How Long Does It Take For Effexor To Be Effective At Lower Doses?

Posted on Wed, 29 Apr 2015

Question: So i was on effexor (venlafaxine) 150 mg xr for three weeks. Then I decided to go on vacation, and felt like i need a higher dose to enjoy it because i was still a little bit depressed on the 150 mg dose. I took an additional 75 mg two hours after the initial 150 dose, and it was just amazing. I was having better times with my friends, i started to laugh again when i watch comedy tv, and i had a great connection with people whether friends or strangers. It felt like things are finally getting back to normal and i had hope that my long suffered depression will finally vanish. I continued like this for a couple of days more then I had an argument with one of my friends, and I got depressed so i took a third 75 mg on that day. It lifted my mood, and i was able to enjoy the rest of the day. Gradually I added a night dose in addition to the afternoon dose until i reached about 525 mg a day. The vacation ended after two weeks and i decided to stop abusing the medication and go to a lower dose of 225. its effect was starting to plateau and decrease any way. I initially decreased to 375 then went down to 300, and now im the 225 mg target. The withdrawl symptoms dissapeared after a few days except for a constant minor twitching of my toes and feet. Now i dont feel awful, but the medication effect is way less than it used to be, and the rest of depression symptoms are back. Comedy shows are stupid, im not interested in any activity, and its hard to concentrate. Im also sleeping a lot. I think im able to sleep for 18 hours if i didnt have anything to do. My question is this: how long will it take for effexor to be effective again at lower doses (or higher approved doses), and what can i do to accelerate that process?

Answered by Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Wait for some more days and you would feel better.

Detailed Answer:
Hello thanks for choosing HCM for your health related queries

I can understand your concern. First of all I would like to tell you that Effexor is a SNRI drug and the drug helps to increase serotonin and nor-adrenaline neurotransmission in brain. The drug cause changes at receptor levels and this helps to reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety. There are no as such instant or immediate effects. You took very high doses of the drug while on vacation and felt very good. This occurred because you were on vacation, and vacations helps to reduce the symptoms of depression and also results in increased mood. So it was the vacation and your general mood that resulted in improvement of your symptoms and not the high doses of Venlafaxine.

Now you have reduced the doses by self and have symptoms like poor motivation and other depressive symptoms. This is happening because of increase in doses of Venlafaxine and which might resulted in some dependence. Post holidays blues is also common cause of your symptoms.

You were taking 150 mg of Effexor and as per my opinion this is right dose and no immediate need to increase the doses again. Take vitamin B12 and Omega 3 Fatty Acids supplements along with Effexor and this will result in rapid effects of the drug and you will start feeling good again. Wait for about a couple of weeks and you will feel better in your symptoms.

Please don't feel bad that reduced doses of Effexor are causing these symptoms, the symptoms are the persistent symptoms of depression. In some time these symptoms will respond to medicine.

Thanks. Hope this helps you. Please don't hesitate to ask again for more doubts.

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar