consciously trying to suppress them).

I was, to get me out of the worst of it. I was on both for 2 months [150mg ef. and 30mg m., and then gradually tapering off efexor, and I've been solely on mirtazapine for 2 years, and have been pretty stable. Efexor alone was not for me. I'm on 30 mg m. now. Occasionally I need a sleeping tablet in addition, but mostly it's just the mirtaz.

Well I tried this combo for three weeks and went up a whole dress size, crikey, I couldn't seem to be full when I ate, and my cravings for donuts was so stupidly intense! The Mirt made me feel very stoned, it made me sleep too much (16 hours half the time) and left me feeling worse. I am glad it worked out for some people, but sadly not for me, and today my doc and I decided I will just have to leave the M off, and taper my Venla slowly and see how I go. I know I am gonna get sucky discontinuation illness, I get it a bit if I am late taking tablets, and if I don't take them for a day I'm bedridden.

On another note, has anyone experienced an insanely high pulse rate? About 2 hours after I take my Venla in the morning I get agitate and twitchy for a few hours. Doc did my pulse today and in this period my resting pulse was 109!! I almost laughed. No wonder I always feel on edge, lol, it's because I am!

Oh and the plan is for me to move onto Cymbalta eventually - makes less of that adrenaline cack!

This post has been edited by Sammybingo: Jun 30 2008, 01:27 PM

It's weird hearing all these people with appetite increase etc on efexor, it totally took away my appetite and activated latent anorexia. I felt constantly nauseous. I couldn't sleep. Getting onto remeron as well brought some relief, but I was so glad when I got efexor free. My GP said that noone would ever put me on it ever again, and, boy, was I ever glad. *hugs packet of remeron*

I found Remeron - loads of appetite/cravings putting on weight. Effexor - no appetite to begin with but this went back to normal after a few months on it.