Venlafaxine (effexor)

What is your experence on this?
Did it make you manic?

Made me manic - at 75mg with no mood stabilisers, at 225mg with 2 mood stabilisers and an antipsychotic. I had to stop it cold turkey and had horrendous withdrawal so I would advise never miss a dose. On the plus side I found it an excellent antidepressant.

Hugs

Cracked

Flatlined my emotional state and thoughts however did make me feel high yet vegetative at the same time. Also made me feel anxious - propanolol helped with that. I don't however agree with taking additional drugs to combat the effects of another drug. I lasted 2 days on 75mgs.
Some anti-depressants are known to have undesireable effects for Bipolar patients.
The Noradrenaline in Venlafaxine regulates the emotional state in the brain however its effects on the rest of the body means you are caught between a rock and a hard place.

After one year of denying I was depressed, experienced hypomania and rapid cycles for three months followed by a crach in severe suicidal depression that I could't ignore, I dragged myself to professional help and they (after intense long and frequent conversations about my past) diagnosed me with Bipolar disorder. I never had medication in my life (I'm in my early fourties) and because my own fear for suicide was so strong they put me on Venlafaxine 150mg slow release per day. It knocked me out, but to such a degree that I neither could think much further about suicide. After two months I explained to my doctors that complete passivity and wanting to sleep about 15 to 18 hours a day was adding much to my anxiety disorder, they than put me on 300mg slow release (I take 150mg in the morning and 150mg exactely twelf hours later) For me it did the trick in keeping the most severe part of my depression 'outside of view' (so far...). I'm thankful for the professional help and the drug: I believe I was in great danger of taking my own life. I'm only now at the very beginning of a long, long road. Reading up about Bipolar disorder is one thing, but I have to completely learn again to live my life, as the last two years shattered it completely.

this is a medication that did not work for me. I had to switch medications because I couldn't go on any higher of a dose. different for everyone though!

Yes, this one made me manic. It also was the worst withdrawal I ever experienced. It did help a lot with depression, but perhaps it was only because it made me manic.

- EGD.

Before you read about my experience, remember that meds don't act the same in everyone. This is pretty much a horror story, but my bipolar is turning out to be more on the mixed/manic side and that factors into things.

I've been on venlafaxine 3 times in my life. Each time was followed by a hospitalization. The first time was because the withdrawals caused me to become extremely depressed and suicidal, the second was because the medication caused me to become dysphoric and a harm to myself, and the third time triggered a mixed episode that was severe enough in nature to land me in the ICU after a suicide attempt. The only thing in common with each of these hospitalizations was the venlafaxine.

Even after the last suicide attempt, I stayed on the medication for quite some time because the withdrawals were too hard to handle. Eventually I ran out of money and had to quit cold turkey from a dose of 450mg. I blacked out for a while and that time period is a haze. In the end I came out of it and wasn't quite so dangerous to myself anymore.

Thanks you very much fr all of the replies.

I have been taking 75mg for 4 days now and have not really noticed much of a difference. I have a bit more energy and I am a bit brighter but my mood is still on the low side.
I have had no noticeable adverse side effect.

I read that it takes about 2 weeks to kick in so I won't give up hope just yet.

Thanks again
Betty

Effexor made me very manic, and my mom asked me to stop taking it.
Since then, my shrinks won't put me on antidepressants.
Don't you just wish they could give you a happy shot and you would just be happy for the rest of your life?
I think about that a lot.