Venlafaxine
"Nearly all of my life, now retired, in spite of being a high achiever, confident (on the surface) and skilled, I have fought against depression, anxiety, self harm, a lack of connection. I have hidden it well, feeling ashamed of not being happy inside. Tired of the fight I finally saw my doctor and tried several different tricyclics, SRIs, but all gave me unwelcome symptoms. We agreed to try Venlafaxine, and within a fortnight I was feeling so much better. I then started CBT, was diagnosed with delayed trauma, which surprised me but as we worked through it, made sense.  My drug dose was doubled and I'm feeling even better. I am so relieved. This drug works for me, no side effects, and I feel so much calmer and able to cope."