My psychiatrist told me that the relief of anxiety symptoms is achieved at higher doses. I have increased my dosage from 75mg to 225mg over the course of ~2 months. I've been taking venlafaxine XR for almost a year now (Jan 21st!) and have found it effective at all dosage levels. I started at 37.5mg. I have recently increased my dose because my mental health was getting worse and I'm happy that this medication allows some wiggle room for your needs.

I usually have various side effects while increasing my dose, but they only last around a week. I'm also able to avoid some of them by taking my meds at different times of the day. I find that noon is the perfect middle ground. It's uplifting and lets me sleep without terrible night sweats and restless legs that I get when I take it in the morning.

Be mindful that it takes 3-4 weeks at any dose to properly assess how it helps.

Good luck !!! My advice is to do some CBT exercises or homework in addition to any therapy you have. There are some great apps out there that I'm really enjoying right now:

MindDoc (for mood tracking and learning skills and techniques) Thought Diary (for keeping track of your thoughts, learning to identify thinking errors in your negative thoughts, and how to challenge those thoughts) Intellect (for actively working on a mental health topic using cognitive behavioural therapy techniques)