New here and questions about Efexor and Aripiprazole

[bogmonster]

Hi,

First post. I will try and keep this as brief as I can. A few weeks ago I had some kind of breakdown. It had been building for a long time. I think it a mixture of anxiety, mood swings, circumstance and probably some more stuff I don't yet understand thrown in. My wife discovered me trying to hang myself in the garage.

Off to see my GP who referred me to the local mental health team for assessment. That process is ongoing and has not really got very far. I certainly don't have a diagnosis yet however I think an anxiety disorder, probably GAD is almost a given along with some other mental health issues that I think will be harder to pin down. I have suffered what I now recognise to have been unhealthy anxiety for as long as I can remember (I am a 41 year old male). I started to get very bad anxiety attacks 9 years ago but very infrequently - like once a year. That increased (and accelerated recently) to more that one a week with lots of lesser severity but still very unhealthy anxiety in between.

I have had CBT and tried SSRIs in the past but these have not helped much. The SSRIs just made me feel ill with no upsides that I could detect. I have tried prozac and something else that escapes me at the moment.

I have very recently been put on Efexor (Venlafaxine) 75mg soon to go up to 150mg. The plan is also to potentially put me on Aripiprazole in a couple of weeks. I think my psychiatrist may suspect bipolar as well but not sure about that.

I am on day 4 of the Efexor and it has been like a miracle. My anxiety is sooo much better. Now I am not complaining but I am confused. I thought that SNRIs would take longer to work but this has been like flicking a switch. I had wondered if getting the first psychiatrist appointment behind me was a factor (and it may well be) but that really does not explain this rapid improvement to me. So, some questions:

1) Anybody else experience this?
2) Could this just temporary and might I relapse in a week or two?
3) Has anybody been prescribed Aripiprazole for anxiety or do you think my psychiatrist is trying to combat something else with this?

BW, BM.

[gypsylee]

Hi,

First post. I will try and keep this as brief as I can. A few weeks ago I had some kind of breakdown. It had been building for a long time. I think it a mixture of anxiety, mood swings, circumstance and probably some more stuff I don't yet understand thrown in. My wife discovered me trying to hang myself in the garage.

Off to see my GP who referred me to the local mental health team for assessment. That process is ongoing and has not really got very far. I certainly don't have a diagnosis yet however I think an anxiety disorder, probably GAD is almost a given along with some other mental health issues that I think will be harder to pin down. I have suffered what I now recognise to have been unhealthy anxiety for as long as I can remember (I am a 41 year old male). I started to get very bad anxiety attacks 9 years ago but very infrequently - like once a year. That increased (and accelerated recently) to more that one a week with lots of lesser severity but still very unhealthy anxiety in between.

I have had CBT and tried SSRIs in the past but these have not helped much. The SSRIs just made me feel ill with no upsides that I could detect. I have tried prozac and something else that escapes me at the moment.

I have very recently been put on Efexor (Venlafaxine) 75mg soon to go up to 150mg. The plan is also to potentially put me on Aripiprazole in a couple of weeks. I think my psychiatrist may suspect bipolar as well but not sure about that.

I am on day 4 of the Efexor and it has been like a miracle. My anxiety is sooo much better. Now I am not complaining but I am confused. I thought that SNRIs would take longer to work but this has been like flicking a switch. I had wondered if getting the first psychiatrist appointment behind me was a factor (and it may well be) but that really does not explain this rapid improvement to me. So, some questions:

1) Anybody else experience this?
2) Could this just temporary and might I relapse in a week or two?
3) Has anybody been prescribed Aripiprazole for anxiety or do you think my psychiatrist is trying to combat something else with this?

BW, BM.

Hello there :)

1) No.. Effexor (and the SSRIs) take quite a while to work for me. That doesn't mean they aren't working for you so quickly though.

2) Yes.. I find when I start these medications it's a bit of a rollercoaster for the first month or so.

3) Not that particular drug but have been given anti-psychotics for anxiety and suspected Bipolar II. They're kind of helpful when you have extreme anxiety and can't sleep because they knock you out and sedate you. Not so good long term though. You should ask him why he would prescribe them.

Hope that helps :)

[butters]

Is aripripozol ( spelling ) abilfiy? If so, yes I was on it after I had an angry meltdown because of anxiety and depression. I absolutely hated it. I was on Depakote before that, and they were both equally as bad. Just made things so much worse. My cognitive functioning was so hindered, I could barely maintain conversation.