Hi, Im on Venlafaxine Sr and had been for a while . It was 75mg and i cut it in half as although i felt better after about the 3 months or so to level out i did feel a bit detached from my partner and lost motivation to finish a course i was doing at the time.
I have a history of mental health problems, that said i have always functioned =parent, worker, social life. Im 52 , when in my late 20s , for about 6 months i ended up in hospital my depression so bad i was told it was psychotic. What i had was my first intrusive thought, so loud and all encompassing i was terrified and begged for help, to end up that night in a locked ward. It never happened again but set me on a path of OCD intrusive thinking which would be diagnosed too late (i had to figure it out myself through research before confirmed medically). Over years it barely happens, long story short i strategise and i have learned the tricks to ignore it, stop it in its tracks or whatever dependant on my level at the time. At the moment i am completely detached at times as recently suffered a bereavement, i can feel that im far from feeling normal, ive had thoughts but as i said they get cut off quickly as the rumination surrounding the thought that does as much harm. If you can get CBT to tackle the anxiety ie challenge the thought to decrease the associated anxiety. Over 33 years of anti depressant use i can tell you seldom does the medication work on that . I think its one of those problems that have been assigned to depression and so linked to anti depressants but not suitably researched in its own right and assigned its own specific treatment and meds.
I have found menopause imbalance has increased some of my problems again. I had to re apply for anti depressants after being off them because i was more angry , more negative , getting more black and white in my thinking, i was scaring myself. Unfortunately it was tail end of covid so getting to see my Meno dr was just not going to happen . GP prescribed pills which i was greatful for but i felt my hrt should be increased in dosage but thats just not forthcoming. Despite dosage, testosterone etc a lot of my symptoms are raising thier head = tiredness, brain fog, dry scaly skin on my face, itching.
So, id say take a moderate dose but insist on CBT. Best of luck
