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[angela27]

Hi everyone hoping i can get some advice please, its all a bit complicated will try and explain best i can.

I have been on venlafaxine for years last year i felt great and decided to try and cut it back a bit. I take a 75mg and 37.5mg tablets daily i cut a quarter off my 37.5mg tablet stayed at this for a lot of weeks and did another quarter cut again stayed at this for weeks until well settled. I cant remember any major side effects though probably had a few headaches. Still feeling grand i cut another quarter on 27 February this year then in March changed hrt as advised by the hrt clinic. I was put on Zumenon and utrogestan continually, after 10 weeks i asked to go back onto femoston 2/10 as the utrogestan really brought my mood down. So i spent the summer being a mess of anxious feelings, weepy feeling and/or crying and generally feeling down/flat, hot flushes, night sweats etc having totally forgotton id reduced my anti d.

I spoke to the hrt clinic a month ago and due to the hot flushes they are changing me to estradot 100 and provera (waiting for dr's to receive 2nd letter as they say didnt get the 1st one).

Im not having as many hot flushes now maybe about 4 in the evening when id be due to take my hrt but still getting anxious feeling, weepy feeling/crying, dry mouth, mood not great. I did increase my a d back up by a quarter but it made me feel nothing and so detached from my girls i only lasted 2 nights!, hated it.

It has been 6 months since i reduced my a d the quarter sizes arent exact every day but not that far out so my question is could it really be the difference in a d size that are causing my symptoms or a lack of oestrogen and go ahead with my hrt change?

If anyone has managed to stick this post out to the end and has any thoughts or advice please do post. I cant take much more of feeling this way its been dragging on for 6 months.

Angela, x.

[Lola Gizmo]

I'm so sorry you are going through this. This happened to me earlier this year. Changed from Elleste duet 2mg to Femoston 2/10 and at the same time came off venlafaxine.

I was on 75mg and felt it wasn't really controlling the teary and anxious moments especially at work. My Doctor decided that I could just stop the venlafaxine and start Femoston to see if the gentler progesterone would help things.

Well ... I ended up being off work for 3 months. Was it the change over with the HRT or the abrupt stopping of the venlafaxine. I think after looking at blogs and reviews of this antidepressant it was this that was causing all the hot flushes, tears, feeling completely worthless and worrying constantly about terrible things happening to people I love. I also had sore joints and restless legs and was constantly needing to pee.

It will get better I promise. Venlafaxine has quite a reputation for bad withdrawals and I will never go back on it. The sweating and anxious moments were terrible. 

Drink lots of water, try and sleep and get lots of fresh air. Day by day you will start to feel better 😘😘😘

[pants46]

Oh God. Just picked up Venlaxafine yesterday. Was already anxious about starting it. Now I don't know whether I should.

[Lola Gizmo]

Please don't be put off x it may work well for you and be exactly what you need. It wasn't enough for me as my own hormones were surging and dropping.

It is quite hard to stop taking it but my doctor didn't do a slow withdrawal it was all very sudden and the side effects of this were similar to peri symptoms x

[angela27]

Hi Birdy ive been on ven a very long time i dont believe i suffer from major depressive disorder any longer and thought my hrt was doing everything it needed to. Venlafaxine is a horrendous drug both to increase and decrease in dose i have been through some terrible times with it. I wasnt looking to come off it just even get down to 75mg over a long time period. Now im stuck! as i dont know if my symptoms are ven withdrawal (i honestly dont think so after 6 months) or needing more oestrogen. I think it is the oestrogen and the bulk of my hot flushes are being controlled by the ad and the others breaking through as my oestrogen levels have dropped, x

[angela27]

Hi Lola you must have went through a terrible time are you completely free of any venlafaxine withdrawals after 3 months? I wasnt trying to come off it altogether just to reduce and after 6 months still feeling anxious weepy etc which us why i think its oestrogen and not ad withdrawal though not totally sure. Did your anxious feelings, crying etc stop with just femoston? Venlafaxine should never ever just be stopped as you now know your dr should have known this, x.

Hi pants please dont be put off by my post venlafaxine does work just be prepared for side effects starting up which will settle in time. My own personal opinion is i wouldnt recommend it for hot flushes it does work for these but its a pretty hardcore drug to take for hot flushes, i took it for depression originally and it did work, x.

[Lola Gizmo]

Hi Angela x yes I'm completely off the venlafaxine. The dizzy spells and flushes and sore joints were the last to go.

Much better now. Definitely have days that I suffer still with mood when I can feel my own hormones dipping and rising but overall good.  Usually accompanied with dry skin and hair then passes the next day.

[pants46]

Angela, I'm not taking it 'just for hot flushes'.  I haven't really left the house for 6 months due to crippling anxiety. And now my mood is at an all time low ... not surprising really!!
I tried Sertraline (lasted 6 days because of the side effects), then Citalopram (made it 14 weeks, but didn't resolve the issue).
I'm at the point now where something has got to give 

[angela27]

Hi pants im sorry i didnt mean 'you' were only taking them for hot flushes i just meant i wouldnt recommend them for that to anyone i didnt mean to cause any offence.

Im sorry you have been going through such a horrible difficult time. Venlafaxine will definitely help with your mood i never took it for anxiety though from what i have read it works very well for this too. Do be prepared for side effects starting up but please do remember thats all they are...side effects they will pass in a couple of weeks and hopefully by the end of 6-8 weeks you will be feeling much much better. What dose are you starting on? I wish you well pants and hopefully this is the start of your road to recovery, xx.