EFFEXOR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (925 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 |
More on EFFEXOR: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | Social Anxiety | First few days: Sick to my stomach, general 'out of sorts' feeling. Went away after a couple of days. | Best drug I've ever taken. After years of being afraid to leave my house or socialize, this drug completely changed my life. I'm not just saying that, it really did, after never having dated before I got together with a great girl for 8 months and have had numerous relationships since then. No sexual side effects. TERRIBLE WITHDRAWAL. Don't even miss a single day. Drug seems to work best when taken at the same time every day with food. I usually take mine at breakfast with my coffee and muffin, by the end of the day I'm wound down enough to be able to sleep. | M | 25 | 1 years | 8/28/2007 | 3 | Depression, Anxiety, Dysthymia | Dry mouth, no sex drive, frequent vivid dreams and night sweats with soaked clothes and sheet, early waking from sleep, brain zaps | It saves me every time, so with the exception of night sweats, the rest is bearable and not prevalent to me. I have taken this during the majority of past 10 years back when it was a little blue pill in blister pack, and now take the 150 mg. Also take Ambien CR now (1 to 2 pills = 12.5 mg) to keep me asleep for my early waking/unable to sleep through night. I manage to where I don't take the sleeping pills every night...but I expect to take these both forever and feel I could live fine with that if it weren't for the $$$ over time. I have only used pharmocology, not any psychology or other therapy. | F | 32 | 10 years | 8/26/2007 | 5 | depression | Major insomnia, dry mouth, decreased appetite, mild eye-twitching, teeth grinding, and I get "shocks" if I forget a dose. The weird part is that I've been on Effexor for 8 months, but I didn't experience most of these side effects until very recently. | Aside from the side effects, this drug has really helped me. I've been dealing with depression for 13 years-- I've gone on and off so many drugs, but Effexor is the ONLY one that's actually made a difference. For example, if something bad happens, I feel like I can actually deal with it (instead of feeling suicidal like I used to). My crying spells are completely gone. I've become less shy and I'm not afraid of people anymore. I haven't felt the need to hurt myself in months. All of the depression-related body aches I used to experience are gone. Effexor also helped me drop all the weight I gained while I was on Remeron. | F | 27 | 8 months | 8/24/2007 | 5 | migraines | weight loss (about 9 lbs); bruising | I have had no other side effects | F | 51 | 2 months | 8/24/2007 | 3 | Depression; diagonosed as bi-polar | Side effects of starting the drug are the common ones most experience, no biggie, I actually lost weight in the beginning. After 5 yrs of being on the drug, and realizing that I only needed something temporarily to get me through a rough time, I am now trying to wean myself off and it is hell! Before trying to wean, if I missed one days dosage, I felt light headed, dizzy & lethargic, could not function well at all, just wanted to lay down and sleep so the pain & discomfort would go away. By the way, I started at only 75mg, that's the highest dosage I have ever taken. I started weaning with 75 one day, 37 the next for about a week and a half, now I am at 37 every day and have been for about 7 days. I feel like a train hit me. I am dizzy, light headed, extremely tired and getting 9 hrs of sleep. I fall asleep driving to and from work. My entire body aches like I'm 30 yrs older than what I am. I have a constant splitting headache. I feel like I'm floating at times in a daz | Mixed emotions. For me, it worked for a short time to get me through what I needed, but it is so addictive & controlling, which is very scary & unhealthy in my opinion. | F | 37 | 5 years | 8/21/2007 | 3 | Depression, Anxiety | Foggy, lathargic, zapps of dizziness that have a 'shock wave' effect, weight gain, nausea, sex drive only at times. Now coming off of them; the effects have gotten worse, added: very vivid and strange dreams that wake me up. | Before trying Effexor, please try something else. Exhaust all your efforts on other anti-depressants first especially if you are young. If it works for you I'm glad but I'm seeing a trend that anyone under at least 40 has a real problem with it. At first they really worked for me, I started on 75mg XR/day but after a few years I came down to 37.5mg XR/day. At times I felt like my blood pressure was rising, my head felt like it would pop off. I weaned myself off over 2 1/2 weeks with doses every other day and the dizzy zapps and lathargia worsened. I had been off of them for 2 weeks with no problems but out of the blue the dizzy zapps have returned with worsened shock waves. I'm trying this without using another drug and I hope it works. Watch for sudden maddness, suicidal thoughts, extreme rage at yourself and possibly others. I mostly found I was taking it out on myself. | F | 42 | 6 years | 8/15/2007 | 3 | Depression | Impotence and inability to maintain an erection; weight gain. | Didn't realize the side effects were so common. Almost everyone I know that has tried this drug experience the same. | M | 45 | 2 years | 8/9/2007 | 3 | Anxiety and Depression | Dizziness, nausea, exhaustion, headaches, weight gain. Very vivid dreams. If I don't take my pill at the time I normally take it I feel like a train hit me and I become sick. Sometimes it makes me feel as if I am in a fog. I have no sex drive. | It has helped with my depression & anxiety. Although the side effects are starting to get to be to much and I am considering switching to a different medication. | F | 23 | 1.5 years | 8/6/2007 | 1 | mild /postpartum depression | Severe nausea/vomiting, vertigo/dizziness,headaches, vivid dreams, and night sweats. Did not help depression, but made it worse. I could not function nor drive because everytime I turned my head I would experience vertigo. Please do not take this medication. I cry every time I miss a dose. I have tried to wean myself off of this medication without success. I have been taking it over a year, and it has caused horrid side effects. I am trying to get off of it now;however, it is almost impossible to stop taking it without the horrid withdrawal effects. | Do not take this medication!!! | F | 31 | 2 years | 8/3/2007 | 2 | Depression, Anxiety, OCD, DDNOS | Wasn't on it long and not on a high dose. MAJOR nausea, anorgasmia, vivid dreams, insomnia, exhaustion/fatigue, weight gain (which seems odd since I was nauseous), wasn't on it long enough to know if it would help my depression. | Just wasn't for me. The side effects outweighed any benefits I could imagine. I'll be moving on to Wellbutrin. Withdrawal even after only 3.5 weeks was bad enough for me to actually resort to retaking the meds. Threw them out to get off. Blah. | F | 20 | 3.5 weeks | 8/1/2007 | 4 | depression/anxiety | first two days dizziness,vision blurred, nausea, anxiety. After that I feel that the side effects can be acne and body odor/bad breath. | I love it.Wish I was on it for years, made me a better person more focused, more in control of my emotions a better parent and friend.Not sure if affects sex drive as I am single right now.The only thing that it could be said negatively is that I now struggle to make decisions and feel very blase about things. The urgency of things seems to have gone and I take one day at a time which I never was able to. If I have to I'll stay on it for a long time it helped me enormously. | F | 38 | 8 weeks | 7/29/2007 | 3 | Depression | Bloating, extreme lethargy. Some relief to depression. Found myself smiling , almost, for the first time in a long time. However, I found myself unable to motivate to get off sofa. Had only been on 10 days. | In the past, I had been very successful with Effexor and had taken it almost 4 years. I weaned myself this winter and have needed to go back on something ever since. Due to other medical conditions and maybe aging, this time around I can not use it. My gastro track and my energy suffer. | F | 53 | 10 days | 7/27/2007 | 5 | Depression | Vivid dreams, but not unpleasent; more like dreams I had when I was a child. Reduction in libido, but everything still works! | I've been on this medication for about 18 months and love it. It changed my life, but both my doctor and I agree I will begin to reduce the dosage and move off medication. | M | 51 | 18 months | 7/26/2007 | 3 | depression | negatives: weight gain, nausea, dizziness, loss of sex drive, at times - severe headaches, brain zaps, drained energy positives: keeps my aggitation to a minimum and my temper even kiel (due to anxiety). | it's hard to say if i love or do not love this drug. like others were saying, if you miss a dose it can make you feel COMPLETELY ill the next day. when i upped my dosage by 75mg., i felt as if i were going to pass out and throw up every minute of every day, so i immediately went back down to my normal dose. i take wellbutrin along with effexor, which is supposed to counteract the sleepiness but it doesn't seem to help all that much. whereas SSRI's (paxil, celexa, prozac, etal.) did not work with me, effexor seems to be the one drug that has had any positive effect...but ONLY when taken exactly as directed. i don't want to depend on the drug forever but after hearing withdrawl horror stories, i'm scared to try... | F | 36 | 1.5 years | 7/24/2007 | 5 | Social Anxiety; Depression | Vivid Dreams; Very few side effects | I really am happy with Effexor! Recently was taking Cymbalta as I work at a very high stress job where I have to interact, present for long periods of time, etc. This terrifies me as I have severe social anxiety. I also struggle with depression. Before taking Effexor, I was not able to focus, felt numb, had no energy, just felt like I could not function at work. I had to do something and I have been on so many medications since the age of 18 to deal with severe depression and anxiety/panic attacks. Effexor for me, is the best medication I have been on and has the fewest side effects. I really feel like I am focused again and am able to carry out my daily job duties (before I was just staring at my computer screen and avoiding work), I have no problems sleeping but have some weird dreams which I had on Cymbalta as well. I do have extra zip throughout the day and another nice benefit is that I do not eat as much anymore. I am an emotional eater and when I went to the Eating Disorder Clin | F | 39 | 8 weeks | 7/11/2007 | 1 | Depression | Withdrawal symptoms are difficult. I am trying to go off of anti-depressants gradually and Effexor is a battle. Be careful with this one. | F | 42 | 3 years | 7/11/2007 | 2 | Depression | Increased sweating, suicidal thoughts, intrusive thoughts, mood swings, feelings of hostility and anger, worsening depression. Vomiting blood, G.I. problems. | I started this medication to help with my depression. It has made it worse, I believe. I am more suicidal feeling, I am very angry and irritable too often, and now I can not tell the difference between my symptoms of depression and the side effects of this med. I plan to go off it ASAP. I do not think it is suitable for those with mild depression. | F | 26 | 1 years | 7/10/2007 | 2 | Depression | Headaches, upset stomach, increased sweatiness, increased feelings of depression, bouts of crying, intrusive/negative thoughts. | This drug does not work for me. I wake up and randomly feel upset and cry about things. I have frequent mood swings. I am tired of feeling this way, and I feel it is making things worse. I feel like I can't see the difference between my depression symptoms and the side effects of this med. I plan to go off it ASAP! | F | 26 | 1 years | 7/6/2007 | 1 | depression | made me want to kill myself!!!! | This drug is VERY VERY hard to get off of! PLEASE do not take it! I have know 4 othes that had the EXACT same problems with the med! | F | 44 | 1 years | 7/4/2007 | 3 | Chronic Depression/Panic Attacks | I have been on Effexor for 2 years. It does help my depression and panic attacks but the side effects are becoming too much to bear. Side effects: SEVERE SWEATING, 50 lb. WEIGHT GAIN, INSOMNIA, DRY SKIN, TROUBLE FOCUSING AT TIMES (VISION), BRAIN FOG, AND MOST RECENTLY JOINT PAIN. If I miss a dose, I may have flu-like symptoms, nightmares, and/or headaches. | I read that being weaned from Effexor is a nightmare, but I am going to go for it. | F | 53 | 2 years | 7/2/2007 |