Dual antidepressant experience

[grayson100]

I have been taking Mirtazapine for 2 years finding only mild benefits I researched antidepressants looking for alternatives to Ssris as from past experience Palpitations were problematic. However doctor suggesting adding Venlafaxine these have caused side effects that have resulted in my wanting to discontinue. I am 61 I would be interested in others experience of either dual treatment or venlafaxine especially at my age. Thanks.

[Cb1963]

I take mirtrazapine, I find it OK, I've not had any other anti depressants mixed with it, it all depends what dose your on I suppose, I'm on 45mg and have been taking this medication for nearly 12 years, I was originally on the lower dose of 30mg , and haven't had any problems really, I'm 60 years of age, I suppose like with anything we can get used to medication over a long time, but I wouldn't want to stop my medication.

[Kinlay]

Both my husband and I had horrible side effects from venlafaxine and duloxetine, and if you research them the potential side effects are pretty scary - I would avoid the whole SNRI class if possible.

What dose of mirtazapine are you on? I ended up going up to 45 mg at night, which seems to be the best option for me. I tried the combo therapy with pretty much every SSRI and some worked well for a while, but I ended up with some kind of side effects either initially or over time. That seems to have gotten worse as I've gotten older (I'm 57).

Right now I'm weaning back down to just the mirtazapine at night and using complementary medicine (fish oil, probiotics, pemf and ave) to effectively manage my depression and anxiety. After a month with the new approach my depression is gone for the first time in years, and my anxiety is steadily getting better. I'd be happy to share some links if you are interested.

Keep in mind, medication reactions (positive and negative) are very individualized, so listen to your body and communicate with your doctor regularly. Good luck!

[AtheistRob]

Hi grayson. Sorry you are having a rough time. I have been on venlafaxine for about 6 years and find it pretty good. Coming off it us a nightmare though. The other medication I am on is pregablin. I found this very helpful in conjunction with venlafaxine. Here in UK doctors are reticent to prescribe it. Good luck to you

[yhsbirny]

Venflaxine is rarely used now because of its many side efeffects and the difficulty of withdrawing from it. Also, if you have high blood pressure, it is known to make it worse, especially when you get up to a therapeutic dose, around 250-300mg. Try Cymbalta (duloxtine), another SNRI but much friendlier than venflaxine. (Pristiq is also an SNRI you might want to look into). I took Cymbalta for several years with good results until it just stopped working; had gotten up to 90mg/day. I also took mirtazapine for many years but as a sleeping aid, not as an anti-depressant. Was taking 22.5 mg/night to sleep until it just stopped working also. Mirtazapine has a "paradoxical" effect in that in low doses (25mg or less) it makes you drowsy but in higher doses it is supposed to have an activating effect (not for me; my doctor wanted me to take a higher dose at one point to see if it activated me but the higher the dose the sleepier I got.) All these things stop working after a while, and nobody seems to know why. When that happens you just have to find a replacement. I am 76 and have been on and off every AD in the book for the past 50 years. Am now back on Parnate which I first took 40 years ago and it is working again (plus a very high dose of lorazepam for anxiety). Sleeping no problem with some indica before bed (marijuana is legal where I live).

[Kinlay in reply to yhsbirny]

Actually, duloxetine has many of the same potential issues. I researched this after my husband had his diabetes and blood pressure shoot out of control after being prescribed duloxetine. A "surface" look at side effects only shows the most common, but if you go to actual medical sites and research studies, all of the SNRIs carry the same risks - and they are pretty serious. Just an FYI.

[yhsbirny in reply to Kinlay]

i took duloxetine for about 4 years with no problems even though i had high blood pressure at the time. Was also able to withdraw from a 90mg dose in less than 2 months despite all the horror stories about withdrawal problems. I guess everybody just has to try it for themselves.

[Kinlay in reply to yhsbirny]

Glad it worked for you! And you were super-lucky with the withdrawal - so glad!! The thing about side effects is they vary, but it's important to be aware and careful, especially when recommending to others. They may not affect you, but for others they may be life-threatening.

[yhsbirny in reply to Kinlay]

Unless you have taken a drug of the same class before with bad side effects (in which case you probably shoud not even be considering another one of the same class), nobody will know how you will react. In my case because I already had high blood pressure, my doctor would not give me venflaxine but gave me Cymbalta because she said the BP effects were not comparable. In fact my BP fell a little with Cymbalta. I was trying to address the many people on here who will not even try a drug because of horror stories by other people. An individual has to try something for themselves and of course watch for side effects, but not be scared off by other peoples' experience with that drug.

[DaveySaunders]

I took Venlafaxine in my late 50's , I was waking in terrible fear and I had nothing to fear . It did help get rid of those feelings . However I would never touch them again as I found it almost impossible to get off them. I have never taken Heroin but I would imagine the withdrawal cant be any worse than Venlafaxine. I did as advised gradually but I felt absolutely terrible for months. I eventually managed to get off it and stay off it and did not need anything other than the very occasional Diazepam 5mg.

I really wished I had never gone on it !!

Sorry to be negative, maybe it was just me but I have never experienced anything as bad as that !!

[grayson100]

Many apologies for being so long in thanking all of you for your replies. All of you seem to have found SNRIs helpful although I note the withdrawal symptoms. I get the up part of SNRIs but it can feel too revved up, I particularly find palpitations a pain esp on waking .The new symptoms I'm getting which I have not got before on these tablets is tenderness on shoulder blades, stiffness all along back and neck and funny aches over scalp. The reason for question was to see if it is related to tablets . So thanks once again . Keep fighting.