Reviewer: ez, 25-34 Male on Treatment for 5 to less than 10 years (Patient)

Comment:
I had suffered from dysthymia since i was 14. At the age of 20 i went to seek help for my condition. Been taking diffrent types of SSRI for one yearand Due to many side effects i was put on venlafaxine 150 mg. After a while my life became wonderful. I was flourishing and most of my bad feelings just went away. My self esteem went up. I felt normal, woke up every morning with good energies. Firs ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
I had suffered from dysthymia since i was 14. At the age of 20 i went to seek help for my condition. Been taking diffrent types of SSRI for one yearand Due to many side effects i was put on venlafaxine 150 mg. After a while my life became wonderful. I was flourishing and most of my bad feelings just went away. My self esteem went up. I felt normal, woke up every morning with good energies. First time for years i was happy.actually happy. Thats been the best days at my life. And then everything deteriorated as i decided to stop. First i was put on 75 mg, after that 37.5 mg. It was very hard quitting this drug. My dysthymia came back. Been feeling bad for 1 year after i quit, so i decided to take this drug, that changed my life, again. But it didn't work. I guess im thankful for this drug for breaking my illness. This drug actually stopped my dysthymia for a while. After seeing it didnt work,Been trying diffrent types of snri,ssri, vitamins, b12 supplys but none of them worked. Im desperate.
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Reviewer: Em, 19-24 on Treatment for 2 to less than 5 years (Patient)

Comment:
It was really life changing for me taking this. Iâ??ve been on so so so many other things when this finally worked it made such a difference

Comment:
It was really life changing for me taking this. Iâ??ve been on so so so many other things when this finally worked it made such a difference
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Reviewer: me again, 45-54 on Treatment for 10 years or more

Comment:
Life-changing, life-saving. I was prescribed 150 mg a day of the regular (not XR) form 18 years ago. I started feeling much better right away -- far less anxious and sad. The only downside is I can space out just enjoying my random happy thoughts so I need to remind myself to get back to getting things done -- but that's not too hard and way better than being sad and scared all the time. Once ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
Life-changing, life-saving. I was prescribed 150 mg a day of the regular (not XR) form 18 years ago. I started feeling much better right away -- far less anxious and sad. The only downside is I can space out just enjoying my random happy thoughts so I need to remind myself to get back to getting things done -- but that's not too hard and way better than being sad and scared all the time. Once when I was sick (for other reasons) I couldn't keep the venlafaxine pills down which made me unintentionally go off it cold turkey, which gave me nightmares until I could get it to stay down again. That scared me so I weaned myself -- VERY SLOWLY! IMPORTANT! -- down to 75 mg a day, so now if I forget to take them I only get really sad and anxious ( no nightmares) until I get back on it. I also went off it on purpose -- VERY SLOWLY -- and stayed off for a year to see if maybe I didn't need it anymore. It was a horribly anxious year. I felt a million percent better when I went back on it. Because I take the regular form, I have never had the "brain zaps" or other weirdness associated with the XR form. A relative takes venlafaxine with results like mine; I think we have a genetic brain wiring issue that it mends. I am infinitely grateful this medicine exists and sad for all the people with this condition who were sad and scared every day before this was invented -- or who still are because they can't afford it. It is not for every depressed or anxious person -- I read that each medication only helps a small percent (but a different group usually) of all patients, but at least this helps some of us.
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Reviewer: donthaveone, 45-54 on Treatment for 6 months to less than 1 year (Patient)

Comment:
This was prescribed for me when I was diagnosed with a fatal, incurable disease and expected to live no more than a few months. I have been taking it these few months and it has really helped. I actually feel happier and more upbeat than before my diagnosis! Which is kind of crazy, but I'm grateful to spend this time enjoying my remaining life. I hope it helps you as well. :)

Comment:
This was prescribed for me when I was diagnosed with a fatal, incurable disease and expected to live no more than a few months. I have been taking it these few months and it has really helped. I actually feel happier and more upbeat than before my diagnosis! Which is kind of crazy, but I'm grateful to spend this time enjoying my remaining life. I hope it helps you as well. :)
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Reviewer: Seb, 35-44 Male on Treatment for 1 to less than 2 years (Patient)

Comment:
I've been on this RX for about 2 years. I do experience sweating more than I would like but I can live with it. Overall it has helped stabilize my mood. What I am experiencing more recently which is concerning and I'm trying to figure out if it's related to this RX is complete loss of bladder control. I'm 38 and literally cannot hold my urge to urinate longer than a minute or t ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
I've been on this RX for about 2 years. I do experience sweating more than I would like but I can live with it. Overall it has helped stabilize my mood. What I am experiencing more recently which is concerning and I'm trying to figure out if it's related to this RX is complete loss of bladder control. I'm 38 and literally cannot hold my urge to urinate longer than a minute or two. Has anyone had this same experience? Over the last 6 months it went from moderate to severe. I have a follow up to discuss but curious what others know.
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