Venlafaxine here we go !

Thanks so much @dizzy3 :slight_smile: wow any reason you went up so fast ? Can I also ask how long the insomnia took to settle this is my biggest fear as sleep triggers my mav so much!

Also did it take a while to c change ? I truly hope this works for me because I’m exhausted with all of this

Hi @Mav

Thanks so much for the reply your message is so hopeful ! I have failed ami/nort/candersartan/pitzotifen and a few others so I’m praying this is my answer .

Could I ask how long it took for feel it was working ? I think after not much helping I’m so scared it won’t help me . I have such bad head pressure and feel like I’m in a floaty bubble !

I’m so glad to hear it’s helped you , would you say you’ve had any normal days since starting ?

I’m waiting for dr s to call me but I pray it helps me :grimacing::pray:t3:

I think your right ! However you are med free now no?:slight_smile: but yes clearly 18 months is nothing it’s just so hard because in my head I never thought migraine could last so long !

I feel like mav is a brain illness and migraine is too soft a word! Either way I’m just happy to be making progress and I hope Effexor gets me over the final hurdle!

I did actually recover a few times with no meds and in less than a year so I’m sure it is possible

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Thanks so much ! I think dr s just come up with his own theories sometimes ! But I truly hope Effexor is the one for me ! How are you feeling these days? X

Yes there are one or two on here (including me) who continued to recover without medication.

It took me 9 months to get to 75mg and it was at this that I experienced the best improvements. Honestly though, I took too long but it was my around my anxiety about meds. I’m better at it now as I get nearer to 150mg :wink:. Go for it, I think it’s a good med for our type of migrane x

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I’m sure there’s many people who recover and manage to come off medication. I know two personally :grimacing:

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Thanks so much @nin I have no idea what dose dr s wants me to get to but I I hope it helps :slight_smile: do you feel more benift at 150?:slight_smile: x

So I’m at 125mg now and will go up by 12mg next weds so am moving up every 3 weeks. Yes I do feel I’m getting continuous improvement, I have noticed increased appetite in the last 3 weeks so we’ll see how it goes :crossed_fingers:

Hi Amy
I can totally understand the f*** it approach - I too have failed a number of meds and was fed up being in a constant floaty state with head pressure so I have literally thrown caution to the wind with this med. I started at 12.5mg and kept increasing by 12.5mg each week till 75mg - I did notice small improvement each week however 75mg has been a game changer. I take my meds as early as 7.30am with breakfast (to mitigate potential insomnia), I started to see gradual improvement at lower doses however by late afternoon or early evening I would disimprove - I took this to mean that while I was making headway the dose just wasn’t big enough to get me thru the full day. At 75mg a lot of things have changed - I still wake up with head pressure and mild floatiness however about 2 hrs after taking the tab this starts to recede, I can now walk the dog for way longer before the dizziness kicks in - previously this kicked in after 5-7 mins. 8 days after starting 75mg I managed to spend 5 hours in a busy very warm shopping center with no dizziness/floatiness at all - something I have been unable to do since Sept 2016. I walked the dog when I got home after shopping and the dizziness kicked in after about 10 mins. I took this as a sign that I had overloaded my brain by doing too much in one day. So I still need to increase the dose.

Based on my experiences over the last number of years, I think you have to strike a balance between starting low and slow versus taking too long to see any benefit…as I increased the dose and particularly when I got to 62.5mg I felt rotten for a few days - dizzy eyes and weird head and I was tempted to go back down but I stuck with it and kept going.

Coincidentally I was with my GP (not my neuro) this morning to get a script for a higher dose and we were chatting about dosage and he told me that 37.5mg is a tiny dose, he said 75mg is tiny too, he said 150mg is medium and the max dose is 225mg so he said that I have plenty of headroom left to go up.

So don’t be afraid, if you start low and are having no side effects go up after maybe 5 days - don’t always wait for 7 days especially before you get to 75mg…expect a few occasions where you might feel worse or that you have gone backwards but try to push thru for a few days before you would consider going back down.

Best of luck
Mav

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Amazing to hear ! I think all these meds cause increased appetite annoyingly enough :confused:

Thanks so much ! Honestly I’ve had this 18 months now and sometimes I just think how is it possible for anything to be so relentless ! Thank you so much for your reply it’s so hopeful to hear others with a similar story !

Could I ask did you get lots of pressure in your head and sinus but also this foggy wierd head sensation almost like ur detached from things and ur eyes don’t keep up with what your seeing?

For me this is the worst of all my symptoms , I have heard Effexor helps with a lot of these so I’m truly praying it helps me ! Have you had any normal hours or days since being on Effexor ?

I am def going to taper slowly it’s hard tho when you just want to see relief , very interesting about the dosage. I def think I might need a higher dose but good to know there’s lots of scope to go up !

Have you always had mav or was this the first bout for you ? It’s so odd for me as I had episodes as a kid but never anything this severe !

Hopefully I start feeling more myself soon that’s all I wish for xx

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Last month I had 12 clear normal days which is amazing, as in symptom free. I’ve still a way to go so if an extra few carbs are called for I’ll deal with that as best I can but it’s worth it for me as I had daily symptoms for almost 2.5 years. Good luck.

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Thanks so much @nin this is amazing to hear !! :slight_smile:

I noticed no side effects from venlafaxine; i was easy to start on. I began with 18.75mg (half the contents of the XR capsule) for a couple of weeks, then 37.5mg and eventually 75mg. No trouble sleeping at all, though it’s recommended to take the med in the morning as it can be “activating.” (I didn’t really find this.) I remember noticing results within a week of starting venlafaxine.

I admire your going med-free; I’m going to ask my neuro if I can stop all the meds that I’m on because I’m taking so many drugs and supplements and just not getting better. Also, I think venlafaxine has contributed to some major impulse control issues. Maybe Topamax next. I sort of give up, honestly. However, I’m glad you’re getting to try a new med and I think it could be a really good fit for you. Wishing you luck!

That’s amazing that it’s helped but so sorry you feel it isn’t working anymore :frowning: can I ask why you want to stop the Effexor if it’s helped?

Maybe you could go med free just to see where ur natural baseline is :slight_smile:

I had a bad reaction to zoloft and had a major anxiety attack and did not want to take effexor by myself at home with a 8-month baby so I decided to do it as an inpatient.
Insomnia lasted like 2 weeks (mind that I had to take seroquel to sleep for two weeks because of zoloft).
I saw changes everyday but small. After three months, I went up from 75 to 112.5, and after a month to 150 mg. As I said, I started gaining weight after 150 mg. For me that is my biggest issue right now (and I am still rocking some), but has gotten rid of everything else.

Thanks so much @dizzy3 I am going to try and persist ! Did you get any weight gain before 150?

I’m assuming it increases appetite ? Atm my head feels like a pressure cooker again so I’m desperate for some relief :confused:

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yeah, i crave bread and sweats all the time. Before no gain weight, I actually lost some. Give it a try, nothing to lose at this point.

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Did anyone just start out at 75mg right away? And is there a way to open up the XR capsule and take less?