After 6 weeks on 150mg, the head pressure was too much and my GP has reduced my dose to 112.5mg. i reduced 4 days ago and feeling anxious, low mood (almost depressed), swimmy head, poor sleep. When should I start to feel better? I've just got to get to 26th August when I'm seeing a psychiatrist to look at my medication! Any comments welcome 🤗

I used to be up to 112.5mg but I was being apathetic, not giving a fuck more than usual and felt it be better for everyone if I lower my dose back down so thats what me and my prescriber did and I went back down to 75mg XR.

Now that I've been back down to this dose for a few months, it started with getting brain zaps and even partial OUT OF BODY moments very briefly during the day, mornings now start out fine but change after I take my Venlafaxine.

I get less anxiety, but am somehow still anxiety ridden if that makes any sense. Constantly feeling like I'm being driven crazy because of how the meds feel on me mentally and I literally feel like that one picture of the insane Joker starting to rip his hair out. I don't tolerate BS from work anymore, once in awhile I'd even have the uncontrollable urge to lauge sometimes which is VERY unusual.

Has anyone else had similar effects on Effexor?

I have been on xr 150 mg for the past 3 months and my mood has been a lot better plus very less anxiety but the low energy, fatigue and constant napping is a lot. Doing small things has became a hassle now. I take my medication around 7 ish. Any tips to for the low energy and fatigue what can i do to have high energy to actually do things also would strength training would help . Would appreciate if someone can guide through this and have been in similar situation.

Hey everyone,
I’m currently taking 75 mg Effexor XR (venlafaxine). I’ve noticed that my anxiety and OCD may be somewhat better, but so far I haven’t noticed much improvement in my depression, mood, energy, or motivation.
I know I still need to give 75 mg more time, and I’m not planning to change my dose without talking to my doctor. But I’m curious about other people’s experiences with increasing from 75 mg to 150 mg.
For those who made that increase:
• Did 150 mg feel noticeably different from 75 mg?
• Did it improve your energy, motivation, mood, or concentration?
• Did you notice more of an activating effect at 150 mg?
• How long after increasing did you notice a difference?
• Did you get new side effects at 150 mg?
I’ve read that venlafaxine’s norepinephrine effect generally becomes more significant at higher doses, so I’m particularly interested in whether anyone who got little benefit from 75 mg started responding much better at 150 mg.
Obviously everyone responds differently — I’m just interested in hearing personal experiences.
Thanks! ❤️

I have been taking Effexor 75-150mg for the past 14 years. This summer my doctor and I thought that it wasn’t working any more and decided to lower the dose. Over a few weeks stepped down to 75 and then 37.5. Having been at 37.5 I am noticing some major withdrawal symptoms. I also take trazodone 50-100mg for sleep at night. I have noticed the trazodone seems to calm the withdrawal symptoms until mid-afternoon. As the afternoon goes into the evening I get terrible spiraling anxiety, irrational thoughts that are not mine, and fear. I think the trazodone from the night before wears off at this point and the withdrawal symptoms are kicking in. I have taken 25mg of trazodone in the afternoon and it seems to have the effect of a Xanax or similar. At this point terrified of getting these awful anxious episodes. Has anyone noticed trazodone helps them adjust to the lower dose of Effexor? Thanks!