| Key to ratings for effexor: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine. |
| Rating | Reason | Side Effects | Comments | Sex | Age | Time Taken | Date Added | |
| | F M | | | | ||||
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| 3 | bipolar 2 | Very diminished sex drive. | Orgasms are important! I only took this drug for 1 week and I had 1 week of godawful withdrawal symptoms: sleeping all day every day for 5 days, brain zaps (don't know how else to describe it), nausea, headache. | F | 32 | 1 weeks | 11/19/2009 | 5 | Severe clinical depression | Absolutely none | This is my miracle pill. I had depression since I was 12, and it escalated to severe depression by the time I was 16. After testing nearly 11 different medications involving serotonin alone, nothing seemed to help. I failed my junior and senior year of high school and was sent to a psychiatric hospital for a short time due to my depression. When I started Effexor however, I noticed an immediate change to my mood. An increase in dosage had great effects. It cleared away my suicidal thoughts, restored my emotional capabilities to that of a normal person (first thing I said is that I felt like a kid again... the last time that I was not affected by depression) and gave me the motivation to finish up high school. Since my life has gotten back in order I'm in college persuing a career, have a great boyfriend, and a family that's happy to have me back. This pill saved my life. | F | 19 | 18 months | 11/18/2009 | 1 | Anxiety | Turned into a zombie,no emotions whatosever. PERMANENT loss of sex drive & ability to achieve orgasm. | I took Effexor for about a month appx 7 years ago. Within 2 weeks I was a total zombie. Felt like if a family member dropped dead in front of me could not shed a tear. I also had a PERMANENT TOTAL loss of sex drive, loss of all sensitivty in my breasts(which were very sensitive prior),and inability to orgasm. That has not returned and don't expect it ever will. No doctor I have ever talked to has ever heard of this reaction. If anyone else has experienced this please contact me. | F | 43 | 1 months | 11/14/2009 | 4 | Mild depression - anger management | The only negative side-effect I've experienced is waking up after only 3-4 hours and being unable to get back to sleep. | I am the biggest sceptic in the world when it comes to taking any type of AD drugs. But, out of concern for the effect my anger was having on my family (and myself), I agreed to take this medication. I took 37.5 for the first week and then 75 after that. I've been taking it for 3 weeks now, and my life has done a complete turnaround. I'm happy at home, I'm focused at work, I have energy, I'm interested in the world around me...these are all things I've struggled with in the last 3 years. I can honestly say that this drug has done exactly what I needed it to do...it's given me my life back. I know it probably doesn't work as well for everyone, but I think that if I feel this good because of Effexor, there have to be thousands of others who are feeling the benefits of it as well. | F | 51 | 3 weeks | 11/9/2009 | 1 | Depression | Jerky muscles, sexual side effect, upper right sided discomfort, VERY elevated blood pressure, BAD headaches, sweating, nausea. Horrible withdrawal!!! | My doctor told me she doesn't like to tell people about the side effects because patients are more likely to get them. She also claims side effects are very rare with this medication. I am furious with her because I had no idea this medication would spike my blood pressure that bad nor did I realize the other effects were all from this medication. I would rather suffer with depression than to go through what I have with this medication. I wish I had been smart enough to look up potential side effect prior to taking it. This has been a horrible experience! | F | 45 | 35 days | 11/9/2009 | 4 | Depression, Anxiety | Restless leg syndrome, burning feet at night (don't see this anywhere else so weird), wake up in the middle of the night wide awake, tired!! | When I first started this med I freaked out bc I read all the horror stories online & this is my first experience with an AD. At first I had tons of energy and couldn't sleep well at all, but now I am tired during the day and sometimes I can sleep all night, but as far as sadness goes I feel NONE...I still don't think I'm "myself" again, but I feel like everything will be ok for the first time in my life. I drank 2 ounces of wine on Halloween and felt very dizzy so I don't think I can drink on this and medicine which is disappointing. Also my sex drive is gone and this really sucks! Hopefully in a month these side effects will decrease... | F | 23 | 8 days | 11/3/2009 | 4 | Depression, anxiety, OCD | extreme sensitivity to light at night, loss of libido, vivid dreams, clenching of teeth while asleep, indifference, inability to cry | I find it best to take Effexor in the morning with food. It has a tendency to upset my stomach. You will be a highly functioning individual for the rest of the day if the drug is taken in the A.M. Do your research before taking this drug. It has assisted mostly with my depression and anxiety, not my OCD. | F | 25 | 9 months | 11/2/2009 | 1 | Depression/Bi-polar disorder | Anxiety, agitation, hypomania, weight gain, insomnia and bizarre vivid nightmares, high blood pressure, dehydrating night sweats, memory problems, low thyroid level. | I had thought that the side effects I listed were caused by my body doing quirky things on its own. My doctor was constantly giving me new medications for anxiety, agitation, night sweats, high blood pressure and thyroid levels. I assumed that my ever increasing weight was somehow my issue that I hadn't resolved (yet no matter how much I exercised or ate a low calorie/fat diet my weight still increased pound by pound). My current doctor, and my previous three medication doctors, did not tell me that these were actually SIDE EFFECTS OF EFFEXOR. I will be getting off of this medication slowly… ever so slowly. I had once tried to get off of it under the supervision of psychiatrist number one, and the withdrawal symptoms then were hideous and that was nine years ago! Be forewarned, if you have any of the symptoms I described, talk to your doctor about them. For more information on side effects of Effexor, see www.petitiononline.com/effexor. | F | 43 | 10 years | 11/2/2009 | 2 | depression | body aches and pain. Malaise. Flu like symptoms. Numbness in limbs/joints. Horrible feelings of doom. | M | 57 | 3 years | 10/22/2009 | 5 | Depression | Night Sweats, weight gain, dizziness if I was so much as a couple hours late taking my dose | It was a God send for me. I suffered from depression since my teens. Didn't know that there was anything that could be done for it. Had tryed Prozac many years earlier and hated the disconncted feeling it gave me. Effexor has never made me feel like I can't feel. It has calmed me (my husband says I yell much less since I started using the Effexor. It has taken the extreme lows out of the equation and made me a more patient person. I still feel joy. I still feel pain as well but it is when it makes sense to feel it... not angry or deppressed at the drop of a pin or spilled milk. I recently stopped taking due to the effectiveness decreasing. I had to increase my dose every couple of years to keep feeling good. I am now trying the Pristiq. | F | 39 | 5 years | 10/10/2009 | 5 | Severe Depression | vivid dreams | I was at the brink of suicide. My depression was treatment resistant as I've failed to have any relief from the other anti-depressants (Cymbalta / Prozac / Zoloft /Seroquel/Zyprexa/ etc). Suicidal thoughts and suicidal feelings ravaged my mind continously so badly that I practically laid in bed for months. Then my doc prescribed Effexor XR 75mg. I left his clinic thinking that it will never work. That I will be committing suicide pretty soon. Nothing helps. Took it for two days and then immediately felt the lift. My negative thoughts were gone and my mood improved tremendously. It saved me from jumping off a building at the very last moment. Effexor really helped me. I know about the discontinuation symptoms but I am willing to take it, else I'd be dead. | M | 37 | 2 weeks | 10/3/2009 | 1 | Depression | Increased Depression, sweating, cold chills, difficulty sleeping, feeling like I had the flu, weird thoughts, irritability | Hate this medicine! As soon as I stopped taking it I didn't feel sick anymore and my depression lifted | F | 30 | 7 days | 9/14/2009 | 4 | difficulty sleeping, mild depressio | Possibly dry mouth Slight decrease in libido | My doctor switched me from Zoloft. I had not slept well for decades. He told me it could be from depression. Zoloft helped a lot for sleeping, energy, and decreased anxiety. Effexor has been slightly better. I feel great with 7 1/2 hours sleep. Before I felt tired after 8 1/2 hr sleep (or time in bed half asleep). | M | 59 | 3 months | 9/1/2009 | 1 | high blood pressure, palpitations, tachycardia, insomnia, diarrhea | worst drug ever, avoid it, it will ruin your life. | M | 31 | 3 days | 8/29/2009 | 3 | depression | fluctuating body weight, lack of emotion, lack of motivation, difficulty sleeping, difficulty waking back up, can't cry | while this drug has helped stave off suicidal thoughts and depression it has also left me feeling like I'm lacking something. Its hard to sleep and wake up and I almost always feel tired. If I miss a dose my head will sometimes ring and my vision will blur especially when moving. I have very strange and vivid dreams. | M | 21 | 2 years | 8/21/2009 | 5 | depression, anxiety | originally had been taking the ssri lexapro for about nine days prior to switching to the snri effexor. lexapro made me very lethargic and tired. my brain was in kind of a haze for the first week no lexapro and after switching to effexor i still had that effect but it went away after a couple of days. the first month on effexor was somewhat of a mental rollercoaster. i had few physical side effects, most notably delayed ejaculation. i experienced suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, imsonia, and increased heart rate. blood pressure has been slightly elevated so it's important that you limit caffeine intake and maintain a healthy active lifestyle. most of these effects subsided dramatically after a month of use. as of now i have no side effects other than slight delayed sexual response (which actually helps to improve my sex life) and imsomnia due to increased energy. | almost immediately after beginning effexor i had much much more energy and have lost a lot of weight because i can exercise more and for longer periods now. that's really amazing to me. the first month is a little shaky but remember the drug takes time to become effective. i now have few side effects and my depression is completely gone. i am much more active, outgoing, confident and positive about life. i like what a previous poster said about changing from waiting to die to actually living. the negative thought patterns seem to have ceased entirely. i would have never have thought that life could be so comfortable. i had been suffering needlessly and stubbornly for several years beforehand. don't give up! | M | 30 | 2 months | 8/20/2009 | 5 | Depression | Brain zaps if dose is missed | I take 75 mg Effexor with 20 mg Lexapro and wouldn't trade it for the world. This combo helped snap me out of my depression and helps keep me positive, even keeled and smiling. | F | 30 | 3 months | 8/13/2009 | 3 | Borderline Personality Disorder | Tdepression aspect of my illness is no longer there, and I just feel the "normal" ebbs and flows of life, I thought I would give life a go without it. Its 10 days since cessation of effexor a I have been very irritable about inconsequential stuff, nauseated, metallic taste in my mouth and feel like the inside of my skull is coated in metal shavings that shake with every step I take. I can't sleep until about 6.00am and then I can't stay in bed past 8.30am. I feel speedy, sweaty, shaky and frenetic during the day. I'm getting headaches, weird dreams and a cotton wool feeling in my head. I'm dizzy and turning my head to look around me is difficult as it makes me feel like I am going to fall over, it's like it takes a while for my vision/focus to catch up with the position of my head and the direction of my eyes. I kind of feel like a robot in slo mo - it's highly unpleasant to say the least. I am also having crazy legs and feet that can't bear the feel of blankets or clothi | Initially when I began taking it 75mg a day, I had the insane, disturbing epic dreams/nightmares after about 4 months these dreams decreased but I still have one a week (whilst taking effexor. When I was taking effexor the only side only other side effects I'v experienced have been yawning, hair loss, greasy hair and weight gain)Sweating that I experienced constantly prior to taking Effexor has decreased to about once a week and only at night, and my depression is pretty much zero. The decrease in sweats and depression I believe is attributable to considerable lifestyle changes like getting sober, not taking pain killers, sleeping more, enjoying life more, not being so tough on myself and living rather than waiting to die. Taking Valproate for the BPD side of my mental illness has helped in the reduction of severe highs and lows that used to put me in self destruct/everybody hates me/i'm crazy/i'm the greatest person in the world mode. (I don't intend to stop taking the Valproate ever because it has definitely balanced my moods BUT I do want to minimise the role of chemicals in living my life in a calm way)It was helpful to read everybody else's comments so Thanks & Good Luck in your recovery of good mental health | F | 38 | 9 months | 8/6/2009 | 1 | Depression | MAJOR WEIGHT GAIN, it did not make me feel less depressed specifically, it just made me numb to everything - never felt happy, sad, angry, this drug just put me in a cloud. Complete loss of sex drive. The worst side effects are now that I am gradually weaning off this addictive drug. Side effects from stopping are dizzyness, nausea, headaches, pain from eye movement, and generally feeling like hell! Only take this drug if you intend to stay on it for life! | F | 43 | 6 years | 7/17/2009 | 5 | Depression | None that I can see at this point or recall in the past. Dr. seems to think it made blood pressure go up. But I believe it was the chemo I was taking at that time. | Whit Effexor, I have emotions and normal feeling....just not depressed feelings. Lexapro made me want to sleep all the time and I mostly cared about nothing. I'm sure these drugs are designed to do a little more than that. | F | 50 | 2 years | 7/11/2009 | 4 | severe depression/panic | weight gain, acne and dizziness if I forget a dose | Effexor, with all it's negative side effects, has been fantastic so far. I have switched to it after 6 years on prozac which I had to keep raising the dose of. Now, with Effexor (150 mg), I feel great, for the first time in years I am enthusiastic about my job, I enjoy the company of people and have about 200% more energy. The weight gain bothers me as does the acne (which I always had but now it got worse) but all in all the positive effects outweigh the negative ones. | F | 32 | 4 months | 7/7/2009 | 4 | anxiety, depression | weight gain, libido, can't cry,restless legs | F | 53 | 4 months | 6/26/2009 | 4 | Bipolar/ panic disorder | Dizziness, slurred speech, vertigo, angry moods, less sex drive | I just started 2 weeks ago switching from Paxil. It takes a long time to kick in. I've been upped in those two weeks from 75mg to 150mg to 225mg. I'm finally starting to feel less depressed and anxious. I also take lithium, geodon, trazadone, and klonopin. These are great drugs. Its the effexor I'm waiting to kick in. | M | 29 | 2 weeks | 6/24/2009 | 1 | Menopausal Symptoms | I would not want to dissuade anyone from trying this drug as it DOES take hot flashes away and there is little else that women can take for hot flashes other than HRT which is NOT AN OPTION for BRCA people...HOWEVER, be forewarned...this medication can have SERIOUS side effects. | SIDE EFFECTS THAT I EXPERIENCED: Crushing Chest Pain Sudden Severe Tachycardia in a bradycardic person Orthostatic Tachycardia Dizziness High Blood Pressure in someone with historically low blood pressure Anxiety Severe Withdrawel symptoms I am trying Neurontin along with Celexa for pain and menopausal symptoms which gives me some relief from hot flashes and burning pain, but this combination is not as successful at mitigating all the menopausal symptoms as Effexor was | F | 52 | 30 days | 6/24/2009 | 5 | depression. anxiety, pain | ringing in the ears more often, sugar cravings gone, harder time waking up | This has been a great drug for me. I feel very calm, not depressed and my pain level is near half of what it was. I just can't believe it! My counselor was the one who actually recommended it. She worked in a medical office for years and knew that in some cases it helped with mood and pain. What a surprise and a relief! I'm taking only half of a 75mg once a day and don't feel I need any more (at least not now?). Don't know why the sugar cravings are gone, I don't see anyone else mentioning it here, maybe it's something else. | F | 56 | 30 days | 5/23/2009 | 5 | Depression, anxiety | Slight headache during the first week. Weight loss during the first 6 months, then I went back to my original weight within 5-10lbs. | I know many people post about difficulties withdrawing or other side effects. And I don't want to belittle that - but one has to realize that people who have bad experiences are far more likely to post their experiences then those for whom Effexor works great! So for a 1000 negative posts, there might be a million people taking it and be happy. Impossible to know the precise numbers. In my case EFFEXOR SIMPLY CHANGED AND SAVED MY LIFE! This drug is wonderful, it allows me to be myself again, be happy and make my family happy. I have been taking it since 2006 and the only ongoing side effect I have is a little bit of dry mouth - and the benefits of taking Effexor far outweigh that. I know sometimes people feel they are not themselves when they take psych drugs, but in my case I feel that Effexor finally allows me to be the real me again. Sorry if this sounds too positive, but this drug really helped me. | M | 36 | 3 years | 5/22/2009 | 3 | depression | horrible night sweats, vivid dreams, inorgasmia, weight gain | I was given this when Lexapro wasn't doing anything for me. The only thing better about Effexor is I'm not a walking zombie. It still doesn't seem to do anything for the depression. I have been considering asking for something else, and am now afraid to as hearing people taking FOREVER to wean off it. When I have missed a day, I get horrible nausea, sweating, vertigo, anxiety, and just generally pissed-off feeling. | F | 41 | 8 months | 5/21/2009 | 1 | Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency | Dizziness to the point of clinical vertigo, loss of libido, inorgasmia, episodes of heart pounding and arhythmia, severe headaches, increase in fatigue and brain fog, blood pressure spikes. | Stupid psychiatrist: A top neurologist had me on Selegiline (Eldepryl) without levodopa, which greatly relieved the CFIDS symptoms. I moved 4 hours away, and the new family Dr. would not re-prescribe without a psychiatric consult. The shrink refused stating possible interaction with Demerol in an emergency room situation which could spike blood pressure. I said I'd wear a bracelet. He still refused and put me on a series of anti-depressents, starting with Prozac. Each of them made the fatigue, inability to concentrate, brain fog, and excessive sleepiness worse, as well as causing loss of libido and inorgasmia. The last, and by far worst of them was Effexor. I did not realize that it caused the dizziness (I had to hold onto walls to walk) until I decided to can the shrink. Within 2 days of stopping the Effexor the Vertigo stopped. The increased fatigue, etc. took several months to resolve. The real kicker: Each and every one of those antidepressants caused blood pressure spikes! I'd like to start an "Anything but Effexor" club. I went to a new doctor who started me on Wellbutrin, which is an energizing anti-depressant, and has helped with the fatigue and "brain fog" fairly well for the past 9 years. | F | 51 | 4 weeks | 5/20/2009 | 5 | anxiety, depression | I have to say that I felt no side effects whatsoever of this medication. My doctor had me on 75 mg dose once daily and within 5 to 7 days of starting this medication I started feeling back to normal - things didn't bother me as much and my attitude was much more positive. I was on it for about 5 years when I decided to go off the medication because I just didn't feel I needed it anymore. I quit cold turkey and felt NONE of the side effects mentioned here - as a matter of fact I felt NO side effects at all. I did feel some of the "brain zaps" that folks talk about here but at least in my case they were not debilitating whatsoever and very short lived. I have been off the medication for over 1 year now and I am noticing that some of the anxiety has crept back into my life - I am uninterested in eating (can go for a whole day with little to no food), I have irregular sleeping times and can (and usually am) awake in the wee wee hours of the night, am uninterested in things I enjo | M | 52 | 5 years | 5/19/2009 | 1 | depression | twitching, sweating, shortness of breath, insomnia, jitters, muscle pain, headaches, dry mouth, hands and feet tingling. blurred vision, anxiety, memory loss | F | 26 | 2 weeks | 5/19/2009 | 5 | Depression and anxiety | Sensitive eyes to light and they burn a bit | I have only been on thsi drug for 5 days now (35mg) and I love it! I am haapy and sane now. The Doc. gave me Trazadone for sleeping to take at night. I sleep great and I am happy. No brain zaps (whatever that means) or nausea, restless legs or spacy feeling, no tiredness or anything! I know it's only been 5 days, but its made that much of a difference. I also noticed that the people having these side effects are one on really high doses. The highest I am going is 75mgs. Seems like that is the magic number! | F | 38 | 5 days | 5/4/2009 | 3 | severe depression | weight gain even when eating next to nothing, uncontrollable sweating, restless leg syndrome, very low libido | I have been on Effexor XR for over ten years. In the beginning it did seem to help my bouts of severe depression, but as time went on I simply took it because I took it, no other reason, and my depression crept back in under the drug, with no appreciable help from the drug. I tried suicide, and found that unhelpful, went dutifully back on the drug after I got out of the hospital. It worked OK for 6 mos, but not as well as before, and again I drifted into depression. I made large lifestyle changes and, in the process, quit the drug. The process was horrible, but I feel better than I have in years. Things I had come to accept as growing old (memory loss, restless leg syndrome, lack of sex drive) melted away. I feel like a new man. I may need to go on a drug again for depression, but it will not be Effexor. | M | 69 | 10 years | 5/3/2009 | 1 | depression and migraines | I've had weight gain, memory loss, blurred vision, tiredness, severe jaw clenching. Don't even think about quitting med cold turkey because you'll get dizzy and nausiated for days with a severe headache. You must reduce med slowly for weeks. There must be something better. | Too many side effects, has not helped depression nor migraines. | F | 46 | 3 years | 4/24/2009 | 5 | anxiety,panic, depression | Sweating | I have been on Effexor xr 300 mg in the morning for about 3 years now. I do notice I sweat ALOT. I can be doing nothing and start sweating. This happens only in the first 1-2 hours after the dose. Otherwise it has saved my life. I never thought I could be " normal" I went from years of being so afraid of leaving the house and being afraid of everything. I will deal with the side effects just to have a life. THANK YOU EFFEXOR ! | F | 42 | 3 years | 4/8/2009 | 3 | depression, anxiety/panic | tiredness/lethargy, weakness, nausea, decreased appetite, headaches, urinary problems, sexual problems, runny nose. Put simply, this drug has lots of side effects | Effexor is somewhat effective but it has too many side effects! The literature claims effexor is not sedating, but it knocks me out! I take regular effexor (not XR) and it causes a very uncomfortable feeling in the stomach, especially if you eat right after you take it. It does decrease my appetite (which can be a good thing), had tremendous difficulty urinating while on this drug. I am trying to get off of it, but it has withdrawal symptoms. Effexor is a difficult drug to get off of because of its short half life. I am trying to taper off (down to 25mg every few days) but I keep getting very dizzy, like brain "zaps" if that makes sense, and an increase in anxiety. Don't take this drug unless nothing else has worked! Try zoloft, lexapro or another SSRI first. For the most part, this drug does help with anxiety and stuff, but it is too potent. | M | 22 | 4 months | 4/6/2009 | 5 | Hot flashes | Nausea | I was prescribed Effexor for hot flashes by my gynecologist several years ago, While it helped with hot flashes, the reason I am such a believer in this drug is not for curing hot flashes but for social anxiety. I have suffered from social anxiety my whole life. At times, I've been in therapy for it, but I never considered taking a pill. When I was told it would help with the flashes and night sweats, I was willing to do anything. A week or so after taking Effexor, I felt a lot better. I could be in a room with a lot of people and feel comfortable. I could lead a meeting and be comfortable. I could give a presentation and be comfortable. This drug has done a lot to help me with little to no side effects. I highly recommend it if you are slightly depressed and have social anxiety. | F | 55 | 4 years | 4/2/2009 | 4 | Postpartum anxiety | Constipation, fatigue, continuous ringing in ears | Effexor doesnt fix everything, but helps tremendously. I've been taking it after each of my two deliveries to treat my panic attacks. First time, it worked right away, second time, it took a few weeks to be fully effective. I've always been an anxious person. My problems started when i feared not being able to fullfill my responsabilities because of my anxiety. Like not being able to attend a course, or speak in front of people... and later, take care of my kids, or feel well during any activity when it's not the time to feel bad ( you know...). It would always start the same way : i feel a strange bodily sensation, think to myself : oh no, i'm not going to panic because of this, then i would try to think about something else, but would only end up thinking just more about it ... and voila... I'm feeling anxious. One day, i listened to Dr Weekes lectures (somewhere on the internet), and decided to try facing my problem. The only way i can avoid feeling anxious is by wanting to be anxious.... treating the sensations like they are invited, noticing them, scrutinizing them, not avoiding them, wanting them. It sounds weird but i found it way more effective than effexor. Since I don't fear my anxiety symptoms, i almost don't feel them anymore. Give it a try, it helps to be on effexor while looking for these answers. | F | 31 | 4 months | 4/2/2009 | 1 | depression | vision problems, like somebody turned on the wrong switch | since stopping this evil crap i no longer feel anything, trouble completing speech, stuttering i am so numb and scared | F | 48 | 4 months | 3/30/2009 | 1 | anxiety | lethargic, constant yawning all day, nausea, trouble concentrating, sensitive to light and sound, headaches, anxiety, irritability, forgetfulness, ringing in the ears, feeling "out of it" | I began experiencing panic attacks after taking Zoloft for almost 2 months, so I was switched to Effexor. I do not believe either drug helped me in the least. I was prescribed antidepressents to begin with for PPD, and ended up feeling the most horrible I have ever felt in my life. I have not felt like myself in over a year. I have horrible dreams at night when I do sleep, I toss and turn constantly, I get headaches, nausea, I have trouble concentrating, I'm sensitive to light and sound, I'm absolutely exhausted constantly and yawn all day long. I feel like I've been hit by a mack truck everyday. I am the mother of a 1 1/2 year old and I feel like I have not been able to fully enjoy her at all. It makes me feel like a bad mother. I am currently at 150 mg, but I am starting the weaning process today. This is the most horrible medication ever. I wish everyone success whether they continue or discontinue their meds. | F | 29 | 7 months | 3/26/2009 | 1 | yes | the brain zaps | made me emotionless, stay OFF this evil drug it has destroyed my life, have confusion cannot drive one of the first days i had taken it i experienced a visual problem like the clock was coming off the wall, and someboyd turned the switch off. i used to have bad anxiety now i am just there now i am on no medication except trazadone to sleep a cat scan didn't shwo anything any body else have permanent damage | 48 | 4 months | 3/25/2009 | 2 | for Fibromyalgia pain management | First, the dr had me on too much, and I had all sorts of issues including falling, memory problems, shaking, confusion, and more, mostly neurological. Then it was cut in half to 150 mg, which is still a lot. My Restless legs, which had been minor, became severe to the point of requiring epilepsy meds since it developed into 24/7 full body spasms. I had some anxiety previous to taking it, and it seems to calm that a lot, but it also supressed a lot of my other emotions and any sex drive. I had dry mouth, and a few other symptoms, but there were not the biggest problem. No one told me how addictive it can be, and I missed a single dose and thought I was going crazy. It was really bad. It scared me so much that I eventually reduced my dosaged until this past month when I weaned off. I had cut it down to about 6mg, but I should have gone down to granules and used the wet finger method I've read about. I was determined not to fill another script, and just wanted it out of my body, so I stuc | Please try to find an alternative medication for your needs. I am a therapist and there are many other medications out there that have much les potential for damaging addiction and side effects. If you are using it for reasons other than mental health, then don't be afraid to push your doctor for focusing on treating the core issue instead of the symptoms, which I think happens too often nowadays and patients end up more miserable than when they started. Don't be afraid to get second or third opinions, or to see specialists to get the care and treatment that you need. If you do want to try Effexor, please make sure you read up on all of the personal stories. There's plenty of info out there. If I had known then what I do now, then there's no way I would take it or encourage anyone I know to take it. I have spoken to more than one doctor who was COMPLETELY UNAWARE of the side effects, much less the withdrawal aspect of this drug, which is scary as hell. One told me that the withdrawal was "purely psychological", which is incredibly condescending and obviously uneducated. This tells me that a lot of doctors are simply not as knowledgable of the medications they are perscribing as we'd like to think they are. In addition, we are the ones who know are body the best, despite what they may think, so I do think it's important that we take our care into our own hands as much as possible. | F | 31 | 4 years | 3/20/2009 | 2 | depression | never before had I had restless leg syndrome, outrageous weight gain (belly fat very unattractive), blurred vision and overheating (don't need that in menopause, tyvm) | It's now 4:00 a.m. everyone is asleep but me. I ran out of the Effexor last wk and thought I might try to go w/out. The brain zaps were awful but. . I put 2 + 2 and realized I didn't have the RLS. I'm weaning myself off starting today. I'll try something else for the depression. The weight gain is unmanageable. | F | 52 | 2 years | 3/18/2009 | 1 | Depression | Memory loss, head zaps, anxiety,suicidal thoughts. | This drug is so horrible. I haven't been able to talk about until now, 1 1/2 years later. After trying numerous drugs my Dr. put me on Effexor my depression wasn't getting better so my doctor continued to raise the dosage-finally I flat out said it was not working so he tried to wean me off. My suicidal thoughts continued until I finally attempted it and was hospitalized for 10 days. I'm now on prozac and doing wonderful. Please, please do not go on this medication. I wouldn't wish the side effects on my worse enemy. | F | 40 | 1 years | 3/15/2009 | 4 | Depression | Uncontrolible sweats in the morning,slite memory loss,vivid, crazy dreams, dry mouth, tired, achey, | I don't like being on a drug that is so hard to come off of. I have been taking for about 10 years, want to see how I am without it. | M | 59 | 10 years | 3/4/2009 | 5 | social anxiety, depression | if i miss a day, extremely painful headache! not really loss of libido | started up around 300 mg, and have been on 375 mg for past few years. began taking it in 2004, and in 2006 went to 375 mg. not sure if this made any difference, but it doesn't bother me, so i guess i'll stay on it. forever. i remember after being on it for a few weeks, or month, and that specific moment when it began to hit me. that nervousness/anxiety around girls just went away, like magic. i can go out more, have fun, be more social. before being on effexor, i tried like every single medication out there, literally! none of them worked for me. | M | 29 | 5 years | 3/1/2009 | 1 | depression and anxiety | major hot flashes out of the blue doing basically nothing (watching TV) which really freaked me out... (am i going to die?) , total acid reflux like never before, weird weird weird dreams, moments of freak-out, zero sex drive. | shrink put me on initial dose and felt nothing for the longest time and had no idea what the side effects might be, other than lack of sex drive (because that's all he said the side effects would be... what a jerk). but eventually, the aforementioned side effects were pummeling me and I didn't even attribute it to the drug until i read this forum... thank god. now i KNOW that all this weirdness was caused by Effexor. I decided I'd rather be somewhat off-kilter (crazy) than be screwed with this stuff.... i went off it cold turkey, and of course that same night i started feeling euphoria, similar to rolling on X, kid you not, which made me think again about my decision... i mean that sort of sounds like a good time, right? Anyway, reason took hold and i just stopped the dosage flat out and symptoms went away, finally. and just reading all the withdrawal issues in this forum makes me think i chose wisely. luckily i didn't have withdrawals, thank god, but holy cow, this drug is proba | M | 38 | 1.5 months | 2/14/2009 | 1 | Anxiety, depression | Severe hair loss starting almost immediately which continued for a few weeks after ceasing medication. | A medication that purports to treat anxiety and depression and then causes the patient's hair to fall out, thus increasing anxiety and depression is a poor product. | M | 61 | 2 weeks | 2/1/2009 | 3 | GAD, obsessions | weight gain | Somewhat helpful for anxiety but considerable weight gain (30 lbs in 6 months!). Not so bad withdrawal with 1 months' tapering (down from 150mg). | M | 29 | 6 months | 1/27/2009 | 5 | Panic attacks, anxiety | loss of appetite, feeling sleepy, dizzy, numb, 'out of it', poor memory, weight gain (on higher dose) | Two weeks after starting this drug I finally felt like myself again! The constant anxiety was gone. No more panic attacks. I was able to feel good and laugh again! I haven't tried to go off of it but recently was upped to 300mg and gained 10 pounds and am so drowsy during the day I can't keep my eyes open. Also have a terrible memory. I'm going to go back down to my old dose. Oh yeah and the withdrawal - I get really dizzy and naseaus if i miss just one dose. To me, though, a small price to pay. I'd rather have that than a panic attack any day. | F | 40 | 7 years | 1/21/2009 | 2 | Anxiety | Loss of sleep for months, high anxiety. Not myself at all | F | 49 | 1/10/2009 | 3 | anxiety | severe headaches for the first 2 weeks and if a dose was missed, memory issues, zero sex drive, increase appetite after a few months | I loved this drug at first. It worked wonderfully for my anxiety and started working within 5 days of taking it. Headaches were terrible and creepy but I was willing to suffer. Initial drop in weight. After 6 months my appetite increased and I had put on 10 lbs. no sex drive and an inability to achieve orgasms started to affect my relationship. Restless legs were brutal. My anxiety was still in check and I just wasn't on edge all the time and irritated with everything like i used to be. it was nice. I had the stomach flu for 5 days and couldn't keep the pill down and went off it. I feel irritated again and anxious.. I am going to try a different drug though as the side effects were a little too much for me. | F | 39 | 7 months | 1/7/2009 | 1 | depression | severe night sweats, don't want to leave house, sexual dysfunction | I am on 150 mg per day and have unbelievable night sweats. I soak my cloths and bed twice nightly...needless to say I am running out of places to sleep. Vivid deams. No sexual desire or ability to have orgasim. | F | 41 | 2 years | 1/7/2009 | 5 | menopausal hot flashes | None. | I take 37-75 mg/day and it has controlled my hot flashes with no side effects. Some days I forget to take it, with no withdrawal problems (except hot flashes), so it hasn't been addictive for me. After reading all these comments, most from people taking it for depression, I wonder if the side effects could have something to do with the switch to Effexor from previous types of antidepressants. | F | 51 | 9 months | 12/21/2008 | 3 | anxiety | nausea | F | 22 | 2 days | 12/12/2008 | 1 | hot flashes | If I missed a dose, I had terrible "brain snaps" and flu-like symptoms. Also, developed terrible GERD after 6 months on the drug. | My doctor prescribed a low dose (37.5 mg) of effexor to alleviate hot flashes caused by menopause. Effexor worked great for the first 6 months, but then the hot flashes started to come back. Three weeks ago, my doctor put me on hormone replacement therapy and I began to taper the Effexor dose. I was initially able to go down to a half a pill with no problems, but when I cut back to 1/4 of a pill after a week and then tried to go to 1/4 of a pill every other day, I started to suffer from very distracting "brain snaps" [a feeling like an electric current was running through my head]. Very scary. I also felt very "flu-y." My doctor now wants me to stay on the 1/4 pill for at least a month before tapering off to every other day. I'm not having the brain snaps or the flu-like withdrawal symptoms, but I still don't like having to take a drug I don't need. I also developed horrible GERD about 2 months into taking Effexor--very frequent and very painful heartburn, ac | F | 51 | 365 days | 12/8/2008 | 5 | Depression/social anxiety | Drowsiness (especially on higher doses); hot spells/sweating (usually within the first 3 to 4 hours of taking a pill); mild, sporadic constipation; delayed or abnormal ejaculation. | I have been helped tremendously by this drug despite the annoying side effects. I actually have been on only 100 mg. a day (generic) for the last two years, after higher doses caused too much sleepiness. One issue is the onset of withdrawal after missing a single dose, usually marked by a very uncomfortable swishy feeling in my head, which can cause queasiness simultaneously. | M | 26 | 4 years | 11/25/2008 | 3 | Deppression | Errectile Dysfunctions, Supperficial, Highly extroverted. Restless Leg Syndrom (took me 3-4 hours to sleep in bed)Hyperactive | Took trevirlo for 3 years. It helped very good agains my depressions, i was focused, ready to take decisions fastly, to valuate things, very productive in work, very socialising. but problems to get errections and superficiality in relationships, not really involving with the feelings. dangerous in combination with alcohol: gave amnesias for more than 7 hours sometimes, not knowing what happened the last day/evening | M | 31 | 3 years | 11/22/2008 | 4 | Depression | Light headed, rolling queasy moments (like I will vomit), taste of foods have changed, clench teeth, head is super tight, heart races every now and then. | It makes me not care about anything, which is kind of nice, but I am not sure it's great to completely escape my feelings. Loss of anxiety and I am fine with the loss of appetite. Weight loss is a good thing. | F | 39 | 3 weeks | 11/10/2008 | 2 | Depression, anxiety | Profuse sweating, teeth grinding, jaw clenching, yawning, sleepiness, delayed orgasm. SEVERE WITHDRAWAL, even from a VERY low dose (25 mg). | I relapsed into depression after taking Accutane. My doctor proscribed this with the hope that it wouldn't be sedating like all the other SSRIs I had taken before in High School. (It's an S*N*RI! Whee!) Wrong. Same uncontrollable yawning (really fun in a business meeting). Same jaw clenching. Same sleepiness. Profuse sweating, everywhere. I got as high as 75 mg but was literally sweating through my shoes (I mean sopping wet.) My mood was actually fairly good, but the side effects were killing me. I tapered off from -->25 mg<--, a really low dose of the drug, and thought I was going to die. Severely dizzy, angry for no reason, stomach cramps, diarrhea, wired, foggy brain. Horrendous and never experienced this coming off of either Prozac or Lexapro. Really, just, awful. AWFUL. I will never touch an SSRI or their slightly more demonic cousin, SNRI, ever again. If you didn't have any luck on any other SSRI, just get off the merry-go-round now and try something else. I don't know why | M | 24 | 3 months | 11/10/2008 | 1 | depression/anxiety | I felt like I was on LSD and speed. Very, very uncomfortable. I took 1 starter dose the night before, at bed time. I woke through the night every hour. In the morning I dreaded taking the kids to school and going to work. I was so tripped out driving. I gagged all day, had diarrhea, couldn't eat. If I continued feeling that way I would have killed my self. I just kept thinking I felt odd as a cod, odd as a cod, odd as a cod...bloody not good. | I tried zoloft 2 years ago and had a similar problem. When I told my doc about that, that ssri's make me feel bad, he said this RX was different and I should be ok. Bull. Plus, I have read a whole lot about the addictive properties of this drug. I will stick to my ativan. That too can be addicting, but at least it really helps and doesn't make me want to die. | F | 33 | 1 days | 11/8/2008 | 5 | Depression, Aspergers | Nothing noticeable. | My son, almost 21, switched from Paxil to Effexor. The Paxil basically stopped working; he was talking about hurting himself. I was nervous because of negatives I read here. That's why I'm adding my comments. I've asked my son WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY SON?!!! IT'S AS IF THE ASPERGERS IS GONE! THE DEPRESSION IS ABSOLUTELY GONE. HE'S A NEW PERSON--WHISTLES IN THE SHOWER, MORE OUTGOING, COMMUNICATIVE, MORE INVOLVED IN CLUBS AT COLLEGE, WASHED HIS CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME ETC, ETC, ETC. HE'S NOT "OUT OF IT" IN ANY RESPECT. STILL FEELS EMOTIONS. CAN'T SAY ENOUGH WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT THIS ANTIDEPRESSANT! | M | 20 | 3 months | 11/4/2008 | 1 | Depression | Nausea, dizziness, headache, fever/extreme increase in core body temperature, sweating, shivering, hallucinations, agitation, muscle spasms/twitches, diarrhoea, out of control feeling, dilated pupils, mental confusion, memory loss. In other words it sent me into Serotonin Syndrome - which can be fatal. | One of the scariest experiences of my life. I only took it for 2 days on the lowest dose, and went into serotonin syndrome requiring medical treatment & obviously immediate withdrawal of this drug. Extremely dangerous drug in my opinion. Can't believe it passed trials to market. Now that I've met other people who've been taking it & cannot get off it (brainzaps & horrific rebound suicidal depression), I'm actually kinda glad I got the serotonin syndrome to warn me off it. | F | 37 | 2 days | 10/30/2008 | 1 | Deppression | Severe memory loss, trembling, forgetting words, weight gain, increased anxiety | I lost my job due to the memory loss | F | 40 | 2 years | 10/27/2008 | 1 | Depression & Anxiety | Pretty much every one they warn you about in the book with the exception of the one that affects men. Lucky I still know my name & havent been committed. | This is the WORST drug ever! It should be labled "legalized crack" I realize it isnt really the same but it opens your eyes to people that have an additction to illegals. PLEASE DO not get on this if you even think for a minute you may recieve any of the symptoms. Getting off it is darn near impossible and Dr.'s dont want you off it wonder why? I have been begging mine to wean me off for over a year he uped my does to 450mg a day! I weaned myself back to 150 mg & am going to another Dr. to get off this horrible body & soul controlling med. You can't go one day without before withdrawl hits & hits hard. I ran out a week ago (stupid & stubborn my part) Dr. wouldn't give a refill till I see him again (won't he's an idiot) & now find myself scouring the floor hoping to find a lost pill to get my Effexor XR "fix" until I see the new Dr. Research side affects/withdrawel/what others say. Majority can't be wrong. Don't get addicted to this drug! Most | F | 35 | 8 years | 10/26/2008 | 1 | fibromyalgia/cfs, react. depression | all the usual ones ... and hypersensitivity to light and sound; alterations to visual field, especially while moving; anxiety and agitation; consecutive episodic dreams (one day per night) encoded to long term memory with little or no encoding of daytime reality. | no surprises why psych. nurses call this one 'disastor' | M | 35 | 21 weeks | 10/24/2008 | 3 | Depression & anxiety | Drowsiness (worse on higher doses), abnormal restessness (mostly relieved only after HEAVY excercise) (worse on higher doses), loss of libido, brain zaps (when altering a dose), headaches and pressure on forehead, eczema, yawning, jaw locking, feeling 'out of it'. | Great for depression, but I reckon it makes anxiety worse, with its own 'restlessness' type effects and the anxiety you get from all the worrying side effects, | F | 21 | 2.5 years | 10/19/2008 | 1 | Depression | Weight Gain, Increased Sweating, Hot Flashes, Headaches, Bad Head Zaps! Moody, Dizzy | I has Gastric Bypass 2 years ago. I started taking this damn medicane about 8 months ago. It made me gain 20+ pounds! How depressing it made me even more! And I was not even eating no different. I had the worst head-zaps, and dizzyness I ever had from a depression type drugs. Trying to come off of it was hell! I had bad nightmares, and panic attatcks that had me in a emotional wreck! The thought of anything would throw me into a panic attack. Was scarey. | F | 28 | 8 months | 10/19/2008 | 1 | Depression | Black Outs, Hot flashes,Nausia, feeling zoned out! | This did help me feel better i was more social but i couldnt handel the hot flashes and nasuia especially at work, im in the process of getting of this drug!!! Its a bitch! Feels like ive been sick for weeks! | F | 17 | 2 weeks | 10/19/2008 | 1 | anxiety | Horrible stomach cramps | This drug worked for me, but it gave me such bad stomach cramps I couldn't stand it. Like a gopher was gnawing my stomach from the inside out. It was terrible. After a week or so I stopped cold turkey and got better. | F | 30 | 2 weeks | 10/18/2008 | 1 | depression/anger | you miss one dose and you're violently ill, its been compared to a heroin with drawl. its AWFUL. if a drug is this painful to come off of it shouldn't be allowed on the market, PERIOD! | I was taking effexor since i was 16. I decided at 21 i wanted to go off of it. It took THREE years to ween off of this horrible, horrible drug. It wasn't working, and even weening down from 150mg to 2mg (i cut them up into tiny pieces or separated the granules) it was still painful, finally i just called out of work and slept it off for 3 days, its awful. | F | 24 | 8 years | 10/15/2008 | 5 | depression, anxiety/ panic disorder | occasional headaches at the beginning, no sex drive | I'm thankful that I have found this drug, I was to the point where I felt crazy! I couldn't stop crying, i was gateful and snippy to my precious family, and i was not myself. Depression and anger, and panic attacks had taken over my life. I had tried many different drugs, and nothing worked long term. I have now been on effexor for a little while, and have noticed a difference. I am returning back to my old self. I can smile again! I can be happy again! I don't have impulse like i did before, and the uncontrolable crying has stopped! I am doing much better! I am thankful to have this to take. I haven't had any of the withdrawl symptoms that others have spoke of because I have not stopped taking it (I've only been on for a few months) so I haven't experienced any, and I'm not concerned at this point, because I do feel so good right now. I was desperate, and this helped! | F | 29 | 3 months | 10/10/2008 | 3 | anxiety/depression | weight loss, loss of sexual desire | does help reduce anxiety and depression | F | 32 | 1 years | 10/9/2008 | 1 | depression/anxiety | severe "brain zaps"; memory loss; weight gain; decreased effectiveness over time; hot flashes; inability to get off medication sans severe withdrawal symptoms | I started taking this medication in late 2003. It decreased my GAD (and therefore my depression) which improved my quality of life for about a year. I had intolerable brain zaps with nausea and dizziness when I missed a dose which I found very troubling. I also noticed that my memory was seriously affected. About a year and a half after I started the med, I noticed by GAD symptoms returning, so the Dr increased my dose to 150mg which I continued for another couple of years, although it's effectiveness was still in doubt. After this time, out of fear of memory problems and increasing depression/anxiety, I attempted to get off the medication. This period is somewhat of a blur b/c the S/E's (severe brain zaps; hot flashes; confusion, irritability, light intolerance; nausea; depression) put me in a dark bedroom under the covers for more than 3 months. After that time I gave up and went back on Effexor XL. I am currently still on Effexor xl and have been trying to decrease my dose slowly fo | F | 44 | 5 years | 10/9/2008 | 5 | Anxiety Depression | Loss of libido | Excellent drug. It eliminated my anxiety and my depression. | F | 43 | 3 years | 10/2/2008 | 4 | depression | some shakiness when first prescribed. It lasted only a short while. | I had been on other antidepressants which did not work as well.I have taken the drug for almost 4 years. It still seems to be effective. | F | 60 | 9/25/2008 | 5 | anxiety/depression | At first, I had night sweats and found that I was gnashing my teeth while sleeping. Other than a bit of dizziness, I had few side effects while on the drug. | Based on internet commentary, I knew of the possible side effects of withdrawal, and did so slowly and under the care of my doctor. On the first phase, going from 112.5 mg to 75 mg, I experienced some bizarre symptoms--an awful taste in my mouth, which felt dry at times alternating with periods of hypersalivation (drooling!). I was dizzy and experienced vivid (but not terrifying) dreams. For a day or so I was extremely fatigued (could barely lift a blowdryer to dry my hair) and sad. But it only lasted a day or two, and I could literally feel the veil being rent when it cleared up--my vision seemed sharper, like someone had focused my lenses. Going from 75mg to 35 mg. was fine. Stepping off totally was not without symptoms--bouts of dizziness (like my brain couldn't catch up with my movements), sadness alternating with laughter, vivid dreams, and, strangest of all, I could literally hear my eyeballs moving--sounded like a loud zipper or whooshing noise when I looked around. But ag | F | 45 | 4 years | 9/10/2008 | 4 | depression/ anxiety/ OCD | insomnia, loss of appetite, drastic weight loss, nausea, restless legs, sweating | i've only been on it for about two weeks, but so far so good. i notice i don't get as irritated or angry at work. started on 37.5 mg, now up to 70 mg. i'm not good about taking my doses at the same time every day, but haven't experienced any negative effects as a result. this is my first antidepressant and I know many people need to try a few before they get the right relief, but i think this is working well for me. only worry is possible future weight gain, brain zaps, etc. that others who have taken it longer experience. seems that the higher doses cause more negative effects overall. hopefully i won't need to be on this for long. the weight loss and extra energy add to my elevated mood. | F | 33 | 14 days | 9/10/2008 | 1 | anxiety/depression | Terrible withdrawal symptoms | I took this medication for a week at a low dose and my doctor said I did not have to wean off before stoping since my dose was so low. She couldn't have been more wrong! I had chills, nausea, flu symptoms, crawling sensation all over my skin for 3 weeks. I did not realize at all it was withdrawal and had CAT scans and all sorts of other tests done before figuring it out. I even went to a neurologist who had no idea why I had crawling sensation. I missed 3 weeks of work. I don't think the drug companies tell you about these withdrawal symptoms. I figured out what was going on by reading postings like these. | F | 53 | 7 days | 9/10/2008 | 3 | Depression / PMDD | Dry Mouth, Decreased Sex Drive, Joint Pain, Hot Flashes, Insomnia, | I have only been on Effexor for about a month and a half. The worst side effects were in the first three weeks. Insomnia and decreased sex drive are still a major problem for me as well as the occasional hot flash. However, I have noticed a significant improvement in the way I feel and interact with others | F | 38 | 6 weeks | 9/9/2008 | 5 | SEVERE ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, BULIMIA | NIGHT SWEATS, WEIGHT LOSS, FEEL LIKE HELL IF I AM LATE ON A DOSE. | ANXIETY NIXXED, DEPRESION GONE, BULIMIA IS EASIER TO MANAGE DUE TO A LOSS OF INTEREST IN EATING. OVERALL, THIS WAS A MIRACLE FOR ME. I'VE TRIED WELLBUTRIN, PROZAC AND BUSPAR(SP) | F | 30 | 4 years | 9/6/2008 | 1 | depression | I had a trial pack and took the smallest 15 mg pill... one pill and a severe reaction! I had (what felt like) the flu less than 2 hours later! It lasted for 4 days! I was vomiting over the smell of anything, as well as from eating anything. I had a headache, fever, hot sweat(s), severe nausea, etc. | For being the "#2 recommended drug" as stated by my doctor, there will not be another time that I ever use this. However, it did work at the time for my sister. Different ones for different people, I guess. | F | 21 | 1 days | 8/19/2008 | 2 | depression/anxiety | I experience serious periods of depression, where I'm crying by myself feeling miserable. Lately, I find myself being overwhelmed with the accumulating negative circumstances in my life. I use to be able to compartmentalize things, keep everything separate, now it feels like everything is falling on me. If I skip a dose, I get weird buzzing sensations in my head. It's SO strange. I finally linked it to missing doses (which I try my best not to do). I've also gained about 10 lbs!! Most others seem to lose weight. I don't have much of an appetite but I'm still much chunkier than I would like to be and/or expect from my diet. | The piece that's the hardest for me to understand is ... is it simply my depression and current circumstances that are causing this? Or is it also a symptom of Effexor? There is no way to to figure that out because it's all intangible. | F | 29 | 2 years | 8/6/2008 | 1 | OCD & Depression | Mild chest pain and palpatations, increased sweating, short-term memory loss, foggy head, sexual dysfunction, most vivid dreams ever, severe insomnia, waking up very late, fatigue, record-high apathy, diarreah, HUGE increase in appetite;Craving for sweets with some weight gain, periodic euphoria and restless legs. | Intention was to taper off of Luvox to get on a better SSRI. Have been taking 150Mg of Effexor, wanted to give it a chance and the "trade off" of horrible side effects is definately NOT worth it. Thanks, big Pharma! | M | 46 | 3 weeks | 8/5/2008 | 5 | Depression / Anxiety | Teeth grinding, slight increase in sweating, harder to reach orgasm. I'm not 100% sure that these side effects can be attributed to the medication however, as they are also symptoms of my anxiety and depression. I haven't noticed them as much in the past week, my third since starting Effexor. | So far, aside from the side effects I mentioned, I'm very happy with this drug. I was on Welbutrin for many years and noticed a decline in it's effectiveness over the past year. I can possibly attribrute this to the fact that I was switched to the generic version. I still can't understand why no one told me that the generic version isn't as effective or why they would even dispense something that wasn't as effective but that's a whole separate topic. I have some severe stressors going on in my life right now, but have remained relatively calm and in control, where in the past, I would have lost my temper daily, lashed out and had severe feelings of hopelessness and despair. Now, out of habit, my mind drifts to feeling that way, almost as if I want to go back to that behavior, but then it stops. It's like I can't even MAKE myself get depressed and angry. I'm not walking around on air, oblivious to everything going on around me, but at least I'm not as depressed as I was a month ag | M | 41 | 3 weeks | 8/1/2008 | 4 | depression and anxiety | strong dizziness, episodes of heart pounding where I could feel my head throbbing/vision shaking with each beat; these decreased with time, became only occasional. Sex drive plummeted (not a problem since my husband has a low interest already) | I started with Lexapro, which had no affect. Then I was put on Effexor. It did seem to improve my mood for about 10 mos., but then the sadness and apathy returned. I was weaned from Effexor, and had a return of the same symptoms that I had when I first started it, though the dizziness was much worse. | F | 48 | 10 months | 7/31/2008 | 1 | hot flashes & depression | panic attack, mental fog, severe diarrhea. | I took 25 mg starting dose. My side effects were severe. I tried taking it during the day, then before bed - separated by three days. Both reactions were exactly the same - and horrible. It was truly scary. Maybe for some this drug will work, but it was the worst psychotropic med I have taken aside from Remeron. | F | 44 | 2 days | 7/30/2008 | 4 | depression & anxiety | on large doses, it's hard to achieve orgasm, your sweat smells of it. | It definetely works for anxiety and depression, i used it for years, one important thing is to decrease the dose from time to time not to develop tolerance. It's pretty easy to quit using 5-HTP or Prozac, don't try to quit cold turkey, it's impossible. Well, i have been using it for 7 years now, it really helped me to pull myself together and keep my life normal. I quit once a year for 2-3 months to give my brain a break, it's always an interesting adventure. | M | 30 | 7 years | 7/28/2008 | 2 | Depression/ADHD | Insomnia, stomach pain, loss of sexual desire, loss of appetite, agitation, anxiety, WITHDRAWAL = HELL, elevated blood pressure | I took Effexor for about three years, and although it worked well for my depression, the side effects were too much for me too handle. The biggest problem I had with Effexor was that it gave me bad insomnia. ADVICE ON HOW TO WITHDRAW: Effexor is difficult to withdraw from because it has a very short half-life. Kind of like cocaine, your body metabolizes it very quickly and then needs more to re-achieve equilibrium. To offset this, take Prozac the day after you stop taking the Effexor. I've quit taking Effexor once "cold-turkey" and twice with Prozac. There is no comparison. The Effexor withdrawal symptoms with the Prozac were diminished by 2/3 at least. Without Prozac, the symptoms were pure hell. Prozac has a much longer half-life than Effexor, so getting off the Prozac once the Effexor withdrawal symptoms have subsided is no problem: Prozac withdrawal symptoms are in the minor leagues compared to those of Effexor. This makes some "theortical sense" too: Effexor is | M | 35 | 3 years | 7/18/2008 | 5 | Anxiety/Depression | Effexor XL - memory loss, feeling spacy, very lethargic, brain "buzzing" when trying to lower dose or come off of medicine; and, worst of all, when trying to lower dose or quit taking all together, depression worsened tremendously - one time even led to a suicide attempt. Non-XL - still got the lethargy, and memory loss, but other things aren't as bad!! | Overall, this medicine has helped me tremendously. I have been on it for over 8 years. I was down to the lowest dose (75mg) when my cousin comitted suicide and eventually had to increase my dose to 225mg. At the time I was on XL. When my insurance no longer covered this, I had to switch to regular (non-XL) in order to get the generic, it was a God-send. I was able to lower my dose to 150mg with almost no side effects and am very happy! If you're having trouble with the XL, I highly recommend switching! | F | 29 | 8 years | 7/14/2008 | 5 | n | Leg pain (restless leg) and anxiety & decresed sex drive and orgasm with 75mg. | I do not want to stop taking Effexor as it has changed my life, but I looked for a solution to my side effects and I started taking a potassium pill daily and it took away the leg pain completely and my sex drive is increasing. Wait for about a week to feel a difference. | F | 33 | 2 months | 7/14/2008 | 1 | ptsd | dead emotions, weird sexual changes, personality change I would not wish this drug on my worst enemy. I beleive effexor made me terribly ill and I do not think they know the damage it can cause. when it didn't work celexa was added. At around the four year period I started to vomit blood and my periods were way too heavy and long. flue like spells with body pain mostly on my right side and especially in my sternum upper right quadrant pain and back. Two gi doctors found nothing to explain the pain. I still have it but not as severe. infections sinus chest and kidney-bladder they cycled for the next three years I had 14 kidney infections in two years Bowel movements were small and thin. I would often vomit green slime or have green diareaha....stool testing showed nothing. Head aches fluctuating bp severe dizzisness couldn't walk-sweating felt like fainting head fall forward. I purchased my own bp machine bp was irratic 140 to over 200 it would cycle several times in a day. I w | I would have said 5 years ago that it was a great drug now I say over the long haul it will kill you. That is what I beleive. Six months after I was started on liptor and verapamil for high bp and high cholesterol which I beleive was cause by effexor I quit them all three drugs the same day...I was so sick I thought I have nothing to lose I can lay in this bed and die or quit. At that point I was put on a liquid diet clinic doctors diagnosed intestinal obstruction or a pancreas issue tests showed nothing I was use to that by then. Tons of antibiotics as I had been doing this running to docs for 3.5 years by then and just gave up on them decided to quit on gut instict. It has been 8 months and I am better (bp is normal under 140 cholesterol is also fine- liver cysts I had have gone away) still have the pain in my urq but it is not as bad...have had a ton of tests al fine. If this sounds like your experience email me. The long term effects have not been studied!!!!!!! I am scar | F | 48 | 8 years | 7/14/2008 | 5 | Dysthymia | Headaches, Light-headedness, Dizziness | M | 45 | 2 times | 7/9/2008 | 3 | anxiety,panic,depression | tired, heartburn, restless leg, crying, sweating, body aches, blurred vision, jaw pain, loss weight, sleep paterns all over the road, heart racing, palpataions, | F | 31 | 2 months | 6/30/2008 | 3 | fear of recurrent depression | Weight gain, elevated blood pressure at 75 mg per day. Once went cold turkey off of 75 and had severe physical pain in legs and twitches and weird feeling in legs. It did help - but I probaby would have weathered the situation I was in without it. Doctors are too quick to prescribe this drug and do not know enough about side effects or serious withdrawal problems. | A good choice for one who responded to Nardil; less limiting - no dietary restrictions, but patients should always be told about how seriously difficult it is to go OFF it. | F | 63 | 11 years | 6/21/2008 | 5 | depression, anxiety | initially insomnia, throat tightness while yawning (frequently), currently my symptoms are weight gain (not due to increased hunger, but strong cravings for unhealthy foods), vivid dreams (which are actually really interesting - i actually have an imagination!!), night sweats, night twitches, jaw clenching, my sex drive has actually increased (but only just now) | i felt the effects of effexor immediately (both side effects and postive effects) my mind has slowed down to a point now where i don't make quick, irrational decisions, i don't have a problem falling asleep anymore, i am calmer in a stressful situation, clearer thoughts...i lucked out because this was the first drug i was prescribed, and it worked for me...no lenghthy frustrating trials...took 75mg for the first week, worked up to 150mg since then...have a family history of depression... | F | 33 | 4 months | 6/17/2008 | 5 | Depression & Borderline Personality | Nothing significant - sleeplessness (2 nights) in beginning and at dosage increases. Withdrawal symptoms do occur with this drug, it must be tapered with doctors assistance. | After trying Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil with no luck. Effexor has been a God send. I have taken it for 8 years with no problems. I have tried tapering off it twice with return to depression. I take 300mg a day; the higher dose is said to affect two other neurotransmitters in addition to Serotonin. No this is not a fun drug to just stop. I have experienced the brain shivers when I ran out, now I make sure I don't. One of the best things I did for my mental health was get off of birth control pills. Even small amounts of hormones can have adverse affects on mood. I dont believe in taking psychotropic drugs without therapy. Thanks to DBT therapy I am no longer diagnosed as borderline. | F | 34 | 8 years | 6/16/2008 | 5 | Anxiety | The usual in the beginning (anxious, fatigue, "buzzy", naseous). | This is the third time in three years I've been on Effexor. The initial side effects are brutal, but after 5 to 7 days, they subside and I get my life back. I notice an improvement almost right away. After a month or so, I can honestly say that I have no side effects other than vivid dreams. The drug definetely improves my anxiety and helps me get a complete night of sleep. This time around, I don't plan on going off, but just to maintain a daily dose of 37.5 - 75mg for "maintenace". Probably my biggest complaint is trying to understand why I require a pill to manange my life.... | M | 35 | 3 times | 6/15/2008 | 5 | depression | Tracers or "brain dizziness" if dose missed, twitching in first month, weight loss | Has worked very well for me. Was on several different "drug cocktails" for 5 years prior. This was the only one that took away the feeling that I was walking through cotton batting all day. Weight loss side effect was good because my depression caused weight gain. Easier to get up in morning. I am on a high dose now (225 mg), but noticed a major improvement in mood within 2 weeks of 75 mg. Regarding stopping: I noticed there were some irrational comments about fearing withdrawl symptoms on this site. Please people, take the advice of your doctor and taper off slowly over a long peroid of time. | F | 31 | 3 years | 6/14/2008 | 5 | clinical depression | Euphoria | It's a wonder drug. Over the last 20 years I've taken Elavil, Zoloft & Wellbutrin for depression and have steadily sunk deeper & deeper into my depression. I read that the generic Welbutrin I was taking (150mg x 2 daily) tested as being only 30% the brand-name strength, so I was weaning myself off when my sister got sick with cancer. I knew I'd need help getting through her illness and asked my doctor for something new. She prescribed Effexor and it's changed my life for the better. I've lost 10 lbs, even though I took Provera for 30 days while on the Effexor. I have lots of energy and have notice no negative side effects, except I haven't been able to express my deep sorrow when I lost my sister....but I also didn't sink into despondency when I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. It's a miracle drug. | F | 51 | 3 months | 6/11/2008 | 3 | depression | The drug did help my depression but maybe this effect would have happened without effexor. I've been on effexor for 4 years and went off cold turkey 9 days ago. I had cut down to 37.5 mg but still had horrible withdrawal which has been described extensively by others. I know it may take at least a month for these awful side effects to go away, but my body is telling me to stop taking this drug. Also, I have stopped taking this by consulting my physician and she is keeping close tabs on my progress. She suggested taking smaller and less frequent doses but I've gotten this far without it. | I have always wondered why people in other countries are not on antidepressants at the rate in the US. I'm beginning to think it is because we do not know what real problems are and personally, I'm going to get off my fat ass and begin to exercise regularly, eat healthy, and appreciate life and the good things around me. I do believe there is a thing as clinical depression, my family has a long history of the disease. If I get the blues again if my new life style changes does not work, I will consider anti depressants again but not effexor. Too many side effects if you miss a dose or want to quit the drug. | F | 51 | 4 years | 6/9/2008 |
| Key to
ratings: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine. |
