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Answered in 9 hours by:
10/28/2011
Dr. Vikas, Psychiatrist
Category: Mental Health
Satisfied Customers: 2,350
Experience: MBBS ; M.D Psychiatry, MS. Health Informatics
VerifiedHello Madam,
It is frequently noted clinically that patients who are taking Venlafaxine (Effexor) for a long time may notice that it is not as effective now as it used to be earlier. In such cases, cognitive problems, difficulty in sleeping, poor concentration may be because of anxiety and depression which is now not responding to 150 mg of Effexor and the dose needs to be further increased. Most of the patients start noticing improvement after increasing the dose of Effexor.
So before asking your doctor to taper down this medicine, pleas ask him or her to evaluate you once again and if your symptoms are because you are not responding to the low dose, he or she may increase the dose further and you will start feeling better very soon.
Some times, these symptoms you are experiencing could be also because of poor quality of sleep. In case, if you want to taper down Effexor and provided your current symptoms are not because of under dosing of Effexor, you can request your doctor to prescribe you sleeping pills to be taken as and when needed. Taking a proper sleep at night should be enough to control these symptoms in that case.
Best wishes,
Vikas
Please feel free to ask if you need clarification/more information. Kindly click the GREEN ACCEPT BUTTON if you are satisfied with the answer. POSITIVE FEEDBACK and BONUS are warmly appreciated
It is frequently noted clinically that patients who are taking Venlafaxine (Effexor) for a long time may notice that it is not as effective now as it used to be earlier. In such cases, cognitive problems, difficulty in sleeping, poor concentration may be because of anxiety and depression which is now not responding to 150 mg of Effexor and the dose needs to be further increased. Most of the patients start noticing improvement after increasing the dose of Effexor.
So before asking your doctor to taper down this medicine, pleas ask him or her to evaluate you once again and if your symptoms are because you are not responding to the low dose, he or she may increase the dose further and you will start feeling better very soon.
Some times, these symptoms you are experiencing could be also because of poor quality of sleep. In case, if you want to taper down Effexor and provided your current symptoms are not because of under dosing of Effexor, you can request your doctor to prescribe you sleeping pills to be taken as and when needed. Taking a proper sleep at night should be enough to control these symptoms in that case.
Best wishes,
Vikas
Please feel free to ask if you need clarification/more information. Kindly click the GREEN ACCEPT BUTTON if you are satisfied with the answer. POSITIVE FEEDBACK and BONUS are warmly appreciated
Thanks for your reply. There are no long term side effects of Effexor in any part of brain to the best of my knowledge. In fact, according to some studies, Effexor may even have positive effects on brain after long term treatment. For example, Effexor may be involved in stimulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Venlafaxine treatment stimulates expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein in frontal cortex and inhibits long-term potentiation in hippocampus
I have never seen any patient complaining of memory related problems after stopping Effexor, so please don't worry about it a bit. If you want to stop Effexor and your doctor agree, you can go ahead without any fear.
Best wishes,
Vikas
Please feel free to ask if you need clarification/more information. Kindly click the GREEN ACCEPT BUTTON if you are satisfied with the answer. POSITIVE FEEDBACK and BONUS are warmly appreciated
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Venlafaxine treatment stimulates expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein in frontal cortex and inhibits long-term potentiation in hippocampus
I have never seen any patient complaining of memory related problems after stopping Effexor, so please don't worry about it a bit. If you want to stop Effexor and your doctor agree, you can go ahead without any fear.
Best wishes,
Vikas
Please feel free to ask if you need clarification/more information. Kindly click the GREEN ACCEPT BUTTON if you are satisfied with the answer. POSITIVE FEEDBACK and BONUS are warmly appreciated
Dr. Vikas, Psychiatrist
Category: Mental Health
Satisfied Customers: 2,350
Experience: MBBS ; M.D Psychiatry, MS. Health Informatics
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