Hi everyone! Over a year ago I was on the subreddit lurking and reading so many negative things about this drug when the doctor first prescribed it to me. I had been battling anxiety for the last 5 to 10 years and it had gotten to a point where it was affecting my every day life. There is one instance where I had a panic attack while I was out at a work dinner with colleagues and I think that was the straw that broke the camels back. I decided I needed to get help so at my next physical, I brought up my anxiety to my doctor for the first time which took a lot of courage for me, and he prescribed me venlafaxine. As I do with everything I'm about to buy or take, I came straight to reddit and saw all these horror stories which made my anxiety even worse. After much back-and-forth I finally decided to just try it and I am sitting here over a year later absolutely changed for the best.

I wanted to write a quick post just to let the lurkers reading this sub like I was a year ago that sometimes this drug can work. My anxiety is not completely gone and never will be but just like the doctor told me it will help with about 70% of it and that's exactly what it did. I'm no longer anxious about dumb things that don't make any sense, only about real things that normal people should be anxious about. It is such a strange sensation now, I will feel anxiety rising like it used to but now I'm able to fight it back easily and push it back down.

I would say that on days where I have a brutal hangover that's when it comes back the most and it's hardest to fight but I have stopped drinking as much as I used to which I think is best for anxiety overall and other health reasons of course. I definitely still go out drinking with my friends but just take it easier which is best!

I'm on 75 MG daily generic venlafaxine. The only side effects I can remember from the first couple weeks was not being able to get an erection and some dizziness and nausea. I would say after 2-3 weeks that all subsided. I feel 100% normal now.

No more being anxious about diseases that I don't have, going out in public, and hyper analyzing every single thing I feel in my body. I guess you can say that my anxiety was definitely mostly about health. Now 95% of the time I don't even think about stuff like that which is so crazy to say over a year later.

I hope this post helps someone! Fuck anxiety.

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