EFFEXOR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)

Average Rating: 3.0 (925 Ratings)

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 ANTIDEPRESSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

EFFEXOR  (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE):  Venlafaxine is used to treat depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and social anxiety disorder (social phobia). It may improve your mood and energy level and may help restore your interest in daily living. It may also decrease fear, anxiety, unwanted thoughts, and the number of panic attacks. Venlafaxine is known as a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). It works by helping to restore the balance of certain natural substances (serotonin and norepinephrine) in the brain.   FDA Approval Date: 1993-12-28 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

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Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXORCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 3  clinical depression WEIGHT GAIN, night sweats, dizziness, jaw clenching. Impossible to get off of. Flu-like symptoms if i miss a day. And alcohol DOES exacerbate med - F 43 4 years
75 1X day
3/16/2010
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 4  depression I don't really recall any side effects with it,it worked really well for awhile.I took plain Effexor in the 90's,the the XR version in the mid 2000's and it was great. I just want to toss in here,since I was never warned, informed, or even believed by my own doctor (the on call doctor that answered the emergency page was who told me) do NOT stop this drug cold turkey. Taper off. The withdrawal,at least for me, both times, was horrible. I heard things, saw things, was a nervous paranoid wreck,thought I was losing my mind. I quit Xanax cold turkey twice and it was a cakewalk compared to this stuff. I think experiences like mine are why doctors started tapering people off even anti depressants, that is dealable. Cold turkey is brutal. It didn't stop me from taking the drug a second time, which says it worked great, but just be aware of what COULD happen. F 37
1X day
2/27/2010
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 5  Depression and anxiety While on effexor, I experienced fatigue...not many side effects while ON the medication. It was worse coming off. I went on this medication when I was about 16. Before that, I was on Prozac and lexapro. It cured my depression and helped my anxiety. While getting off, I experienced brain shocks, and now after a month of being off of it I've experienced NO appetite whatsoever. I've lost 5 pounds due to this. My doctor was not very detailed when it came to telling me what I would feel, etc. I am also more irritable, and moody. F 17 18 months
175mg 1X day
2/26/2010
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 1  Misdiagnosed with depression Many - joint pains, muscle aches, weight increase, blurred vision, headaches, nausea, bloating, erectile dysfunction, sensitivities to several foods, skin problems, extreme withdrawal even after lengthy tapering Be very careful if you are offered this med. - I would recommend that you research its side effects on the web and quiz your doctor to see if he/she knows about them. If they don't know, they will find it very difficult to identify if this med has an adverse effect on you and how to safely stop taking the drug. I understand that this med helps some people, many people experience significant side effects, and it is very difficult and unpleasant to stop taking. M 46 6 years
75mg 1X day
2/11/2010
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 1  Depression Dizziness, Depersonalization and Derealization, Anxiety, Chemical feeling, Almost Died! THIS DRUG ALMOST KILLED ME! I TOOK ONLY 75MG TWO TIMES A DAY FOR 3 MONTHS, STOPPED COLD TURKEY AND BANG BLOW MY BRAINS OUT!!!! I WOKE UP ONE MORNING AND I WAS TERRIFIED! I HAD VERTIGO, SHAKES, SEIZURES, BRAIN ZAPS, MOTION SICKNESS, IT WAS HORRIBLE! I WAS LOW ON FOOD, WALKED TO THE STORE, HAD SEIZURES, I COULD BARELY EAT, I WAS ONLY 23 YEARS OLD THEN! THE WITHDRAWAL LASTED MONTHS! IT'S ABOUT EQUAL TO KLONOPIN WITHDRAWAL, A BENZO! M 30 3 months
2/3/2010
 4  Anxiety, crying spells Constipation, nausea was very bad in first few months, throat constricts when I yawn. If I am a few hours late with a dose, nausea increases. Manage nausea with ginger tablets. Prevents crying spells, I feel more in control and able to cope. F 47 18 months
2/2/2010
 5  Anxiety and Depression I experienced mild nausea and dizziness for the first couple of weeks as well as a bit of disorientation. However, all the symptoms went away once my body became used to the medicine. My husband says I am like a different person now. Prior to starting this medicine I was having trouble getting out of bed, taking care of my family and working. Everyday was a huge struggle. After about a month on this drug my mood and energy level improved dramatically. I no longer have a constant sense of anxiety and stress and I am much better able to cope with and enjoy everyday life. I wish I would have tried this sooner. A few years back I tried Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac and none of them worked for me. F 36 3 months
1/31/2010
 2  Panic Disorder/Bipolar 1/MDD I'm on a cocktail of medications including topamax, xanax seroquel and effexor (first of all). When I went 2-3 weeks with that mix WITHOUT the effexor my weight shot up like CRAZY. I could not stop eating everything in sight and then when I got it under control the weight wouldn't come off. It's like my appetite was fine when the Effexor was there but when it was gone, then came the weight. Also, with the effexor my sex drive was almost non-existant. The 2+ weeks I was off of it my brain went sex-crazy. So BE CAREFULL with this drug. The one thing I have noticed is that it does manage my anxiety and my appetite, it does increase my manic episodes. But ever since I could consciously be aware of that, it hasn't been so bad. I'm just happy to be back on it so that hopefully my weight will go back down the 10+lbs i gained. F 19 4 months
1/29/2010
 3  Anxiety, Depression Weight gain, a little tired on higher doses This medicine helps me tremendously. It cuts down on my anxiety and makes me a lot more patient and upbeat. That being said, holy "COW" I can't take the weight gain. I've been off and on this medication 4 times over the past decade. (And despite what everyone says, if you taper really slowly, the withdrawal isn't that bad.) Every time I go on the medicine, I gain about 25 lbs. I go off it, and I lose it within 6 months. Then I go back on and boom, and the weight comes back again. There is no doubt in my mind that this drug slows down my metabolism. I'm normally a size 6 and I'm tall so that's pretty thin. I am a size 10 or 12 on this medication. It's so frustrating because otherwise it helps me tremendously. I wish they would come up with a medicine that helps and doesn't turn me into a moose. F 35 9 years
1/28/2010
 2  Depression Tremors, Restless legs, "brain Shivers", delayed/difficult orgasm, jaw clenching, muscle tension, very strong withdraw symptoms, body has become dependent on this medicine. Although this medication has helped keep me "sane" longer than the laundry list of others I've taken in the last 16 years, the side effects are gradually increasing and the symptoms of dependency to this medication are alarming making me feel trapped into taking this forever. I tried to wean myself off of it to try another drug (slowly over the course of a couple weeks), and ended up with violent and very visible muscle twitches which increased until I was unable to control my movement and my breathing was affected. I'm talking about being completely unable to hold a cup, let alone function in a normal capacity. The withdraw symptoms also included violent mood swings, sweating, nausea, and the inability to sleep. I am nervous about what this drug is doing to my body if withdrawing is so difficult. I would also like to add that I am not on a very high dose (150mg/day), so I am unsure how dangerous withdrawing from a higher dose would be. F 30 2 years
1/26/2010
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 3  depression increased blood pressure, dizziness, blurry vision, insomnia, pounding heartbeat, jaw clenching in my sleep First antidepressant I ever tried. Although it helped with my depression I could not tolerate the side effects. I tried it for a little over a month before deciding to switch to something else. Generic wellbutrin is what I'm on now, I have no side effects whatsoever. F 37 5 weeks
1/23/2010
 5  Depression & Anxiety at first I had really bad headaches, those went away in about a week. My appetite has decreased but not to the point of weight loss. I feel awake and alert and myself again. I haven't tried to go off of effexor, but I did miss a couple doses and noticed what I would call brain shivers.. really like my brain was cold and shivering. I have tried other antidepressants but didn't feel like myself on them. With effexor I do. It's helped me in my job and personal relationships. I am not numb to emotion and I can think clearly-- I will continue on effexor... also I take the generic so I take one pill twice daily (75mg). F 24 3 months
1/22/2010
 4  Aspergers, social anxiety, mild dep blunted emotions, delayed orgasm, bad withdrawal Emotionally flat which was a godsend as helped me cope with the every day frustrations. Increased memory, attention and analytic abilities. I already have a high IQ which I believe was further increased. That helped process more information better, made it easier to hide Aspergers and mimic normal behavior when faced with more complex social situations (ie interacting with a group of >= 2 people). No need to avoid interacting from fear of saying or doing something that may be perceived as "odd". Delayed orgasm helped me give wife 2 sometimes 3 orgasms in one session. Also reduced significantly my sexual frustrations. Now I am happy with coitus once a week even once a fortnight when I use to want daily sex. Intensity of orgasm reduced, sometimes significantly but don't care due to emotional numbness. Withdrawal from 37.5mg daily really nasty (missed doses for only 3 days). Tremendous help in dealing with depressed wife who refuses any kind of therapy. Able to ignore tiredness and work 20% more in overtime and pay back a huge amount of debt (although it caught up with me after about 2 years of hard work). Unfortunately revert to previous levels of anger and frustration within 1 or 2 days of missing doses. Been on it (on and off) for 2 - 2.5 years. M 35 2 years
1/22/2010
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 1  Depression No Sex drive. Shaking, dizziness. Pain in arms and especially my legs! Night sweats. Night terrors. Restless legs in night! Horrible withdraw. Went from 250 to 125 to 75 to 37.5 over about six weeks. That was two months ago. The world is a new place! I feel so much better now off that shitz! I was indifferent to everything. I was self-isolating. Sex was the farthest thing from my mind. I could not get hard. I could not orgasm or ejaculate but my testicles ached! My wife thought I was "messing around" but I just didn't think about her that way... I hate this crap. Someone said it was like getting off crack... I've never been a crack user but I did use effexor for eight years and eventually got up to 250 mg a day. I was phucqued-up! Screw Wyeth I wish we could file a class-action suit against them for marketing the "Devils poison." M 57 8 years
1/17/2010
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 3  depression HBP, high anxiety, agitated, mood swings, heart racing, weight gain, major loss of sex drive. Seemed like it took forever to orgasm. Very hard to wean off of. Not a med you can quit cold turkey. Definately take a couple of weeks of each dose you taper down to before you stop completely. The withdrawls are not pretty. Put it this way if I could've weaned off of this med sitting down all day, it would've maybe went smoother. Everytime I would stand up, move my head or just do normal everyday stuff I felt dizzy and like I stepped outside my body (so hard to explain but I know people that been on Effexor know what i'm talking about but just can't put into words). F 33 2 years
1/14/2010
 4  OCD and severe depression side effects include loss of libido and most importantly brain pulses or "brain freezes" as most people describe. They are no fun and typically happen when your late taking your pill. This drug changed my life for the better but I would not recommend it to anyone. Coming off of this medication is an experience that you do not want to go through and will never forget if you do M 39 10 days
12/31/2009
 5  depression, fear, lack of interest A little fuzziness, and some sleep issues. I have experienced other anti-depressant medicines in the past with far worse side effects. Effexor has been a piece of cake in comparison! It has helped me so much! Increased my interest in life, energy level and even sex. The change has been subtle, but I feel like a new person in so many ways. Probably not for everyone, but it has been a godsend for me. F 53 2 months
12/27/2009
 1  Anxiety Ringing in ears, nausea, dizziness, brain zaps. Horrible to get off of, even when going off slowly. F 42 6 months
12/22/2009
 1  severe anxiety, social phobia Worst constipation I've ever had in my life. Also sexual dysfunction. Extremely compacted stool, I could feel it if I pressed on my lower abdomen. I still get horny and touching myself still feels nice, but now it takes me over 2 hours to reach climax! Usually I just give up and go to bed extrememly frustrated. I'm pissed. I'm going cold turkey starting today. F 21 3 weeks
12/15/2009
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 1  anxiety, PTSD Day 3 and my usual headaches are severe, i woke up every five minutes for the last two nights, the first night extreme nausea i thought i had the flu.. so took it this morning instead of at night, can't get off the couch, head is killing me, feel like a zombie, sick taste in my mouth, going to stop today. i nearly killed myself on zyban (wellbutrin) so i was really scared of taking this, im only 35mg but i think im going to switch to st johns wart, enough of this crap. my head is aching, i couldnt drive or do my work tasks properly yesterday, in trouble with the boss, just want to be normal :( F 27 3 days
12/12/2009

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