Hi everyone...
Im completely new to all this. I was diagnosed with major depression 3 years ago although i suffered in silence and denial for a long time before diagnosis. I was on Fluoxetine and then Citalopram but maxed them both out and was then put on Venlafaxine....i take 150mg twice a day.
At the start of the year i had a really unfortunate mix up with my doses and was only taking 75mg twice a day for 3 days by accident....and the effects were absolutely horrible. I literally couldnt get out of bed....felt sooo sick and dizzy, all my muscles ached and i was extremely paranoud and suicidal. Once the mix up was noticed and i started taking my correct dose all went back to normal.
A couple of months ago i noticed my eyes seemed a bit "strange"....cant put my finger on exactly what had changed, but decided to get it checked out at the opticians. She carried out all the usual tests etc and told me my eyes looked absolutely fine.....except that my pupils are completely different sizes and that they are "sluggish"when light is shined into them. She then took photographs of my eyes and photos through to the back of my eye and the optic nerve etc, although the photos of my left eye were dark as my pupil is pin-pointed. She then checked my peripheral vision by asking me to focus on a light and press a trigger when i saw a small flash of light appear....my right eye scored 48/50 but left scored 27/50 which she said is a severe abnormality. When checking my drug history and the drug BNF she confirmed that this is a very rare side effect of Venlafaxine and advised me to visit my Consultant and change to another medication.
Ive got to admit that im absolutely terrified of coming off Venlafaxine as i know first hand the effects of withdrawing from it! Obviously i know id be weaned off it but im scared to risk it.....back then i felt so suicidal my boyfriend had to hide car keys as i wanted to drive myself into a wall, and smashed a bottle over my own head to use the broken glass on myself but was stopped.
I never did go to change my meds and since then ive noticed a worsening in my left eye....my sight is a bit blurry now and its almost always sore as my eye muscles strain to compensate.
Im so scared as i dont know what to do....i dont know if my sight will get worse without a change of meds but im scared of coming off these tablets.
Has anyone experienced anything similar? I know dose reduction affects everyone differently etc. Im terrified. Sorry for huge rambly story xxx
