SNRI for Anxiety/Depression

[Willy05]

HI all,

I have been on the anti depressant merry go round for the past couple of months. After being on SSRI meds for around 10 years it pooped out on me. My GP has now put me on an SNRI for my anxiety and depression, but the GAD seems to be my major problem of late. It is my 21st day on the SNRI, the first 2 weeks were hell, nausea most of the time, no appetite ( I have lost 12kg in two weeks) tingling body, this last week I have seen a lot of improvement, but I now seem to hit a wall in the  middle of the day. I wake up at 4.30 am to exercise, either the gym or a walk. Get to work at 7am and clock off at 5pm. I feel great after exercising for a few hours, but as 9.30-10 am hits my mood drops, I loose interest, feel tired, I get the muscular aches and tingles, but as 2-3pm hits my mood lifts & I feel better until I go to bed at 9pm. I have a 3.5 year old son who can be a handful and a 9 week old son and a loving wife. My main question is will the wall I hit in the middle of the day get better after more time on the SNRI or should I be asking my GP about upping the dose?? Has anyone else experienced something like this??

[JessF]

Hello Willy, it sounds like this particular medication may not agree with you. In my experience the persistent side effects only get worse if the dose increases, so I would talk to your GP about what's been happening, as the side effects you describe are supposed to be temporary for most medications. You may need to try something else.

[meatloaf]

I am just coming off one anti depressant and going onto another...the withdrawal is hell I don't know how I'm going to go for another week and now I'm terrified of starting another med that I may not tolerate and having to go through this again..I feel like I should just stay off meds full stop

[geoff]

hi Willy, I presume that you were taking the max dose of this SSRI, but maybe another antidepressant (AD) using the SSRI could have been prescribed for you, but that's not my decision to make and only your doctor could do this, but if this SNRI is playing around with your moods as you say, then it's time to visit your doctor again.
It is an awful feeling having to change AD's, because you go from one to another having to struggle with all the side-effects that each one may inflict upon us, but in the end there is one that will help you.
I had to go through the experience of trying about half a dozen different types of AD, and it is a traumatic experience altering your everyday rountine, especially the feeling of being nausea which always seems to happen with me whe I change medication.
Book an appointment with your doctor and ask about another SSRI AD. Geoff.

[Willy05]

HI Geoff, I have toughed it out for another week and things have levelled out, but not at a level I want to be at. I am only on the lowest dose of this particular SNRI so I had a chat with the doctor yesterday. He suggested to up the dose to see how that pans out. I am going in to see him next week to see how things are going. When I say that I am on a level I don't want to be at, I am very flat, tired and kind of depersonalised. I don't seem to get the buzz I got from exercising a week ago, the exercise is good to take my mind off things, but I am finding that I am constantly analysing my condition, how I feel and have a few racing thoughts. The doctor said that hopefully the fact that I saw some improvement on the low dose and have dropped a little that maybe upping the dose will help. I am just strapping myself in for any potential side effects. The nausea and tingling body was a killer when I started the SNRI a month ago. Have you experienced anything like this?? You seem to have been through this before, It kind of makes me feel better to know that I am not alone.

[Tasguy]

Hi Willy how did it ur change in medication go?