im very med sensitive (as are many others on this forum, so Iām starting to notice some changes already). Today is day 3 on 12.5 mg for me.
first night, really bad insomnia. really sleepy but just couldnt fall asleep ā strangest insomnia experience ive ever had in my life. last night (night 2), some of the most deep and refreshing sleep iāve had in a long time.
also noticing a paradoxical change in my dizziness patterns. having more frequent āattacksā of lower intensity that resolve quicker and are not as debilitating. Iāve heard there can be a āstart-up syndromeā with venlafaxine. iām also āamped-upā and more focused than i normally am, and more motivated, which is exactly what i was looking for.
my libido has also been hit by a nuclear bomb, it seems. Iāve become a completely asexual being virtually overnight, which is not even close to the experience I had with Sertraline. Iām a 24 year old dude, so this was pretty shocking. weirdly not at all concerned about it though.
iāll provide a full update at the end of my up-taper in 3 weeks, which is plan to complete no matter what, barring a complete catastrophe or major side effects.
Are you taking it early morning as insomnia seems a well known side effect from Effexor. Its best avoided later in the day. Insomnia is an on off issue for me but Effexor doesnt seemed to have made it worse. My sleep has improved. Hereās hoping it works for you.
So Iām not on 50mg and itās difficult to tell as I have ongoing ear problems that could be affecting my dizziness, however last night I dined out and went for drinks with a friend and managed all night without many issues at all. I only drank soft drinks, but I was out from 2pm until about 9.30pm and usually I wouldnāt be able to do that. I even drove on the motorway back and forth so it felt good shops are still an issue but I need to get to 75mg and then Iāll update my personal diary for everyone.
Iāve been on it for about 3 weeks and have seen about 20-25% improvement with more energy, less brain fog, good days are a little more clear, and bad days are a little less disabling. I just got up to the full 37.5 mg dose last week, so Iāll wait at least 60 days before making a true good and final determination regarding whether or not its working, or whether I need a higher dose.
It is great but I did still feel headachy pretty much as soon as I got back home. Iām still having trouble looking down or moving my head too much. It makes me feel so disorientated so Iām hoping when I get to 75mg (where I have read) most people seem to see more improvement there Iāll update soon!
idk if this is TMI, but Iām posting for posterity as this is technically a medical symptom, and might be important to some people. This medication has absolutely nuked my libido like nothing ever before ā I was on Zoloft for a few months, and that definitely reduced it, but Iāve never experienced anything akin to complete erasure like Iāve been experiencing on the full dose of 37.5 mg.
Iāve read that this is relatively common up until about 10 weeks on the medication as thatās when the start-up period of the drug is determined to be officially over, but its an incredibly profound side effect that might be scary for a lot of people.
For me, I value the potential of relief much more than libido, so its a risk Iām willing to take, but for anyone that reads this in the future, be aware that experiencing this is a possibility. Again and to reiterate, it is a profound effect.
I hope everyone is having a low pain/dizziness day!!
Thought Iād update on my Venlafaxine progressā¦
So as of last week 21st April I moved up to 62.5mg and I can honestly say Iāve had the worse few days with symptoms ramping up massively. Iām unable to do much and itās completely out of the blue. Can anyone give any advice on whether they think this might be due to the increase? What Iāve also noted is that Iāve been having hot flushes and eye dryness, I know these are known side effects which would indicate that the increase has now started causing other things too. Once again I will persevere and perhaps go down a little until I feel stable.
At this point Iām just looking for some encouragement from people on ven with similar experiences. Thanks in advance
Yes it temporarily made symptoms worse for me followed by massive improvement in baseline symptoms. Im on 37.5mg now and ramping up to 75mg this week.
I saw Dr. Nana Tevzadze this week at Johns Hopkins who is a vestibular neurologist and she said that she disagrees with Hain on the idea that 37.5mg is the optimal dose for venlafaxine in VM.
Iām currently on 112.5 split into two doses. I take 75mg early morning, then the other 37.5mg early afternoon. It has helped massively, my only real side effects are ongoing nausea, which Iād hoped might have subsided by now, but alas its still an issue. 75mg did see an improvement but not to the level I wanted so with the agreement of my Neuro I increased the dose.
One thing that does throw a spanner in the works is if I sleep badly which unfortunately is all too common for me. I can almost guarantee I will feel more lightheaded and dizzy if Iāve slept badly. Conversely if I get a good sleep I can feel great. Almost normal again.
Personally I think its a bit silly telling patients that 37.5mg will manage their VM as its so individual. 37.5mg did very little for me. Some members on Ven have needed 150mg to really get on top of symptoms.
Yes I feel like its borderline misinformation that 37.5mg is going to effectively manage VM symptoms ā Hain should fix this on his website as many doctors read his resources and thereās little clinical evidence to suggest a dose that low. Most of the literature regarding Venlafaxine and VM or general migraine uses a dose of 75mg for pure migraine management. If there are psychiatric elements to the patientās history as well, they could probably benefit from higher doses.
if you have nausea you should try to take it with fattier food, like Yogurt or something heavy. I always take it in the morning with Greek Yogurt and some buttered egg yolks that I fried up. Completely got rid of the nausea for me
Thank you for your input, that makes me not completely despair. The thing Iām wondering now though is am I feeling like Iām relapsing more significantly because the dose Iām taking is higher? Iāve re read some of my earlier posts and I did note at one point that I was again house bound so perhaps yes there have been other instances where I have been this bad trialling this med. I just try and not remember.
Just doubled my dose up to 75mg/day over the course of the past few weeks. Anyone encounter strange feelings of anger/irritability with dose increases? been seething over absolutely nothing over the course of the past few days. 0 dizziness thoughā¦
Sorry, another Venlafaxine question. Iāve battled vestibular migraines for over 15 years now. Tried Topomax early on and could not tolerate it, tried Zoloft another time, could not tolerate it. Wondering if I had just pushed through the nasty start of each one if they would have helped. Have just learned to deal with the vestibular migraines and avoid triggers. I recently had a thyroid med change which always sets off a bad spell of vestibular migraines for me and the bad spell was the worst Iāve had in a very long time so I made an appointment at Washington University Dizziness and Balance Ctr. Iām still waiting to get an MRI but they also prescribed Venlafaxine ER. I told the dr I was very med sensitive and she told me there would be 2 scripts, one for 37.5 mg with instructions to take 1/2 for a week, then take one 37.5 for a week, then take 2 pills. The other script would be for 75 mg which I would continue to take 1 daily. Well, there was confusion at the pharmacy and the office told them to just cancel the 37.5 and instructed me to take 1/2 of the 75 for a week and then bump up to 75. Do any of you think that biting the bullet and jumping into 37.5 is a good idea? Is that a quicker way to get through the rough side effects? Are there any tips to splitting up those little beads inside each capsule?
Topamax might have helped if you stuck with it for awhile ā unlikely Zoloft would have done anything. The evidence for Zoloftās use in migraine is very poor and the data that does exist doesnāt really implicate it as a powerful tool in the arsenal against VM.
I would call your doctor honestly ā they should be able to straighten out what happened at the pharmacy. Continue to follow their instructions.
I split capsules and did so by weight. For example, when I started, i would break open the capsule and pour onto a scale to get a starting weight, and then I would remove beads until I got to 1/3 of the initial weight. I would then take these beads and put on a spoon with some apple sauce.
It was rather labor-intensive, but only lasted for 2 weeks during the up-tapering process.
TL;DR ā call your doctor and take the guesswork out of it.
Unfortunately, the person I am dealing with at the doctorās office is not helping the situation. I was scheduled for an MRI at place A, then got a call that insurance will not cover place A so they were going to send orders to place B. Iāve called Place B about 20 times to schedule because the office keeps telling me orders have been sent, but everytime I call they say they have no orders. Then when we went to pick up meds there was only the one script for 75, the pharmacist said there were questions about # of pills for the 37.5 script. When I finally got ahold of this person at the doctors office she told me that they just cancelled the 37.5 script and I can just use the 75 script. Iām not at all happy with the office personel and question if I even want to continue seeing this doctor for that reason. It will be easier to just break open the capsules and not have to talk to the office again!
I just spoke to my sister, who I learned is also taking Venlafaxine (not for migraines, just an antidepressant) and she is on 225 mg. Said she started at 75. Wow!
shops are still an issue but I need to get to 75mg and then Iāll update my personal diary for everyone.
Iāll update soon!
