Anxiety Adventures #12: Back to Square One?

It's been almost a year since I started taking 17.5 mg of Venlafaxine (Effexor) for my anxiety, and at first it was great-- it seemed to really help a lot. Then it didn't anymore. About 6 months in, I talked to my doc and she suggested increasing the dosage to 37.5 mg, so I went with that. 6 more months have passed and guess what? Yep. Tolerance, so it's not working anymore. 

Anxiety Adventures: Part 5: Side Effects

It's been a couple of weeks now on my new anxiety meds, and I've done the step-up to the normal dose for someone my size (my doctor tells me I'm "petite", did I mention that? Yeah. She does. So I guess I must be!! Take that, scale!!) which is 75 or something mg. each day.

Anxiety Adventures: Part 3: The First Week

Well, I've had a full week on 37.5mg of Effexor and I've experienced no major adverse side effects. I have had some mild headaches, but it's hard to tell if they're my normal headaches or due to the meds. I have had some mild nausea when my stomach gets empty, and also a little taste of insomnia the last two nights, though. I'm hopeful it won't last. Because today started the 75mg pills.

Other than that, I have nothing to report. No real positive effects yet, but I understand it can take 4-6 weeks to really feel a difference. 

I got an appointment with a Rheumatologist, but they can't get me in until July(!) which is ridiculous, so it will be a long time before we find out if I have an autoimmune disorder/disease/issue,  I guess. Which is annoying. There doesn't seem to be much I can do about that, though.

So the first week is past and life is about the same as it has been. 

Anxiety Adventures: Part 2: Medication

Dear Friends: If your considered opinion is that I am wrong for taking medication to help with my anxiety symptoms, kindly skip this entry. Even well-meaning comments telling me that I'm making the wrong choice are not helpful at this point. My treatment decisions are between me, my doctor, my husband and my God. :)

This is the first time I've ever tried medicating my anxiety, so I think blogging about it to chronicle my experiences might be of value, not only to me, but to others considering medication.