Venlafaxine

[6221]

I am trying to reduce and eventually come of Venafaxine.

[Hidden]

Hi could I ask have you suffered from PPP and are you on any other medications? How long have you been on Venlafaxine and what is your current situation? I noticed you have only just joined the forum on the 15th of this month and this is your first post?

Thanks Beth

[6221 in reply to Hidden]

Yes I did have pp in 1974 I have been on Venlafaxine for about 8 years. Severe post natal depression I was suicidal. I have not felt like that since. More anxiety and stress. Had Burnout at work in 1997 lost my job. Got better then lost another job lost in 2008 same thing.

[Hannah_at_APP Administrator]

Hi 6221 and welcome to the forum,

I don't have experience of the taking venlafaxine I'm afraid, I hope that others here may be able to share their experiences. When I had PP I took an anti-psychotic (olanzapine) and also lithium as a mood stabiliser and was on medication for 3 years after being treated in general psychiatric wards as well as a mother & baby unit.

I'm sorry to hear that not only did you experience PP some years ago but also anxiety and stress more recently, connected to stress and work issues. I think having had PP "out of the blue" and never experiencing MH problems before (this was in 2009) I was certainly aware of my increased risk of becoming unwell again. Whilst a lot of this is around having further children, there is a raised risk after having further psychosis having had a psychotic episode so I try and look after myself and my mental health in a way that I would never have imagined I needed to think of before having PP. There is some information on the APP website under Frequently Asked Questions which talks about this and might be useful for you: app-network.org/what-is-pp/...

The last bullet point, about episodes of psychiatric illness at other times, says: "The long-term outlook after an episode of PP tends to be very good and women recover fully. However, some women who have had PP will have further episodes of illness unrelated to childbirth." There is further info on the link but more research is needed in this area, and APP is campaigning and conducting research to improve understanding of this horrible illness.

APP have also produced some "Insider Guides" which give more information on Recovery and might be useful reading for you, even though your episode was longer ago. Here is the link: app-network.org/what-is-pp/...

It's good you have found the forum and I hope you will find it useful to talk about experiences and find information and support here from others. APP is here to support women and families who are affected by PP, no matter how many years have elapsed since their PP episode. Take care, xx

[6221]

Thank you so much for replying. Yes I do agree you can and do get over this terrible time. The thing is if it is not treated fairly quickly it tends to be recurring all those years ago it was very new and not much was known about it. That's why I was put on librium and tofrinal. It was 2 years before I had a hormone test. This showed I had lost progesterone all together I was not producing any.

Then I received the correct treatment and was soon back to normal.

The thing is my nerves are shot to pieces because of the delay I think.

With care and understanding you can recover no doubt about it. So take heart.

A jolly good understanding partner will help a great deal.