[mrsbloom42]

I have recently been prescribed Venlafaxine (an SNRI) by my GP, I'd been on Lofepramine (a tricyclic) for a long time and it was no longer helping. I briefly took Fluoxetine (Prozac, SSRI) which I'd had before, this really didn't help at all.

I'm hoping to see an improvement in mood and motivation with the Venlafaxine but I realise it takes a while to 'kick-in'.

I have always had problems sleeping but recently found a successful remedy, I take a small dose of L-tryptophan and a small dose of GABA in the evening (both in powder form) my sleep has improved a lot. However I took only the venlafaxine yesterday, one in the morning and one around 8pm, ( a total of 75mg), I was awake most of the night. I also feel sick for around an hour after taking it. I've read that this only lasts a few days, I also have a feeling of weakness. But I must stress it's very early on in treatment.

What I wondered was, is it okay to continue with the L-tryptophan and GABA whilst taking the Venlafaxine ? I really need sleep, but my doctor is very anti-sleeping medication and I really don't want to go down that route either.

I'd also be very interested to hear other people's experiences of Effexor/venlafaxine especially with regard to appetite, weight loss/gain, libido.

Thanks.

[Perna]

Venlafaxine can interact with L-tryptophan; the Effexor website says to tell your doctor first if you take it.

"Before taking Effexor, tell your doctor if you are using any of the following medicines:

cimetidine (Tagamet, Tagamet HB);

warfarin (Coumadin);

ketoconazole (Nizoral);

tryptophan (sometimes called L-tryptophan);

haloperidol (Haldol) or risperidone (Risperdal);

almotriptan (Axert), frovatriptan (Frova), sumatriptan (Imitrex), naratriptan (Amerge), rizatriptan (Maxalt), or zolmitriptan (Zomig); or

any other antidepressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil), amoxapine (Ascendin), citalopram (Celexa), clomipramine (Anafranil), desipramine (Norpramin), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), imipramine (Tofranil), nortriptyline (Pamelor), paroxetine (Paxil), protriptyline (Vivactil), sertraline (Zoloft), or trimipramine (Surmontil)."

[mrsbloom42]

Thanks Perna .
I had a feeling there may be a slight problem with the tryptophan, however the GABA seems okay, I took some last night, I also took my second dose of Venlafaxine earlier in the day, this seemed to solve the problem. I had a bit of jumpiness, RLS but this had stopped when I went to bed. I'll avoid the tryptophan as I don't want to OD on serotonin !.

[ilovecustard]

Hi, I have been taking venlafaxine for a year and it is absolutely wonderful! At first I was very sick and had headaches, along with dizziness and excessive fatigue. It took about 3 months to start working but when since then I have felt so much better. I am very happy and my moods are so stable. I'm not going to lie I still feel dizzy sometimes and I can sleep for england but it is a small price to pay.

I expect mixing the drugs will make you feel much worse. Coming off a medication is likely to make you feel ill too. Definitely give it a chance though because the side effects should settle down.

With regard to weight I've also been suffering with an eating disorder and was very worried that venlafaxine would cause weight gain almost to the point of not taking them. However they have not caused me to gain any weight and my appetite is about the same. I would definitely recommend them.

I started of on 75 mg but I am now on 150 mg.

I had the tablet form at first but because I felt ill and had mood swings I asked to change to slow release capsules and that really helped. My doctor was a bit funny about it though.

[kikki27]

Originally Posted by mrsbloom42

I have recently been prescribed Venlafaxine (an SNRI) by my GP, I'd been on Lofepramine (a tricyclic) for a long time and it was no longer helping. I briefly took Fluoxetine (Prozac, SSRI) which I'd had before, this really didn't help at all.

I'm hoping to see an improvement in mood and motivation with the Venlafaxine but I realise it takes a while to 'kick-in'.

I have always had problems sleeping but recently found a successful remedy, I take a small dose of L-tryptophan and a small dose of GABA in the evening (both in powder form) my sleep has improved a lot. However I took only the venlafaxine yesterday, one in the morning and one around 8pm, ( a total of 75mg), I was awake most of the night. I also feel sick for around an hour after taking it. I've read that this only lasts a few days, I also have a feeling of weakness. But I must stress it's very early on in treatment.

What I wondered was, is it okay to continue with the L-tryptophan and GABA whilst taking the Venlafaxine ? I really need sleep, but my doctor is very anti-sleeping medication and I really don't want to go down that route either.

I'd also be very interested to hear other people's experiences of Effexor/venlafaxine especially with regard to appetite, weight loss/gain, libido.

Thanks.

Hey Iam on ve and it works right away and I been on it for too years now ,I have not had any side effects it works better than zoloft and prozac .You will see yourself getting better and not as anxious .It dont make you gain weight either this is a good med cause I suffer from panic attacks and I used to have them so severe that I was first put on zoloft and that did not work at all.Now that iam on the effexor this the brand name of ven I can sleep good good and feel better.But the only thing you got to watch out for is the withdrawls now they are bad so dont just stop taking it one day and think you dont need it anymore cause you talking about being sick yoi will be a lot of anxiety feeling like you got the flu.Good luckkeep posting on how you are doing on it.