Moving to another antidepressant tomorrow

[AnxietyHangover]

Hey,

Tomorrow I am completing my switch from escitalopram, I will start Venlafaxine. Escitalopram worked for a bit, but it's been a while since it worked for me. I will never forget those first two weeks though, getting all jolly and happy on it, best time in recent memory.
I don't know, but for some reason moving to another medication feels like I am starting a new chapter in this journey. What should I expect from Venlafaxine? I know it's a hell of a drug to get off of, but honestly at this moment that's the least of my worries as I've been feeling very suicidal recently.

Thank you!

 

[d3c96524be95]

Hey,

Tomorrow I am completing my switch from escitalopram, I will start Venlafaxine. Escitalopram worked for a bit, but it's been a while since it worked for me. I will never forget those first two weeks though, getting all jolly and happy on it, best time in recent memory.
I don't know, but for some reason moving to another medication feels like I am starting a new chapter in this journey. What should I expect from Venlafaxine? I know it's a hell of a drug to get off of, but honestly at this moment that's the least of my worries as I've been feeling very suicidal recently.

Thank you!

I've been on both, but haven't got any benefit from them. It was moderately hard to get off of Venlafaxine, but as long as you stop progressively that will be fine. I once stopped Venlafaxine abruptly and experienced flu-like symptoms and increased suicidal and depressive thoughts for some days. Not pleasant, but not the worst either. It was easier when I stopped it progressively the second time. Anyways, as you said, it should really be the least of your worries at the moment.

You may experience nausea, excessive sweating, dizziness/sleepiness, dry mouth, abnormal dreams, headaches, and all the other common side effects of anti-depressants, especially in the first weeks. Unlike Escitalopram, it should not induce changes in your appetite and satiation, therefore you should not gain weight under it. If you're a male, you may experience some kind of sexual dysfunction (anorgasmia, erectile dysfunction, inability to ejaculate, …) that might not fade out until you stop the treatment.

I hope it'll be more effective than Escitalopram for you, but if you were at least a bit responsive to Escitalorpam, I guess that's a reason to be optimistic? I don't know. In any case, I think you're very brave to try things out in spite of your dark feelings and thoughts.

 

[AnxietyHangover]

I've been on both, but haven't got any benefit from them. It was moderately hard to get off of Venlafaxine, but as long as you stop progressively that will be fine. I once stopped Venlafaxine abruptly and experienced flu-like symptoms and increased suicidal and depressive thoughts for some days. Not pleasant, but not the worst either. It was easier when I stopped it progressively the second time. Anyways, as you said, it should really be the least of your worries at the moment.

You may experience nausea, excessive sweating, dizziness/sleepiness, dry mouth, abnormal dreams, headaches, and all the other common side effects of anti-depressants, especially in the first weeks. Unlike Escitalopram, it should not induce changes in your appetite and satiation, therefore you should not gain weight under it. If you're a male, you may experience some kind of sexual dysfunction (anorgasmia, erectile dysfunction, inability to ejaculate, …) that might not fade out until you stop the treatment.

I hope it'll be more effective than Escitalopram for you, but if you were at least a bit responsive to Escitalorpam, I guess that's a reason to be optimistic? I don't know. In any case, I think you're very brave to try things out in spite of your dark feelings and thoughts.

Hey, thank you for your message, I love feedback from people who tried these things! Escitalopram worked in the beginning, but at the 2 months mark it gradually stopped working as I started feeling very low, worthless and suicidal. The only side effect, in the first two months, was that it was harder to ejaculate, apart from that maybe the occasional lack of will to do activities. I feel like giving Escitalopram a 3 month wait was good enough, it stopped working a month ago and I should try something else.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

Neither worked for me but that's just meds in general as far as I'm concerned. Everyone's different so you won't know how it works for you till you try it. The fact that you have some precedent of having a positive response to a med is pretty promising. You're right that getting off it can be very hard but not impossible.