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[sue23]

Hi has venaflaxin help any one with menopause at all, I have been offered a low dose !!!

[honeybun]

Is it an AD ?

My GP wants me to discuss ADs and I'm a bit reluctant.

What has it been prescribed for.


Honeyb
X

[Galadriel]

Hi Sue23.

 Venlafaxine has been used for quite some time to help reduce flushes and sweats. It is primarily an antidepressant which has effects on noradrenalin and serotonin so it works well for anxiety and depression.

I've had generalised anxiety twice in the past and 75mg once daily worked really well for me. When I came to the end of treatment, I switched to 37.5mg tabs to be able to taper off the dose.

I found it easy to tolerate if I took it with/after food.

Interestingly enough, I used to work with gynae consultants who ran a menopause clinic and they were using venlafaxine low does to treat flushes and sweats in women who couldn't tollerate hrt.

I hope this helps

Galadriel x

[Hurdity]

Hi sue23

I'm sorry I have no experience of this. However as honeybun says what has it been prescribed for? Anti-depressants should not be prescribed for menopausal symptoms in the first instance if there is no medical reason why HRT should not be given, and if any anxiety or depression in hormone related, as HRT is the best treatment for these.

Hurdity x

[GypsyRoseLee]

Agree with Hurdity. My consultant says that far too many women suffering with anxiety and depression caused by fluctuating homrones in peri menopause/menopause are being fobbed off with ADs. This is because their GPs are unaware of the havoc hormones can play with our emotional well being and just scribble off a script for ADs.

These women don't need ADs (with their rather tricky side effects) what they need is HRT.

[bramble]

Hi sue23

 Anti-depressants should not be prescribed for menopausal symptoms in the first instance if there is no medical reason why HRT should not be given, and if any anxiety or depression in hormone related, as HRT is the best treatment for these.

Hurdity x

I do not agree that HRT is the best treatment for anxiety and/or depression. To quote Dr Currie ' Evidence of the effectiveness of HRT in treating psychological symptoms is inconclusive, but suggests that small amounts of estrogen may be beneficial in improving mood.'
HRT did not help my anxiety even though it started at the beginning of my menopause journey. And to be honest if I had been given the choice between ADs and HRT back then when my anxiety was the overwhelming factor, I would have chosen ADs.
Bramble

[GypsyRoseLee]

Bramble - but surely if your anxiety or depression is caused by dips in your oestrogen levels (as mine is) then it just makes sense to keep your oestrogen levels stable and topped up through out the month?

Taking ADs is just masking the symptoms surely? And I have taken ADs in the past when I had PND. Yes, they stopped the anxiety and the panic and enabled me to function and get out of the house in one piece again. But they made me feel very 'flat'. I didn't have any bad lows anymore but there was no happiness or joy either. And I existed like that for 3 years before stopping them. I am convinced this was because my issues were hormonal based, rather than more conventional anxiety or depression.

[bramble]

If the choice was between 'masking the symptoms' or going through hell with crippling anxiety, then I would have gone  for the former. As I said, HRT did not help my anxiety.
Bramble

[CLKD]

Not for menopause but for anxiety and depression - worked OK for me 

[Dyan]

Same here