Does anyone taking Venlafaxine have tendonitis ?

[vegemite_toast]

I'm taking quite a large dose of Venlafaxine / Effexor (262.5mg daily). I'm a 54-year-old male and I've noticed that many of my joints are aching. I've got tennis and golfer's elbow on both arms and my left wrist and right ankle all hurt when I use them. I've also got a persistent earache in my left ear canal.

Has anyone else experienced similar symptoms? I've found only one reference to tendonitis in my research so far, but am feeling increasingly convinced that the Venlafaxine is the cause. That said, it's been a huge help to my mental health. I'm not sure I want to go off it but perhaps will try reducing the dose in collaboration with my psychiatrist.

[Typsy_gypsy]

I hate to hear that you are having problems. We recently "upped" my dosage to 75 mg ER in the morning and 37.5 mg ER at night, so I'm not nearly on as high a dosage as you. Currently I haven't had any extra problems with my joints, but I also read it could be a side effect. For me it's hard to tell a difference because I already had arthritis prior to starting the medication. If I notice a change I'll let you know.

[chickadee501]

Hey there! I'm so sorry to hear you are suffering! I was on an effexor (venlafaxine) for a good 3 or more years. They put me on it for a couple reasons, depression and anxiety for sure but, the other symptom of mine they tried to alleviate was hot flashes and night sweats.

It did NOT work for me. I continued to drip sweat out of every pore in my body. It even got WORSE on the effexor. My joints began aching terribly also. However, I am not sure where that came from because they later found hyperparathyroidism which leeches calcium from the bones. They started me on 150mg, and had me up to 300 plus 2 other antidepressants by the time I had enough and weened myself off of all of that against medical advice.

For the achy bones, try some vitamin D3. I found it really helped a lot. I was taking the bottle recommended amount of 5000 UI, but my natural path (years ago) told me to take twice that. May need to do some more research on that because I've learned since then that you may need another supplement with this for your body to absorb it correctly.

I am no longer on any antidepressants, again against medical advice, but am working with a therapist weekly and there are other methods to helping you out of the funk. There's EMDR, TMS, group therapy, mindfulness. I am learning how to change my paradigm. It is a conscious effort each moment of each day.

I still struggle with finding joy and no longer feel that bit of excitement about anything that used to excite me. I am working through it as I work through all my other health issues. They recently performed breast cancer surgery on me and am looking forward to radiation in a couple weeks. Then I am starting a new job and haven't been able to work in a year. Instead of being excited about it, I am extremely worried about my ability to follow through and keep this job. Of course, there are also all the other things that worry me - my health, my finances, my day to day relationships, my horrible past. It all affects the way in which I respond to the world.

I became an angry person. I was, and unfortunately still am, one of those you see in the grocery store and wonder what is THAT woman's problem!! Again, I am working through all of it. It is overwhelming but, one breath, one step, one forced smile at a time. I never used to be this way. I was always the one that did everything to please everyone else. Until one day I became ill and could not shake it. I woke up and realized all this helping other people is not helping ME. Then when all those you've helped in the past feel like they've pulled away in YOUR time of need.... well, it only feeds into the pain. So, now, as much as sometimes it hurts, I refuse to dwell on what everyone else is doing and just do ME.

I've rambled here a lot. Maybe just a place for me to vent but I hope I've given you something to work with.