I've been planning to report on this for a while, but never got around to it. But yeah, I'm down to 112.5 from 225 a few months back (and before than on 300 mg for a couple of years).
So, how is life on 112.5 mg (and 10 mg of Adderall), you might ask. Well, it's kind of like middle of the road so to speak. Luckily, it seems the SE level is doing fine, and I don't have any bouts of negativity, sadness, etc. The NE however seems to have setback a little, which is consistent with the assumption that it's around 150 that venlafaxine hits those neurotransmitters.
What I find most interesting though is how quickly my social anxiety partially came back now that I'm below the 150 level. I definitely feel less extrovert -- it's a marked difference. Not as low as on no venlafaxine, but then nowhere near the 300 or 225 levels. So it remains to be seen whether I'll keep reducing and eventually go down to 75, or go back to 150.
I'm also waiting for something like Vyvanse to come to the Canadian market. Oh, I should also mention that for the last several months I've started taking the venlafaxine in the evenings, and not in the mornings right after the Adderall. I think I used to get a bit of interaction effects with those two at the same time, feeling a bit jittery etc. But seems to make more sense.
I have been taking mine in the evening as well it just seems to suit me better. To be honest Im a night time person anyway so it seems to help me more to have it in my system in the evening. Also I think effexor is metabolised pretty quickly and I seemed to get more side effects in the evening if I took my dosage first thing in the morning almost as if it was waring off, so by taking it in the evening it seemed to get around this.
Im still reducing mine from the 300mgs I was on. I am going up on paxil at the same time though so Im not noticing any effects to my moods and anxiety (well not anything new). Im down to 75 now and heading to half that on friday.
Hi Venla -- great to hear from you. Hope you're doing well.
I thought of going down to 75 after realizing my case is more ADD related. But I'm still at 112.5, and for all I know, I may end up going back to 150. I'm still taking 10 mg of Adderall, but will try 20, now that I've split taking the two meds: Effexor at night and Adderall in the early morning. We shall see... I'm also keen on trying Vyvanse, but it's not available in Canada, and my p-doc is weary of having me order from the Internet.
Good to talk to you too!!! Only doing OK now. I am looking into antidepressants to add on to the 37.5 mg. of Effexor I am currently taking. The small amount of doxepin I used to take for sleep really helped with depression. I didn't realize how much it did that until I went off of it. Unfortunately, I went off of it because it left me sleeping through my alarms. I may try a lower dose of that to see if I can get some benefit and still be able to respond to an alarm clock. Also, my pdoc is open to some less conventional choices so I'll have some interesting options. So anyway, I'll be experimenting with things in the next few months. I really hate these trials but I know I have to do it.
I don't know why the Canadians are so slow to approve meds. I hope that Vyanse or something similar is available to you soon. Good luck with your trials. Hopefully you'll continue to post them here.
I've been waavering between 112.5 mg and 300mg for the past two years basically! Generally I've noticed that once I go below 150, the blues come back. 150 is a good mean. If circumstances bring up the negativity, I've noticed that going up to 225 makes a difference: being more positive and more energy. But for a limited time, of course. Also, it seems that 225 for me is a threshhold for the increased sweating at night.
Hey Nigel, it's hard to say.. what did your doctor think about going up? It might be a good idea if you're experiencing harder times (externally) than usual. Then again it may be that FXR is pooping out on you, like it did for me two years into taking it. I was taking 300 at that time, but my motivation slumped. But I didn't go up to 375 or anything, but started taking Adderall instead (in addition to the FXR).
