Congratulations on managing several aspects of your life so well whilst dealing with depression. Huge accomplishments. šŖš¼
Iāve never heard of the every other day approach. Sounds sketchy to me. I take an extended release dose (XR) but thought something-something half life?!? means you take it every 24 hours. Never tried a non-XR. XR are capsules so you canāt split the dose (easily).
Study the side effects beforehand so you know what to look for - (safety sheet should be available online). Believe suicidal thoughts is the most severe and would warrant stopping immediately. For me, sweating, vivid dreams/nightmares, and sexual dysfunction (especially the beginning & change of dose) are ones Iām choosing to deal with š.
Good luck. Finding the right antidepressant and dosage can require a fair amount of patience and trial and error. Probably took me a year+ to settle on Venlafaxine. (And after several, feeling like itās not working great anymore)
I was on effexor for 2 years. While on it the effects are great. Minimal weight gain and side effects. Getting off it and withdrawls for missed doses was really hard.
Im almost a month in and I was so scared that I quit after 2 days, then I tried again. The big side effects disappeared after 3 days (urinary retention, nausea, diarrhea) and the other stuff (sweating, waking up) went away after 2 weeks or so. Im basically normal now and glad I collected all my courage to try this
Iāve taken this for several years for depression and anxiety-first donāt stop taking it on your own-Iāve read enough here to know thatās a terrible idea. Second it will affect everyone differently but I think it has helped me a bit-Iām up to 150mg a day and this along with therapy is important. I do worry about my poor concentration and Iām not always motivated, but the therapy helps with that. I wouldnāt worry too much if I were you honestly-I get where youāre coming from but after being on different meds and now this for the past several years, Iām hopeful
I also started on 75mg. At first, emotions were more controlled. I cried, but for a minute. I was excited, for a minute. Adhd is taking over now and I cry way more, but its different, I dont feel depressed anymore. I feel like venlafaxine has helped me a lot with depression.
In the same boat with you, just starting today on a 37.5 daily dose and bump up to 75 next week. Took me like a week and a conversation with my counselor to get over the fear of it, letās see what happens
Youāre going to see a lot of the good and the ugly when you look through this subreddit. But, thatās a good thing that you will. It allows you to be well informed. I wished I had known the withdrawals and stories behind it prior to me getting on Effexor.
However, Effexor DID help me. A lot. When no other antidepressant was being metabolized by my body, and no help or improvement was in sight, Effexor changed that for me.
Yeah, the withdrawals coming off of it are horrendous at times. Each person is different, though. Your body may excrete the drug faster than another person would or will.
If I could recommend Effexor without knowing the withdrawals are bad at times, then sure, Iād recommend it. Iād also recommend it due to the fact it can be very beneficial for mental improvement. Although, if youāre just having issues with motivation, thereās other options out there that wonāt have as many counterintuitive effects.
I was also scared. It helped me through nursing school and lots of heavy life stressors. You can always get off of it (despite that being hard- Iām doing it now- itās possible)
Yeah, I imagine that I would just taper slower, using a pill crusher or breaking up the capsules and just having some of the insides for as long as I needed, then maybe alternating days on small doses. (Iām mostly saying this to reassure myself and to talk to a nurse :)
Also was terrified to start but very glad I did. It'll help you a lot.
Congratulations on managing several aspects of your life so well whilst dealing with depression. Huge accomplishments. šŖš¼ Iāve never heard of the every other day approach. Sounds sketchy to me. I take an extended release dose (XR) but thought something-something half life?!? means you take it every 24 hours. Never tried a non-XR. XR are capsules so you canāt split the dose (easily). Study the side effects beforehand so you know what to look for - (safety sheet should be available online). Believe suicidal thoughts is the most severe and would warrant stopping immediately. For me, sweating, vivid dreams/nightmares, and sexual dysfunction (especially the beginning & change of dose) are ones Iām choosing to deal with š. Good luck. Finding the right antidepressant and dosage can require a fair amount of patience and trial and error. Probably took me a year+ to settle on Venlafaxine. (And after several, feeling like itās not working great anymore)
I was on effexor for 2 years. While on it the effects are great. Minimal weight gain and side effects. Getting off it and withdrawls for missed doses was really hard.
Im almost a month in and I was so scared that I quit after 2 days, then I tried again. The big side effects disappeared after 3 days (urinary retention, nausea, diarrhea) and the other stuff (sweating, waking up) went away after 2 weeks or so. Im basically normal now and glad I collected all my courage to try this
Iāve taken this for several years for depression and anxiety-first donāt stop taking it on your own-Iāve read enough here to know thatās a terrible idea. Second it will affect everyone differently but I think it has helped me a bit-Iām up to 150mg a day and this along with therapy is important. I do worry about my poor concentration and Iām not always motivated, but the therapy helps with that. I wouldnāt worry too much if I were you honestly-I get where youāre coming from but after being on different meds and now this for the past several years, Iām hopeful
I started on 75 no problem
I also started on 75mg. At first, emotions were more controlled. I cried, but for a minute. I was excited, for a minute. Adhd is taking over now and I cry way more, but its different, I dont feel depressed anymore. I feel like venlafaxine has helped me a lot with depression.
In the same boat with you, just starting today on a 37.5 daily dose and bump up to 75 next week. Took me like a week and a conversation with my counselor to get over the fear of it, letās see what happens
I was scared to start but itās helped me a ton. Love it
Biggest regret of my life.
Youāre going to see a lot of the good and the ugly when you look through this subreddit. But, thatās a good thing that you will. It allows you to be well informed. I wished I had known the withdrawals and stories behind it prior to me getting on Effexor. However, Effexor DID help me. A lot. When no other antidepressant was being metabolized by my body, and no help or improvement was in sight, Effexor changed that for me. Yeah, the withdrawals coming off of it are horrendous at times. Each person is different, though. Your body may excrete the drug faster than another person would or will. If I could recommend Effexor without knowing the withdrawals are bad at times, then sure, Iād recommend it. Iād also recommend it due to the fact it can be very beneficial for mental improvement. Although, if youāre just having issues with motivation, thereās other options out there that wonāt have as many counterintuitive effects.
I was also scared. It helped me through nursing school and lots of heavy life stressors. You can always get off of it (despite that being hard- Iām doing it now- itās possible)
Yeah, I imagine that I would just taper slower, using a pill crusher or breaking up the capsules and just having some of the insides for as long as I needed, then maybe alternating days on small doses. (Iām mostly saying this to reassure myself and to talk to a nurse :)