[weird artist]

ok, so after a few months on trazodone, im now switching meds to tiflaxin XL (slow release venlafaxine)
my doc is lovely and i trust her, so heres to hoping! so far tried the above, and fluoxetine (prozac) which made me stupidly anxious and irritable. amyltriptaline which made me too tired to function. The amyltriptaline (spelling almost certainly wrong) and the trazodone did work a bit, but the side effects were too much to bear, and suddenly (in the last 3-4 weeks) the trazodone just seemed to stop working.
sorry, i realise this is a boring post, but its just before 7am, sunday here, and im bored, lonely and dont want to wake up my little boy or my friend who slept over.

i havent taken my 1st venlafaxine yet, and Im quite worried about it, but i know its not really me thats worried, its my anxiety that is worried. I will take it later with breakfast.

i just wish i could feel 'normal for me' again i have such a tight stomach and breathing feels so hard sometimes, I just want to be able to eat normally and have the energy to get up and clean the house and do my uni work, without feeling like i ran a couple of marathons. Im really hoping this will help me get there.

so, here we go, day one with the n00bie drug. wish me luck, and feel free to tell me about your own experiences.

Terry

Good luck!

[justfloating]

Hi Terry,

Just wanted to wish you luck on the new meds. I'm on venlafaxine myself and it's working pretty well for me. Thought you might like to hear a "success" story about it to maybe alleviate some of that anxiety. Obviously everyone is different but for me it's definitely been a good med to take!

Let us know how you get on.

[phoenix47baby]

Unfortunately venlafaxine was not a panacea for me. It made me feel "not so right." I had to go back to regular Effexor XR which is a venlafaxine derivative. Of course that doesn't mean that it won't be a success for you! Good Luck and I hope you get to feeling better real soon. phoenix47

[lonegael]

Good luck. I hope it helps you the way it does me.

[Berries]

(((((((weird artist))))))))

Best of luck, weird artist!

[weird artist]

Thanks all! been really shuddery and shakey today, but I always have a mild tremor, so its not a big deal. otherwise been average. hoping the sleeping goes ok tonight thank you so much for being so positive and friendly

[theave]

Good luck with the med change - I hope it helps you. Your path through different meds is similar to mine (I am a very recent transplant to the US from the UK) - I am still taking amitriptyline but have just added wellbutrin. Take care and I hope you sleep well tonight.

[weird artist]

well I woke up a few times, but it was ok... its 5.30am, but thats also fine cuz im wide awake i bit my tongue a couple of times because of the shaking, but not too hard, and im hot&cold... but the best thing happened, I didnt have a single bad dream! not even one, and usually I have bad dreams all night so im soooo happy this morning now I just need to find something to do without waking anybody up... lol... and hope i dont get too tired and grumpy later, I always used to be a morning person.. perhaps like 8am, as opposed to 5, but its good

[LittleMissSunshine]

I just want to be able to eat normally and have the energy to get up

AMEN! i have been wanting this for a while now too!

I started on Celexa and changed to Effexor, which was a great switch. I also had a period of time where I took Trazedone as well as Celexa to help me sleep.
This time we're doing Melatonin to help me sleep. Not too much success with that so far but I don't have the proper pills so it's only 1/3 of what my doc suggested.

Here's a question, how long has everyone waited before changing between medications? was it usually immediate that you knew or took a year or so to plateau/ show negative effects?

[theave]

Originally Posted by LittleMissSunshine

Here's a question, how long has everyone waited before changing between medications? was it usually immediate that you knew or took a year or so to plateau/ show negative effects?

I took fluoxetine for about 6 months before I switched. I have always found it difficult to ask for a change - tend to feel it's my fault they haven't worked, that I'm doing too much / too little, or the wrong thing. After that I took trazodone for a couple of months - good for sleep, not good for anything else - then took venlafaxine as well, and then have changed a few times since then. The later switches were suggested by my pdoc, I didn't have to ask.

How about you?

[lonegael]

Ometimes it was immediate, like with the serzone. My problem there was that the p doc thought I was making up the symptomes. Risperidal they came on after about six months or so. Except for the wrong lithium preparation and the serzone (both were stopped immediately) I have gernerally been six weeks pulling off, four-six weeks going on the next.

[weird artist]

Originally Posted by LittleMissSunshine

Here's a question, how long has everyone waited before changing between medications? was it usually immediate that you knew or took a year or so to plateau/ show negative effects?

I was on fluoxetine in 2005/6ish i think (i have a terrile memory) and amyltriptaline after a couple of months on that because even if it was working i was being sick and very anxious. amitriptaline i came off about 2006 i think, because it was helping but i felt so tired i couldnt function so i took myself off it gradually. I changed docs just after that, since i moved house, and things were okish, so i left it, but at easter I started going down hill fast, so i dragged myself along to my doc, and she suggested trazodone since amyltriptaline had helped, but again, it was just too tiring, and I noticed about 4 weeks ago i started feeling really down again, so i went back and was suggested this stuff. I was told to not take the trazodone that night, take the new stuff in the morning, but i left it a day because I forgot, so I took my first med sunday morning, 2nd one this morning.

Im really hoping the side effects clear up soon, the shaking ist quite as bad, but the hot/cold thing is starting to feel like I have flu! every now and then i check my temp but i dont seem to have a feever, so not worried. tbh where its autumn, its kinda hot one minute cold the next anyway with thick coats, cold outside, warm heating etc. im sure things will settle down

[LittleMissSunshine]

i've only done the one major shift so far. started on celexa at a moderate dose, gradually went to the highest, then it just plateaued after about a year and a half total. been on effexor ever since. just started take 225mg inst of 150. had quite the snowball downhilll lately. hoping that'll start to change soon

[weird artist]

had a mega headache all day just had a nose bleed and the headache is getting better, so im hoping im over the worst of the side-effects. the shaking has mostly calmed down, but im still quite hot&cold. really hope I can put up with it for a bit longer, starting to feel happier already, and I dont want to mess it up by quitting! been taking my pill at the same time, and trying to rest as much as pos, but Im a very busy person. Thanks for all the comments&replys

[Berries]

((((((((((wierd artist))))))))))


How are you feeling today?

[weird artist]

much better thanks! sleep still a bit disturbed, and im still hot and cold but the headache is gone, and im a lot less shakey not very hungry, but that is not so bad, since I am very overweight, so it might help me get to healthier weight, so no complaints I am making sure I keep up vitamins and minerals, so should be ok. Is it my imagination? the placebo effect? the trazodone/velefaxine interaction? or is it actually starting to work already? i just feel more like me again

[lonegael]

The veneflaxine can start to work pretty quickly in comparison to the other antidepressants. It also has some wierd effects if you don't take it and when you are getting used to it. I get migrane like episodes if I miss a couple of doses. Still, I am far morenormal now than I have been since childhood. Hope that it continues to get better for you!

[weird artist]

well definately feeling good today

[Berries]

Originally Posted by weird artist

well definately feeling good today