Experiences - Effexor Venlafaxine and Confidence

[Princess]

When SWIM was on Effexor / Venlafaxine, it changed SWIM's personality in a way different from other ADs.SWIM has been off Effexor for a year, but still remembers that incredible personality changed that happened with it. SWIM is self-conscious, shy and has low self-confidence. When SWIM was on Effexor, SWIM became outgoing, confident and flirtacious. SWIM was flirting all the time, sharing too much information, saying and doing impulsive things and acting totally different. The Effexor killed all of SWIM's self-consciousness, insecurity and shyness and turned SWIM into being confident, flirty, outgoing and made SWIM in party mode 24/7. SWIM wanted to socialize all the time, SWIM was ready to have sex with every boy SWIM met, SWIM had become very out of character outgoing and it felt amazing. It was a very powerful antidepressant.

SWIM didn't know it was the Effexor, because the change happened so gradually, after a long time of taking it. It only became really noticable much later. When SWIM got off the Effexor and several other psyche meds cold turkey, all of a sudden, SWIM's self-consciousness and insecurity returned. SWIM didn't know what was going on. SWIM had gotten so used to the confident, outgoing, social personality on the Effexor, that the self-conscious, shy, insecure side returning was a shock, SWIM didn't know what was going on, SWIM thought something was really wrong. SWIM remembered while on Effexor wodnering where this outgoing side came from, and then off Effexor, where this shyness came from. After being off Effexor a year, SWIM compares the Effexor and non-Effexor perosnalities and is amazed at how pwerful this antidepressant was.

Does any SWIY's know why Effexor makes you more outgoing and confident where the other ADs don't? How does Effexor do this and what exactly does Venlafaxine do that causes this? SWIM was also on other meds at the time, the Concerta probably played a large role in this, too. It was like Effexor/Venlafaxine was this magic drug with magic powers. It's weird how a presciption antidepressant could be so powerful, SWIM had so much fun on that medication cocktail. Anyone else become very outgoing/social/flirty on Effexor? Anyoen know exactly why it does this? Does it do this to everyone? What chemicals/drugs is Venlafaxine similar to? Anyone have any information on how Effexor does this, or was this more of a lucky combination of various psyche meds that caused this?

The Effexor and post-Effexor personalities of SWIM are like two different people. Oh, and share SWIY's Effexor/Vanlafaxine experiences.

Reputation Comments on this post:

thanks for sharing your experience

[wespawloski]

All distinct medications will probably have different effects... SWIM's first SSRI was lexapro, which when he bumped up to 20 mgs, gave him a horrific hand-tremor! "Ecstacy", prozac, amphetamines... nothing else does that to him. SWIM remembers reading that Effexor is particulary strong, it has been known to increase blood pressure... Thats the funny thing about SSRIs, you would figure they would be basically static :P

SWIM also is known in two forms, his positve amphetamine-self, or his depressive other :/

[Junkhead23]

Personally effexor didn't help my depression in the slightest but it does your self confidence wonders. Thing is that wasn't really the problem

[lostmente]

effexor is a phenethylamine, structurally related to mdma, mescaline etc

[paragoric]

to answer, no it does not do that to everyone...that does happen to swim when he takes xanax (alprazolam), but it gets me in trouble everytime...so I know what you are talking about....if effexor had done that for swim, he would have never stopped taking it.

[psyche]

Effexor is an SNRI, so it inhibits the reuptake of norephinephrine (too), whereas classical antidepressant inhibit only serotonin. That perks one up noticeably.

[tripfromthetropics]

One question: does venlafaxine redeuce sex pleasure in women too? Swim can't reach sexual climax even with the most desirable female in the world with doses higher than 150mg of venlafaxine.

[chibi curmudgeon]

SWIY sounded rather hypomanic. Maybe a lower dose to prevent the impulsive part, but....why exactly did swiy stop taking this drug?? It made swiy more confident and outgoing because it treated her depression, silly!

[Amnesia]

Originally Posted by Princess

When SWIM was on Effexor, SWIM became outgoing, confident and flirtacious. SWIM was flirting all the time, sharing too much information, saying and doing impulsive things and acting totally different. The Effexor killed all of SWIM's self-consciousness, insecurity and shyness and turned SWIM into being confident, flirty, outgoing and made SWIM in party mode 24/7. SWIM wanted to socialize all the time, SWIM was ready to have sex with every boy SWIM met, SWIM had become very out of character outgoing and it felt amazing. It was a very powerful antidepressant.

This is virtually a text-book example of hypo-mania - mania being a side effect possible with all drugs that affect serotonin – especially anti-depressants.

In SWIM's opinion SWIY is lucky it did not develop in to a full blown manic experience, because this is common with a prolonged hypo-mania. She, unfortunately, has to say that SWIY should not consider going back on Venlafaxine, ever.

Hypo-mania and mania can lead to devastating consequences as they both cause a marked change in the personality, including but not limited to: grandiosity, impulsivity, risky decisions and/or activities, anger/rage and delusions. Hypo-mania and mania regularly destroy a sufferer’s finances, friendships, relationships, cost them their jobs and, ultimately ruin their life.
The worst part of the hypo-manic experience is that it can feel so good - it is often pure euphoria. So pure that a person doesn't realise the consequences of their actions until the episode passes and they are left with a train-wreck for a life. The euphoria of hypo-mania is the main reason bipolar (manic-depressive) patients stop taking their medication and relapse.
To top it all off hypo-mania and mania are almost always followed by a period of severe depression.

Every anti-depressant affects every patient differently, SWIY was simply more prone to the manic side effect of this medication. In a nutshell, SWIY was suffering a potentially dangerous side effect.

[Princess]

SWIM is not bipolar and has anxiety disorder. Now that SWIM remembers, SWIM thinks that the Effexor's effect on SWIM wasn't really euphoria, but just unusual confidence. SWIM is a very shy person, so when SWIM became very outgoing on the Effexor, looking back it was just so different. Now that SWIM thinks about it, SWIM's memories have probably been exaggerrated. What was really happening is that SWIM is so shy and self-conscious naturally because of SWIM's anxiety, the Effexor made SWIM more talkative, outgoing, gave SWIM confidence and took away a lot of SWIM's usual anxiety so SWIM felt confident in situations where SWIM would usually feel insecure. Now that it's been over a year since SWIM's been off Effexor, SWIM's memories of the time were more clearer. SWIM's anxiety makes SWIM see SWIM's past events in an exaggerrated light. SWIM gets embarassed easily and SWIM's memories of past events are sometimes more embarassing than SWIM remembers and SWIM was seeing it in an embarassing, negative light. What really happened is that on Effexor SWIM was much more confident, outgoing and disinhibited than SWIM normally is and upon getting off Efffexor, SWIM became quiet, shy, self-conscious and insecure. The dramatic change in mental thoughts made SWIM embarassed about how SWIM acted on Effexor, but now, looking back, SWIM actually wasn't as much as SWIM remembers. SWIM just said some things that SWIM normally wouldn't say and had confidence to say and do things that SWIM normally wouldn't say or do and the comparision to SWIM's shyness now is a big deal, however, a lot of people would say and do a lot of the things SWIM did. It msut be that the Effexor somehow removed the anxiety and inhibition and resulted in more outgoing and talkative behavior than SWIM's normal self. SWIM's personality changed a lot, but now that it's been over a year since SWIM's been off Effexor, SWIM sees things in a much clearer way. SWIM's personality changed a lot, but it wasn't really anything that unusual change. Sorry for the repetetive message, SWIM will edit it later to make it clearer. It's weird to say exactly what happened on Effexor. SWIM is not bipolar, so it wasn't really mania, but it seemed like what is described as a somewhat hypomanic state without euphoria, just all this confidence that didn't exist before. SWIM is amazed at some of the things SWIM was able to say on Effexor. SWIM didn't really do anything that was thebig change, it wasn't really what SWIM did, it's what SWIM said that was the big change.

[Amnesia]

A person does not have to be bipolar to suffer a manic or hypomanic episode - especially when taking an anti-depressant (or any other serotonergic agents). Mania is listed in the side effects of all anti-depressants (that SWIM is aware of). Nor is the experience always euphoric - although it most often is. Sometimes it can be expansive, optimistic, contented or irritable.

If SWIM understands SWIY’s initial post correctly SWIY was shy, self-conscious, anxious etc before the administration of Venlafaxine. Whilst on the medication SWIY’s personality changed from what would be regarded as SWIY's 'base-line' (the way SWIY was before the medication was administered) and SWIY became outgoing, confident, talkative, hyper-sexual and impulsive. Upon its withdrawal SWIY reverted back to this 'base-line.' Therefore SWIY probably suffered from what would be called a substance induced hypomanic episode. It doesn't make SWIY bipolar; it just means SWIY had a negative reaction to the Venlafaxine i.e. SWIY suffered a side effect.

SWIM does not mean to upset SWIY, but SWIY's initial post describes symptoms of a classic hypomanic episode.



Edited to add the following information-

Definition of hypomania
A mild to moderate level of mania which is characterized by inflated self-esteem, optimism, pressure of speech and activity, and decreased need for sleep. It is a distinct period of persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting at least 4 days, that is clearly different from the usual mood. Most often observed in bipolar II patients, this state can also be induced by response to anti-depressant treatment and would, therefore, not count toward a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, but would instead be termed ‘substance-induced hypomania.’

DSM IV Clinical Features:
The clinical features of hypomania are a marked elevation of mood, or irritability, with at least four or more of the following:
Over activity; Disinhibition; Impulsivity; Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences; Inflated self-esteem, confidence or grandiosity (nondelusional); Decreased need for sleep; Pressured speech i.e. feeling the need to talk constantly and very quickly; Increased interest in uncharacteristic sexual flirting; Flights of ideas; Increase in goal-directed activity; People seeking i.e. a constant urge for company.

(Ref: Goodwin & Jamison. 2007)

[mydrugbuddie]

I strongly disagree with Amnesia's take on this. So much so that I was compelled to sign up and make this my first post.

SWIM has experienced exactly the same diffculties as SWI Princess, ie self-conscious, shy and low self-confidence. In order to overcome these crippling afflictions and to be able to enjoy himself in social situations SWIM has in his past taken lots of amphetamines to experience the character changes Princess describes. Were it not for the horrible after effects and comedowns of speed where one feels worse than one did before taking it, SWIM would have been taking speed continously.

One poster jokingly asked why stop taking Effexor. I ask this in all seriousness. If Effexor can apparently cause these character changes, preumably without any comedowns, then what could be better !!

SWIM does understand the dangers of uninhibited and impulsive behaviour, and also grandiosity and delusions. When taking speed at first SWIM revelled in the freedom from inhibitions and would behave without a care in the world as this was such a great feeling. SWIM would be the most confident person others had ever met. Some people would hate SWIM as he thought he was "it". SWIM didnt care at first, and loved the feeling of being able to ignore and shrug off the social approval seeking that usually domibnated his behaviour, but gradually SWIM came to modify his behaviour and keep his head level so that he could have a great time while also monitoring his behaviour so that he would not be getting looks from some people telling him that he was behaving like a complete asshole.

What I mean is that people can benefit from positive effects without their lives becoming train wrecks.

To get to the point then, I belive that Amnesia is completely wrong to describe the effects that Effexor had in terms of "suffering" and "negative effects". What could be further from the truth ? Just try standing in the shoes of people who are not free to enjoy social situations.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Valuable input, thanks for joining!

[Amnesia]

^^^ Some rather strange assumptions, SWIY does not know Amnesia, but she says she respects SWIY's right to disagree with her.

She suggests SWIY reads case studies of prolonged hypomania and mania, and the effects that these conditions have had on people's lives.

She recommends the following text: Goodwin & Jamison. Manic-Depressive Illness; Bipolar Disorders and Recurrent Depression: 2007.

[Amnesia]

Originally Posted by mydrugbuddie

Just try standing in the shoes of people who are not free to enjoy social situations.

This is an assumption. It implies that SWIM does not know what it is like to suffer from social anxiety.

Prolonged hypomanic and manic episodes have been shown to decrease the amount of grey matter in the brain - this would be considered a negative side effect of anything.

Once again she advises SWIY to research the prolonged effects of these conditions.

[Princess]

SWIM was able to get close to back to normal. When SWIM first got off Effexor, SWIM noticed the anxiety much more, but after being off Effexor for over a year, SWIM's returning back to normal. SWIM realizes that off Effexor, at night time, SWIM is able to be outgoing again. Not as intense on Effexor, but normal outgoing. When SWIM feels comfortable, SWIM can be outgoing and fun again. At night time, SWIM gets disinhibited. SWIM is able to be more relaxed at night time. It's weird, but in the day time, SWIM is totally different than at night. It also has to do with the setting. Something about the night time naturally disinhibits SWIM and SWIM talks and is fun and outgoing again like on Effexor, but not as intense as Effexor, just normal, like SWIM used to be. It seems the anxiousness is mainly during the day and at night SWIM is able to act normal. SWIM wonders why, does it have to do with being up for a certian amount of time or can day versus night affect anxiety levels? It seems to be more like SWIM's generalized anxiety affects things, when SWIM is anxious in general, it affects SWIM, but at night, SWIM is more relaxed, more talkative, more outgoing. SWIM's like a totally different person between daytime and night time now. Hm... It has to do with the setting, too. Yeah, this message is slightly off topic.

[chibi curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Princess

SWIM was able to get close to back to normal. When SWIM first got off Effexor, SWIM noticed the anxiety much more, but after being off Effexor for over a year, SWIM's returning back to normal. SWIM realizes that off Effexor, at night time, SWIM is able to be outgoing again. Not as intense on Effexor, but normal outgoing. When SWIM feels comfortable, SWIM can be outgoing and fun again. At night time, SWIM gets disinhibited. SWIM is able to be more relaxed at night time. It's weird, but in the day time, SWIM is totally different than at night. It also has to do with the setting. Something about the night time naturally disinhibits SWIM and SWIM talks and is fun and outgoing again like on Effexor, but not as intense as Effexor, just normal, like SWIM used to be. It seems the anxiousness is mainly during the day and at night SWIM is able to act normal. SWIM wonders why, does it have to do with being up for a certian amount of time or can day versus night affect anxiety levels? It seems to be more like SWIM's generalized anxiety affects things, when SWIM is anxious in general, it affects SWIM, but at night, SWIM is more relaxed, more talkative, more outgoing. SWIM's like a totally different person between daytime and night time now. Hm... It has to do with the setting, too. Yeah, this message is slightly off topic.

Actually, I'd say it's on topic. Setting is very important, and this is a clue to what causes swiy's anxiety in the first place. Maybe the venlafaxine was a good experience to show swiy that she was capable of being talkative and outgoing. Swim has had good results sort of "channeling" states of mind from drugs like cocaine and LSA, being able to act the same way as she did on those drugs while sober (i.e., outgoing, confident, and friendly.)

Maybe swiy should talk to her therapist about what causes anxiety and what takes it away? They say knowing is half the battle...it's more like 3/4ths of the battle in psychiatry.

[Princess]

SWIM's main thing is more of the generalized anxiety, where SWIM gets anxious in general. The anxiety didn't really affect SWIM's life until the last year when SWIM got off psych meds. SWIM got so used to them that the anxiety off them felt so different. But after being off psych meds for over a year, SWIM adjusted to it. SWIM is outgoing and talkative in one on one and in intimate relationships, but is shy and quiet when there's a lot of people around that all know each other. SWIM just finds one on one and intimate relationships so much more comfortable and relaxing than huge groups. The Effexor gave this totally different feeling, like this confidence all the time. It took away all insecure thoughts and replaced them with these confident thoughts. It's confusing exactly what it did. It gave this confidence and it's hard to explain. The thing is, SWIM did not even notice the anxiety until SWIM got off the psych meds. For most of the time, SWIM's been both outgoing and shy. Outgoing in some situations, shy in other situations. It depended on the relationship. On Effexor, things were totally different. Then, when SWIM got off Effexor, SWIM noticed this anxiety that SWIM wasn't used to and hadn't felt. Then, after being off Effexor for awhile, things changed again. The generalized anxiety seems to have been affected a lot. The Effexor did change my personality a lot before and after.