@meingan Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect and to this support group.

I will share my experience with anxiety and antidepressant medication but first I would to ask if you've discussed you lack of response and plans to wean off Venlafaxine with your prescribing physician? When I'd had little to no response to antidepressants in the past I worked with my doctor to find medication that worked for me. For instance, I knew that others in my family had responded to Celexa so I was prescribed that medication for awhile. It worked OK but when another family member was prescribed Cymbalta I asked my doctor about switching to that medication. Cymbalta (I take duloxetine which is the generic) worked very well for me and I've been on it for more than 10 years now.

I've had some form of anxiety disorder since my early teens. I had a major depressive episode with anxiety in my mid-20's but that was long before there was any effective antidepressant medication available. Since that time I've had relapses of depression/anxiety but I could always trace it to a significant event in my life. Now I know what to watch for so that if the anxiety rears up again I can use my coping skills to manage the anxiety.

Are you working with a mental health therapist who specializes in anxiety? If not, I'd recommend asking your friends or checking in your community to see if there is a therapist available for you. The coping skills I mentioned were learned through therapy and a lot of practice on my own.

Three months seems like a long time to wait for a medication to work for anxiety. Benzodiazepines like the clonazepam you are prescribed work for anxiety but meant to be used in the short term. I hope you will work with your doctor and a therapist to figure out what works best for you.