So how are you today? I'm thinking the "Emerald Isle" does have sort of dreary weather this time of year, or so I hear?! Do you? I have a friend from America who is living in Scotland, and I can tell from her writings that she is "down" this time of year. Some people call it SAD and recommend a certain kind of lighting to ease winter depression!
As to the Effexor XR, don't be afraid to take it! It helps so much after just a little while, and I thought I was okay on 75 mg, but as soon as my doctor got me up to 150, I felt much more like my "old self", and the 187.5 was a perfect dose for me. Other people I know take 300 mg a day. So if you don't feel better soon, check your dose with your doctor.
Good luck! We all struggle here, so everyone understands. And as for my weight gain, it could be the sweets I crave! ha But I do feel much better, and the gain was not a huge amount!
I guess it depends on the person. I did not get any weight gain from it and I took 300Mgs a day for 4 years.
Venlafaxine seems to cause a slight gain in weight initially in a lot of people, although this should stabilise fairly quickly. In a few individuals, it seems to decrease appetite. There's quite a strong case for wondering whether it's the listlessness, carbohydrate cravings and general matabolic slowdown that are part-and-parcel of depression that are the primary cause of any increase in weight, as JJ11 suggests. Hopefully, if you can stick with the Efexor, you might start to feel up to taking some exercise in a while.
I gained weight, but I think that was a combination of food cravings and inactivity; my doctor says with the proper exercise and etc., it should not give you a weight gain! Not like zoloft or some of the others do! I take 187.5 Effexor XR.