Venlafaxine - Aggression issues

[Psycho_Social]

Hey all, I'm new to this so please bear with me.

I've been taking venlafaxine for approximately 4 years now, started on 37.5mg which the Dr upped to 3 x 75mg daily.

I've slowly weaned myself down to one 75mg tablet a day now, but just wanted to know if any of you had any problems with aggression and forgetfulness whilst taking these meds?

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

[brokenlight]

I was on this medication for several months but had to stop taking it due to it spiking my blood pressure.

Didn’t notice aggression or forgetfulness... but I wasn’t on it very long.

Hope it all works out!

[Psycho_Social in reply to brokenlight]

Thanks brokenlight fingers crossed

[Kkimm]

Hi

I take Venlafaxine and have been on 187.5 mg for around 21 months. It was a life saver for me and I am now almost fully recovered from my very sudden and intense anxiety condition which developed following a couple of life traumas. I do have forgetfulness and a bit of aggression at times. I am fairly sure it is linked to when you have too much noradrenaline in your system. It only happens rarely for me and tends to be when I am very happy and a bit high when on holiday etc. Venlafaxine is an SNRI so it blocks the reuptake of Noradrenaline as well as Seratonin and so if you are producing alot of Noradrenaline yourself when happy or excited it blocks the reuptake and leads to feelings of aggression or of feeling euphoria. I am more likely to get the later but there have been times when I get the former. It does not bother me too much as I recognize what is going on and try to not respond to these feelings or just enjoy them in the case of ephoria. I think in my case I find it hard to sleep when high and this leads to forgetfulness because my brain is overtired but I cannot relax properly. It reminds me of the overtired feeling that comes with jetlag and excitement in long haul travel as I noticed that I cannot sleep and cannot remember anything I am told about tour arrangements etc when arriving in a new country.

I can also get forgetfulness in odd flashes at anytime and have read others who take this do also. It has worried me incase it is early onset dementia but I do not think it is as it does seem to be a common side effects of this drug.

It is also very rare for me. An example is that perhaps once every 3 months I will suddenly not know which way to turn in the car on a very familiar route and then it goes in a flash.

I wonder if you are starting to get it because after 4 years you no longer need Venlafaxine at all as your condition has improved to such an extent that you are now on an overdose. You would need to talk it through with your GP if you want to reduce further or stop as I understand it has to be done very slowly so you do not get a return or increase in anxiety.

Very good luck, and I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this and how things go as I have not come across many people who take Venlafaxine so have had to draw my own conclusions. Gps rarely seen to have the answers I find. People who have tried Venlafaxine either seem to love or hate it.

Very best wishes to you and everyone suffering from anxiety or depression.

Kim

[Psycho_Social in reply to Kkimm]

Kkimm What you said about my possibly not needing it anymore and therefore am on a technical overdose as such makes a lot of sense, also I have found the aggression issues have eased slightly since quitting smoking weed (possibility of accidental overdose again with the combination of the two)

I'm trying to get hold of the Dr so that I can do the last few steps in coming off venlafaxine completely, properly as I've been made all too aware that, one wrong move or going too fast could very well see me back to square one.

Many thanks for your reply, I'll gladly keep you updated on my progress 👍

[Kkimm in reply to Psycho_Social]

Hi

Great to hear from you. Having found someone else on Venlafaxine I hope you do not mind if I ask you a few questions which would be helpful for myself.

I am really very well, it took around 4 months to make a real difference and about a year to feel more or less fully recovered.

I just have a lingering anxiety symptom of feeling a bit breathless, particularly in the morning. It goes if I do excercise but can sometimes linger all day. I have a dilemma that if I increase the dose again it can cause palpitations due to the increase in adrenaline which is worse than the breathlessness. I feel that I just have to wait until my over producing of cortisol and adrenaline caused by GAD goes down on its own and I get no symptoms lingering. I would not consider reducing my dose or stopping until I am really sure I have no remaining anxiety as I have read research which suggests that people who stop too early are the ones most likely to get a return of anxiety. Also likely to reoccur if you have a life trauma. My first episode was so horrendous I want to do what I can to avoid getting it again.

I have even considered staying on Velafaxine for life if I do not get any side effects that bother me and no risks of taking it are identified. There has not been enough long term research into long term risks apparently.

My questions to you are:

1. How long were you taking Venlafaxine for before you felt you were fully recovered?

2. Did you get any lingering side effects after you felt you had fully recovered?

3. If so what were they and did anything seem to help?

4. I am trying to find out how long my first episode of anxiety through GAD is likely to last so do you have any idea how long yours lasted? I realise this may not be clear cut for you but I had very sudden start of my illness without ever having suffered from anxiety before so would like to know how long this episode may go on for. As I said I am really well and positive just a bit fed up with the lingering breathlessness.

I would certainly be very keen to hear about progress and method on how you wean yourself off if you decide to by the way.

Thanks alot.

Kim