| Key to ratings for serzone: 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 and Dosage | Date Added | |
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| 5 | Depression and anxiety | This is the "miracle drug" I had been looking for. 12 years ago when we found out that our Father was dying, I went straight to the doctor to get on an antidepressant. 12 years prior we had lost the 4th of our children. A beatiful little girl. I had always been raised to accept what God gives you and go on. Well that does not work. I COULD NOT get out of bed. I knew I had a problem when one day I over heard my oldest child, Jason ask his daddy, when he came home from work, one evening if he could stay home. He told his father that Momma never gets out of bed. I knew then I had to see a doctor. The doctor at that time gave me Prozac. So when I went prior to my father's death I asked for the same thimg. I was told by my wonderful doctor that Prozac is used when a person is really down to "bring them up" and serzone helps to keep you even and calm. He was right. After 8 years on it I decided on my own I was cured and tapered myself off of it. (Big mis | I never had any problems, but I did go on a regular basis for my liver function tests. I had no problems ever. Please listen carefully to your doctor's orders and report any and all problems to them, even if you think they are minor. They are there to help you, and they take special pride when they do. Good luck to you. | F | 58 | 8 years | 1/5/2010 | 5 | Depression and anxiety | None what so ever. Best medication I have ever taken. | I started on Zerson about 10 year ago. It was the miracle drug I was looking for. I also took it with Valium (5mg) 3 times a day. It worked so well for that for tje 8 years, I thought I was cured and eased myself off both. (Biggest mistake I made). About 6 months later the company I am working with sent me out of town. I went to see a couple of doctors there (this was about the time they were deciding to take it off the market). Long story short no one would prescribe it for me. I am back home and have just begun to get off of Effexor, which for me, has not been working. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My doctor gave in after seeing that nothing else was working for me. I will never get off this miracle drug again. No more stress, no more neck pain, no more headaches. Life is about to get great again. I will be honest and tell DO go and do my blood as needed. | F | 57 | 8 years | 12/25/2009 | 5 | depression /chronic daily headaches | no side effects at all really. no sexual side effects at therapeutic dosage of 200 mgs. I tried going up to 300 mgs and experienced a difficult time ejaculating, so i went back down to 200 mg. | this was a miracle drug for me because it cured my headaches and gave me a new outlook on life. I was on it for 8 years, then had a 2 year hiatus b/c I couldn't find a doc to prescribe it, but I am back on it again. I am willing to risk the liver issue (1 in 300,000) if I get my enzymes checked every 4 months. | M | 37 | 8 years | 12/17/2009 | 5 | Anxiety | Headaches when first starting and when increasing dosage - subsides after two weeks. | This drug has been a life saver for me. I had a panic attack four months ago and remaind in a hightend state of anxiety (couldn't sleep or eat, extreme nausea, very jittery, etc.) until I saw a psych who started me on Remeron. I went up to 45mg very quickly and it helped a bit but I wanted to eat everything in sight so he switched me to serzone - started at 200mg and went up to 300mg which is where I remain. I still have mild anxiety but it's very manageable. My mom has been on this drug for 10+ years with no side effects. I did have my liver checked when I first started taking it and will continue to have it checked every 6 months. I also continue to take 15mg of Remeron at night to help me sleep but will hopefully discontinue that soon. | F | 35 | 3 months | 12/11/2009 | 5 | anxiety | Some dry mouth, a bit of constipation, tiredness at first | I have been using this for about ten years, and it keeps me functioning. Severe stress made me up the dose from 300 to 400. Doctor said body can get good at processing it and make it less effective. I tried to change over when I heard it was going out of production, but had a horrible experience with the other drug. I am interested in hearing from other long time users. I am more forgetful, but I am also older, and have survived some truly horrible times. Stress takes its toll on memory. My eyesight is getting worse, but it often does when one ages. Meanwhile, it feels good to be myself, able to handle the incredible things that life throws at me without a breakdown. I have found that few doctors seem to know much about it. One doctor explained that if there are liver issues, they tend to happen in the early times of usage. I feel very safe. | F | 56 | 10 years | 12/7/2009 | 5 | Anxiety, couldn't drive nor travel | I only experienced needing to drink a lot of liquid do to dry mouth, but I needed to increase my fluid intake anyway. | I have been on every anti-depressant there is and Serzone is the only one that made me feel like a content, relaxed,human being,who was happy and could keep on track, who for the first time looked forward to traveling with my husband, who started driving all over by myself.Then.... My doc took me off when the black box warning came out..little did he realize that they all should have black box warnings on them for one reason or the other! I want to get back on it right now..I have been on 4 in the last 8 months and getting off and on them is horrendous!Those shooting electrical charges in my head from getting off those pills have fried my hair!I am eagerly looking for a Psychiatrist who will give me Serzone again, who wants to help his patients, not make them more afraid then they already are. | F | 60 | 3 years | 11/11/2009 | 5 | Panic/anxiety; Mod. Depression | At higher doses visual "trails" especially when getting up an night to urinate, but they are sort of neat actually. Mild anorgasmia (inability to orgasm)and mild emotional "deadening." | About the liver problem: Estimates indicate about 1 in 250,000 patient years will develop liver problems. If your urine turns brown, your stool (poop) starts to turn white or the whites of your eyes start to turn yellow, seek medical help. Get liver profile before and while taking especially in the beginning. It appears that the people that died may have had liver issues even before the Serzone made it worse. I cannot take SSRI's because my Cytochrome liver enzyme systems do not clear them causing a rapid toxic level. Serzone uses a different Cytochrome system which seems intact for me so it works well. Its effects are a bit subtle, but I get a good balance of relief and I find that I can drop to 200mg/day when my life has little stress, and increase to 600mg/day at high stress times like December with Christmas and reduced daylight. Unlike other meds one can drop dosage or increase dosage quite rapidly. I find that I can take a "drug holiday" and go for several days on half the dose, and then resume. This mediates any anorgasmia. I also like Nefazodone because it is a sleep moderator and I sleep better with it. When I take 300mg/day I take 200 before bedtime and 100 in the morning. If I need to take 400 I'll do 200 at night, 100 in the morning and 100 at lunch, otherwise I'll get mild lightheartedness. About 50 people have had liver problems over a decade and about 20 have died, I'll bet far more people have died from car accidents while using Nefazodone. | M | 56 | 10 years | 11/4/2009 | 1 | Panic Disorder | Hot flashes, chills, disoriented, loss of balance, could not walk in a straight line, worst panic attack of my life. | I have been on Wellbutrin SR 300 mg for two months. The Wellbutrin was not helping for my panic disorder so my Phychiatrist suggested adding Serzone. I took 50 mg before bed around 9:00 pm. Around 11:00 pm I started feeling unusually panicky. Shortly after the rest of the horrible side effects began. I have become very good at diffusing panic attacks when they occur, but this one was so severe I was not able to diffuse it at all. I read on the internet that the stuff takes between 11-24 hours to clear out of your system. I did not feel normal again until 5 pm the following day. Beware if you decide to try the Serzone/Wellbutrin combination. | F | 30 | 1 days | 10/22/2009 | 5 | acute OCD/anxiety | love this medication; saved my life. Just wondering now if it is starting to cause memory loss and memory recall difficulties(after 6 years of use) or if my dose is too high. Psychiatrist is sending me to a neurologist to confirm. | Been on the medication for 6-7 years now after living a debilitated life of constant anxiety, stiff neck, headaches, chronic physical/ verbal and emotional anger , acute OCD, and some paranoia. Finally allowed myself to take medication but refused to go on SSRIs as I did not want weight gain and/or sexual dysfunction. Nefazadone (the generic) after a month was the first time in my life that I could take a deep breath, literally. Small things did not send my mind spinning and I was finally calm enough to be silly and fun. People did not know who I was and I started to get invited to social events again. Wanted however to see if my problems with memory recall and trying to get things off "the tip of my tongue" were starting to result from the many years of use. Addtionally, wanted to see if the weight gain was due in part to the medication as well. Currently at 400mg (close to max) and was wondering if anyone else was experiencing the same. | F | 38 | 7 years | 9/16/2009 | 1 | Major Depression | I was a zombie | I felt absolutely no feelings at all--no depression and no happiness. Everything was a blur. I feel like I have chunks of time missing from that period in my life. | F | 30 | 3 months | 9/8/2009 | 5 | Anxiety/Depression | So far none that I can see, excfepyt it's a little harder gettinf to sleep at night | I took this drug back in 95 for 6 monmths and it worked well. Began taking it again a few months back doc has me on 50 mg x2 day and sees no need to up the dose. Took the edge off my anxiety and depression almost overnight. A low dose seems to work for me, liver functions before starting and recent;y are perfectly normal, but my doctor wil check them every 3 months The reason I asked for nefazodone is that I caould not tolerate any of the SSRI side effects | M | 62 | 3 months | 7/8/2009 | 1 | Depression | Didn't work. Made me fee worse. | F | 16 | 7 days | 6/14/2009 | 5 | anx/dep suicide ideation | None; anx. disappeared o'nite ( with the help of a little Xanax-only briefly- the "X" magnifies the Serzone, as far as anx. is concerned. I was very, very slightly buzzed for two weeks; then marvelous release of the mental torture / obsessions and hateful feelings. Prosac had no effect WSE. Great Psych. from Pakistan really saved my life ! Been on Serzone for 12 years now. My Mom and her brother (Uncle) had the same mental prob in the 40's(inherited). Uncle comm. suicide. Mom started on Valium in mid-50's - some help but needed shock-treatments once a year. This mental-disease cannot be understood by the "normal" community. They are very sympathetic, but always say, " Pull yourself by you're bootstaps. Breathe the roses. Drive your Rolls-Royce more. Drive those motorcycles !!" New shoes might help. They don't understand it's ( in my casa ) a "S" reuptake-problem ! Brain chemistry a little gone wrong. A new Phantom VII will not cure the p | God bless Merck. For people worrying about Serzone being discontinued - don't. Merck, which designed the drug has ceased production. However, generic labs still produce it very cheaply. They can't be sued for negligence because they didn't design the compound. | M | 68 | 12 years | 4/18/2009 | 5 | depression/anxiety/irritability | Visual trails occasionally in the AM (worse when mixed with a benzo or lack of sleep). Nausea when tapering up | I have been on and off a number of psychiatric meds for the past 12 years. I've never felt more balanced or regulated as I do now. The side effects are minimally obtrusive at best and completely worth the positive effect it has had on my mood. Among the ssris, benzos, and other meds I've tried (about 15 all together), Serzone has had the most drastic effect on my mood with such minor side effects. | M | 27 | 8 weeks | 2/28/2009 | 4 | Depression | Difficulty ejaculating. Inability to get words in mind out of mouth. Visual trails behind motion first thing in the morning. Adding Bethanacol to the mix helped with the abiltiy to get words out of mind to mouth, and a little bit with the ability to ejaculate. Ejaculation was possible but took longer than either party wanted. | This did an instant job of lifting me from very deep depression. I felt better the morning after I took it. I had some relapses in depression in the first few weeks but nothing major. It worked as advertised. | M | 40 | 2 years | 1/13/2009 | 5 | Bipolar Disorder | When starting medication experienced headaches for just a couple of days. If I miss multiple days of meds, get headache when starting back. No other side effects. | I have been taking serzone for 18 years with just a 1 year lapse as other antidepresents were tried. Doctor has tried many other medications for me and there is some disinct properties of the medication which allows it to work best for me. This is the ONLY antidepresent that has been effective for me. I too worry that it will be taken off the market. Doctor indicates there is no equivelant meds. | F | 45 | 18 years | 1/7/2009 | 2 | GAD and sexual side effects | None. I had no side effects, but no effects | I was taking in addition to 5 mg Lexapro to try to assist with mood enhancing, anxiety, and most of all, to decrease sexual side effects associated with SSRI use. It did not work. Did not cause any side effects, but was not effective at all. Went all the way up to 400mg daily, but still nothing | F | 32 | 4 months | 11/1/2008 | 4 | Generalized anxiety | Slight sexual dysfunction - I can get erect but have a tough time ejaculating few about 10 or so hours after I take it (200 mg 3 times daily). I am able to ejaculate if I skip a dose, which I find acceptable given the anxiety relief I get (and that is better than the other SSSI/Tri's drugs I took). | I tried many other SSSI/Tri's - Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil, Tofrinal, and others I don't even remember its been so long since I've been on this one. I have been very satisfied with Serzone. I often worry it will be pulled from the market. Paxil worked ok, but had higher sexual dysfunction for me, which research supports. I no longer get panic attacks at all - many many many years. I still get some generalized anxiety, but it is quite manageable. My doctor sometimes suggests I get off this and try something new (now Cymbalta, a few years ago Remeron). But I just recall how difficult it is to move from one drug to another, with the potential side/withdrawal effects and have no desire given Serzone is working well. This is no way I can function without out - I would have severe anxiety if not panic and this removes it. Results shows that while some individuals have experienced liver failure, that likelihoods very small, say 1 in 10,000. I'll take those odds, given the challenges a | M | 38 | 9 years | 10/26/2008 | 1 | Anxiety, Depression. | extreme nausea, vomiting, auditory and visual hallucinations, uncontrolled movements, severe head ache, terrible anxiety/paranoia, very tingly feeling all over body, insomnia. | My "doctor" told me that he hadn't prescribed this drug in six years. Obviously not using his logic, he went ahead and prescribed it. I took it at 7:00 Wednesday night, it's now Thursday at 5:00, and I feel effing terrible. Read what other people have posted, I guarantee it's not an exaggeration. Adverse effects are very very severe. I took it at 300 mg. It's comparable to having serotonin syndrome--it sucks, but it better be temporary | M | 21 | 1 days | 9/25/2008 | 4 | Anxiety, Depression | Some lightheadedness. Difficulty waking up. Calm, unmotivated feeling. Headaches during the first week. | Serzone (Nefazodone) was prescribed by my psychiatrist as an adjunct to 20 mg daily Prozac. The Prozac had made sleep difficult and took away my libido. My Serzone dosage is 100 mg, twice daily. I can say that the Nefazodone has helped a lot. I'm much less anxious than I was before. Now I sleep much better, too. Libido has improved quite a bit (my wife would agree with that statement). The downside is that getting up in the morning can be difficult. I'll often feel a bit sleepy and unmotivated. This is a tradeoff I'm willing to make. Lastly, I have my liver enzymes monitored every 3 months. | M | 38 | 10 months | 8/21/2008 | 5 | anxiety depression anger bipolar | None. I was taking zoloft and had lots of side effects with that - runs no sex drive etc. I switched and stopped getting them. I do have a slight but very bearable headache - I just satrted Chantix to quit smoking though and think it is from that. | I take serxone as a combination with 150mg of Lamictal. I started about 9 months ago. I can not tell you what wonders these two medications have done for me. I am not a new person or clouded or sleepy or anything - I am me. And I am happy!!!! Happier than I ever thought possible, I am still me though I dont laugh everything off but I am no longer extreme and I my anxiety is gone! I wish I had gotten help sooner - I just never believed in taking medication. Family and friends saw the changes and I finally admitted to taking these meds. they too were shocked and so happy it made me healthy again! | F | 33 | 8 months | 8/15/2008 | 2 | bipolar/anxiety | Took at bedtime, went to sleep, woke up with MAJOR anxiety, panic attack, saw giant pink spiders (spider phobia) crawling up my walls, crying uncontrollably, shaking and rocking | I took this for a very short time, VERY...Now I list it as one that I'm allergic too. | F | 28 | | 6/26/2008 | 5 | Anxiety / Depression | Feel sleepy which is good since I take it at night. | This drug has worked wonders for me. It restores my REM sleep and I don't have any sexual side effects. I highly recommend it. | M | 34 | 8 weeks | 6/25/2008 | 3 | --- | --- | hi, if anyone has spare serzone and wants to sell them off, please sell them to me. my email address is brendaschultz2002@yahoo.com I WILL BUY YOUR UN-USED SERZONE / GENERIC NEFAZODONE FROM YOU. | M | 88 | 0 days | 6/23/2008 | 4 | Anxiety, depression | My dose is currently about 125 mg at night. Blurred Vision: I'm 56 have had to use reading glasses since I was 46, but with this drug, my far sightedness, which used to be excellent, is blurry now. Mornings, I'm sort of foggy and confused. I feel clearer in a few hours. I've lost 10 pounds, but that's probably because I'm also tapering off from Paxil, which has to go very, very slowly, due to the withdrawal symptoms. | On the plus side, unexpectedly, my sex drive is coming back! It's been away since about 1990, when I started taking SSRI's. My mood is good and there is no rumination. Getting to sleep is easy but staying asleep for more 3-4 hours is not possible. Then I take about 1/8 of an Ambien, which works for me. Anti-depressants that have worked for me in the past are Prozac, Celexa and Lexapro; although I've tried many others. | F | 56 | 2 months | 5/29/2008 | 1 | Anxiety | Worst headache ever! | I never get Headaches. But after my first dose of Serzone I got the worst pounding migraine headache ever. I was literally on my bed in a ball crying. It's the worst drug I've ever taken! I stopped taking Serzone immediately. | M | 39 | 1 days | 4/5/2008 | 1 | depression | My first symptoms were plugged ears which later changed to tinnitus which lasted for 5 years after I discontinued the drug. I took this drug for 2 years and spent the 2nd year trying to get off of it. Serzone is difficult to stop taking as it causes muscle pain with withdrawal. Seven years later, I have no lasting side effects. | You should wean off this drug very slowly. | F | 49 | 2 years | 2/21/2008 | 1 | depression | This drug was removed from the market in Canada because it causes liver failure. I know someone who died from ingesting this drug. Acupuncture is an incredibly effective treatment for depression without the associated severe risks of antidepressants, and has the added benefit of improving one's overall appearance. And acupuncture works after the first treatment. | F | 29 | 3 months | 2/17/2008 | 1 | treatment-resistant depression | grogginess, blurred vision, delayed reaction time, general fatigue, worsening depression, self-harm urges | For two weeks (during which I had a particularly nasty illness), I took 50 mg each morning and evening. For the next month, I took 100 mg each morning and evening. At this point, I was experiencing few to no side effects, and no discernible intended effects. After about a month of this, (on January 12th) I was directed to increase the dose to 100 mg each morning and 200 mg each evening, and all hell broke loose. For the last two weeks, I was experiencing a lot of the side effects that I remember from trazodone (grogginess, blurred vision, delayed reaction time, general fatigue), along with an extreme worsening of my depression, including feelings of uselessness and urges to hurt myself. | F | 27 | 2 months | 1/22/2008 | 3 | Depression and Anxiety | I was on a dose of 600 milligrams for a while and became more depressed and anxious than ever. I switched doctors and the new doctor dropped me down to 450 milligrams. That worked fine for a long time and I didn't really have any side effects except for occasional anxiety and depression. I started cognitive therapy and over the course of two years tapered completely off the Serzone. I have felt fine in the two months that I have been off it. I have one month prescription handy just in case. I would consider taking it again if necessary. | F | 53 | 7 years | 12/5/2007 | 5 | bipolar, anxiety, depression | No side effects compared to the other antidepressants I have taken. | I have tried Zoloft, Paxil, Cymbalta I have also tried seraquol and abilify. And none of them worked. Or they gave me such bad side effects that I was hospitalized. I am currently on 1800 mg of Neurontin, 600 mg seazone, and 300 mg wellbutrin and I have never felt better. No fogginess, no sexual dysfunction, no panic. | F | 39 | 8 years | 11/28/2007 | 2 | depression, anxiety, dissociation | Weird visual "trails" when I was really tired, or when I didn't get enough sleep, or when I was particularly anxious. Mostly this was when I coupled the med with a benzo for anxiety, though it could sometimes cause the visual disturbances on its own. They were really scary until I figured them out. I stopped taking the medication because I worried about what it was doing to my liver. | Can cause serious liver problems. Isn't even approved in many countries. I had my liver functions tested often, and eventually decided to go off of this because of the liver dangers. My psychiatrist disagreed with me, but the risk wasn't worth it to me. | F | 30 | 1.5 years | 10/13/2007 | 4 | Bipolar Depression | Drowsiness, nausea | Helped greatly with anxiety which accompanied my BP II depression, allowed me to function at a better level for many years. It did not help the depression so much, but it did not cause sexual side effects like most other medicenes, so that was a huge plus. It became unavailable to me in April of 2005 so I quiut using it and have not been able to find a replacement. When I found a generic Nefazodone, it did not seem to work again and became severely drowsy to the point of making it not feasible to take the drug anymore. | M | 30 | 9 years | 10/10/2007 | 4 | severe depression | Took it only a couple of weeks because I became concerned about the possibility of liver problems. During that time, though, I slept well and felt less anxious. If I took a klonopin at betime also, though, the next day I would be ravenous and could not stop thinking of food. Dr. warned me that Nefadezone would enhance klonopin's effects and I should reduce it. Other anti- depressants have not worked for me, but I am not willing to rish liver failure and some of the other problems I have read about even if they are rare. | F | 54 | 14 days | 8/7/2007 | 1 | Depression and anxiety | Weight loss, insomnia, dizziness in head 30 mins after taking dosage each morning. | This was the least effective of the anti-depressants I have been on. I stuck with it for awhile because it did not affect my libido. However, I did not realise at first it was keeping me awake at night which in effect made it difficult to focus. during the day I also lost too much weight on it. Friends thought I looked gaunt and unwell. I also picked up every cold or flu that was going around while being on this. It is no longer available in Australia. I felt that it only marginally lifted my depression. AVOID ANJD LOOK FOR SOMETHING ELSE | M | 40 | 2 years | 7/6/2007 | 5 | depression | I took Serzone for several years and now take Nefazodone. I have had great results with it, libido back, weight loss, sleep well. I make sure to take it after eating as it caused nausea on an empty stomach. I currently take 200 mg. after breakfast and 200 mg. before bed with no food as I get no nausea then. I have experienced loose stools since taking these drugs and now have early morning diarrhea (starts at 6:00 a.m.) 2-3 times - quite severe. This has gotten worse over the past six months or so and causes me to feel rather "wiped-out" for a while in the morning. Are other people experiencing this after long-time use of Nefazodone? I previously took Paxil and experienced weight gain after a while and sexual disfunction all the time. | The grading of 5 does not reflect my intestinal problems. | F | 63 | 5 years | 6/14/2007 | 5 | major depressive and panic attacks | My side effects were sleepiness and nausea at night but the side effects were well worth it to me. | I too had tried everything on the market and nothing worked like serzone. for the first time in my life i stopped feeling suicidal and I stopped crying every day. My panic attacks went away until recently. I have to transition to another med becuase I have plateau at this med. I am now transitioning onto trazadone and so far its working well not as good as the nefazadone but better than alot of the other stuff I've tried. I was devastated to find out it wasn't covering me anymore, for the last twelve years, it has been a God send for me. Sorry others had a bad experience with it, it just goes to show how chemically different we all are. | F | 31 | 12 years | 4/14/2007 | 5 | Severe Anxiety & Depression | After unmanageable side effects on Paxil, Effexor, Zoloft and a 60 lb weight gain and body tremors from a trycyclic, Doxepin, the side effects for Serzone were non-existent by comparison. The weight gain literally dropped off when I switched to Serzone. | I have been on this drug since its' debut on the market (1995?)and all liver function tests return normal. It has allowed me to live a fairly normal, high functioning life. It is now available under the generic name, Nefazodone. I take 150mg per day which is below the originally suggested 300-600. I think now that 200mg is considered a high dose. I would like to get off the drug but am concerned about the return of symptoms and not being able to function and how much time it might take to get balanced again on a new anti-depressant. I am also afraid of staying on a drug that has been pulled from the shelves in other countries and is only available in USA as a generic. It has been the only drug that has worked and there is no other drug out there that is chemically structured in the same way. So, I feel stuck in between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Has anyone that had good success with Serzone found the same success with switching to any other anti-depressants (e.g.,Cy | F | 48 | 12 years | 4/11/2007 | 5 | Major Depressive Disorder | None! Great drug for me. Now mixed with Depakote with no problems. | Works like a dream for me. I'm up to 600 dose with no issues what-so-ever. No more crying spells or suicidal thoughts. No sexual side effects. For me a great drug. | M | 50 | 2 years | 4/11/2007 | 5 | | 4/3/2007 | 5 | Beacause I used to take it. | Nothing I can't handle. It's a nice feeling to be back on something that makes me happy and is very easy to control. | I was on Serzone about 6 yrs ago, then I discontinued because of the scare. Honestly I thought Serzone was off the market... I recently got back on it and I feel great. I was previously on Lamictal and Ambien, but those meds have nothing on Serzone. Serzone cured my depression, anxiety, bi-polar, sleep disorders, etc. I feel happy and sexy again! By the way, this is a very good drug for people that may have done acid or extacy back in the day. If you're anything like me, SSRI's are a BAD trip!!! Serzone is perfect! | M | 29 | 6 months | 3/21/2007 | 1 | depression | numbing of emotions initially, then panic attacks, sleep paraylsis, eventually became delusional, started having simple and complex partial temporal lobe seizures, then became psychotic as dosage was upped. Dr was also giving me Xanax for the panic, which may have contributed, as they should NOT be taken together. Dr didn't listen, just kept changing my diagnosis (from depression, to bipolar, to schizo, etc) raising dose and adding more meds (depakote and neurontin, then lamictal), very irresponsible of him, and shame on me for not trusting my instincts | Was horrible for me, the out of body experiences during seizures were bizarre, the psychotic episode was long lasting and ruined my life, lost my husband, my son, all my friends, horrible drug for me. Had never had any psychotic episodes, seizures or panic attacks prior to using this drug, and none since. will never use any ssri, snri's again, haven't been the same since-irritable, much less patient and just traumatized by what happened. | F | 34 | 9 months | 3/20/2007 | 1 | Major Depression w/Anxiety | Paranoia, irrational thoughts, extreme insomnia (72+ hours without sleep), auditory hallucinations. Thoughts of suicide (even though I had no thoughts of this prior to taking this med.) | This medication made me go right from the frying pan into the fire. I wanted to stop this medication on the 2nd day but was advised by doctor to give it more time to work. On the 10th day after not sleeping for 3 days straight, I was taken to hospital by my friends when I began to seriously talk about suicide. Hospital immediately stopped Serzone, switched me to Prozac and Trazodone which worked far better in my case. I fear this medication could have killed me if not for my friends foresight in taking me to hospital. I have also met 3 other people since then that had very similar encounters as mine while taking Serzone. Personally, I would NOT recommend this medication under ANY circumstances. Fortunately it is no longer prescribed in my country. | M | 25 | 10 days | 3/19/2007 | 2 | depression/anxiety | none | didnt help much, very tiny bit | M | 20 | 4 years | 3/9/2007 | 5 | Depression/Anxiety | If I'm awake when it kicks in at night I'll have some stomach cramping and upset plus dizziness, there are also some issues getting up with less than 6-8 hours sleep after taking it. Stomach cramping with doage increase, but it usually passes in 2-3 days. | LOVE IT! No sex issues like the Lexapro or jitters like the Welburtin and I feel amazingly "stable" on it. At a fairly high dose of 600, but unless something awful happens to my bloodwork I'm planning to stay on the Nefazodone for a long time. No weight gain or water retention issues. I'm very happy with this treatment. | F | 50 | 10 months | 3/2/2007 | 1 | depression, anxiety | No lift of depression whatsoever; more like a placebo. Long-term damage to my vision (was 20/20 prior to taking, now significantly near-sighted). | I always thought there was a connection b/w my vision loss and taking the med. Now after browsing other peoples' experience, I know it was the Serzone. Somebody needs to sue. | F | 27 | 120 days | 2/14/2007 | 5 | anxiety and depression | Dizziness at first | I was on this for two years until my dr took me off due to warnings. Worked great for my anxiety and insomnia. Have tried different meds since then. none really made a difference with my anxiety and sleep. I finally switched doctors and the new one put me back on serzone(generic which I got filled at Walmart)..I will keep you posted. If anxiety is your primary and depression is the secondary, then try this medication | M | 42 | 2 years | 2/12/2007 | 1 | manic depression | 500 mg 2x a day: heart-attack symptoms, confusion, bloating, walking/thinking/standing difficult, walking slow and crooked, hard to breathe, everything was heavier, glassy eyes | This medication almost gave me (still might give me) a heart-attack. I took 3 doses. My mental state improved until I realized I was about to die from heart failure and that in order to keep from dying I couldn't do anything that might raise my heart-rate (e.g.live). I stopped taking it but not all the symptoms are gone. The most important one persisting is my heart-rate. | F | 23 | 2 days | 2/3/2007 | 5 | PTSD | Serzone was wonderful! No side effects. Regular liver tests came back normal. | Would love to go back on Serzone! Would like to hear from the last two people who posted: Did you recently get Serzone (nefazodone)? I thought it was off the market. Also, to the folks who had great results w/ Serzone 'til it was pulled: What is working for you now? Serzone was wonderful! I was cheerful and productive, energized and focused. It removed both the depression and the anxiety. Everything I've tried since has either had terrible side effects or has not helped the anxiety. | F | 48 | 2 years | 1/29/2007 | 5 | PTSD w/ severe depression | headache for the first 3-4 day; after that none. | After taking 8 other anti-depressants that did nothing, this was the drug that gave me back my chance at life. No sexual side effects, no insomnia, and no weight gain. NIghtnmares stopped cold when I began taking this drug. Sometime when anxiety is extreme, have to "tweak" teh Serzone dosage (300 mg/day) with 25 mg of Zoloft. May be a threat to liver health-but my odds are considerably better than the ones for death by suicide without it. I would recommend this drug to anyone with moderate to severe depression, particularly if the routine SSRI's haven't worked. | F | 52 | 9 days | 1/27/2007 | 5 | depression/anxiety | Some problems phasing on, mostly with balance. Changing dosage affects my vision. | This drug does a better job of handling my combination of depression and anxiety than any of the many others I've tried. I've been taking it since it was first approved. | F | 56 | | 1/19/2007 | 3 | anxiety | Weird vision(light trails), some nausea, upset stomach, all side effects passed after a few weeks, ezcept the vision thing. | Worked ok for anxiety, reduced anxious feelings, but nothing great. | | 1/3/2007 | 1 | Depression and Obsessional thinking | Felt worse, more depressed, not myself, sleep was off. | This drug made me feel worse... I tapered off after two weeks and switched to Zoloft. Within three weeks the Zoloft straightened out my depression which had been going on for 3 months. | F | 16 | 2 weeks | 12/27/2006 | 4 | Depression | No side effects noticed but it helped my depression | M | 6 months | 12/21/2006 | 2 | Depression | None that I recall | Felt more depressed...didn't do anything to lift my mood. Made me feel hopeless since I was hoping it would help. I took it over 10 years ago | F | 27 | 2 weeks | 12/14/2006 | 2 | treatment-resistant depression | Odd visual trails when I was very tired and took this medication, or if I took it with any sort of sleep aid (prescription or OTC). I took this with two other medications to treat depression and anxiety, and when I stopped taking this one, I did not notice a significant change in mood or behavior. I think this is a good alternative for people who do not respond to SSRIs. However! GET YOUR LIVER FUNCTIONS TESTED OFTEN. My doctor did this thank GOD, because this drug has been connected to serious liver problems. | Because of the potential liver problems, I decided to stop taking this medication. I was taking 400 mg, with 450mg of Wellbutrin and 2.5 mg of Zyprexa. I did not notice a change in mood when I stopped taking Serzone. The risk of liver damage was too scary for me when I wasn't 100% sure it was helping me. The tests they do for liver enzyme functions do seem to be very accurate and would surely indicate oddities before any very serious liver problem developed. Lots of lawsuits about this med, though, and I think it is not prescribed in most countries other than the U.S. | F | 29 | 2 years | 8/25/2006 | 1 | depression | I took at bedtime because I was told it would make me drowsy. About 45 minutes after falling asleep, I woke up with hot flashes, chills, dizzynes, vomiting and a severe panic attack. I had to call the pharmacy to ask if I could take phenergan because I kept vomitting bile and at one point became hysterical. I was laughing and crying at the same time. | Never been so terrified by reaction to a drug in my life. I've been on Wellbutrin for years and my doctor added this to help with mood swings. I will never take this drug again, ever! | F | 46 | 1 days | 7/20/2006 | 5 | recurrent psychotic depression | Visual tracks at maximum dose.Somewhat slowed physical response time, for example I felt shaky driving when I first used it.This passed. Thirst and headache first few days.Mid night wakening, vivid dreams.Nausea first week of therapy. I use a sleeping pill to deal with sleep disturbances. | This drug has proved to be excellent at abating my depressive feelings and though it takes some forbearance adjusting to side effects at first, it is worth the improved mood, lack of anxiety and lack of sexual side effects.Have also been on celexa, wellbutrin, effexor and felt best wtih serzone. | F | 50 | 4 years | 10/8/2005 | 3 | depression/ anxiety | swollen legs and reduced iron in blood so that I couldn't donate blood. | better sexual function than SSRIs, no major side effects. I would still be on it if it weren't for the edema (which made me feel more blue!) and the inability to donate blood. | F | 36 | 2 years | 7/11/2005 | 1 | severe anxiety with agraphobia | headache dizzy high unreal | i hope it gets better | F | 23 | 3 weeks | 5/30/2005 | 1 | depression | messed up my vision | messed up my vision for life.. side effect never went away after only one month one this garbage.. i'm suing the company | M | 27 | 1 months | 4/30/2005 | 2 | M | 49 | 5 years | 2/6/2005 | 5 | Seasonal Affective Disorder | Occasional finger tremors | F | 42 | 3 years | 12/28/2004 | 1 | depression | dizzy, light-headed, muscle weakness, blurred vision, hallucinations, slurred speech | Within minutes of my first dose, I was dizzy and light-headed (sort of like low blood sugar) and felt faint. I then had blurred vision and hallucinations (It looked like my feet were twice as far away as they are) My muscles were so weak I couldn't move - as if I was paralyzed. I was completely unable to move my legs. My speech was slurred. I was terrified! It wore off in about an hour. | M | 41 | 0.5 days | 12/8/2004 | 5 | Depression | None noticeable. | I had gone through most of the tricyclics and SSRIs and while they improved my depression, the side effects (dry mouth, sexual dysfunction) were troublesome. I've been taking serzone for six years now and have had no problems. I get liver tests annually and they've been stable. Unfortunately, the only way to find the | M | 50 | 6 years | 11/29/2004 | 1 | Depression | Terrible nightmares and suicidal thoughts. | Second only to Prozac in its ineffectiveness. | M | 34 | 2 months | 11/23/2004 | 1 | insomnia | visual disturbances - rapid cycling - panic attacks - insomnia | serzone was supposed to help me sleep. not only did it not help me sleep - the more i took the less well i slept. after taking 600mg before bed i woke up with the world looking like i'd taken some monochromatic mushrooms: everything had trails and the room seemed to be lit with a strobe light. then i had panic attacks for the next day and a half. i haven't taken it since. | M | 21 | 7 days | 10/30/2004 | 1 | Bi-Polar Disorder | Anger, Paranoia, Confusion, Headaches, Body Aches, You name it, my mom had it | My mom commited suicide 3/7/04 because of taking this drug. Doctor just kept upping her dosage til it totally took over. | F | 59 | 3 years | 8/14/2004 | 1 | depression | light trails, nausea, little help with depression, made me very out of it, worst antidepressant I have ever taken | The only good thing was it made me lose the weight I put on from Celexa | F | 31 | 1 years | 7/29/2004 | 3 | depression | visual trails, memory loss, confusion, speech issues, minor motor skills issues. | I like it. Was on 300 mg per day, now up to 400, but all of a sudden the memory loss is very pronounced. It has evened out my moods, for better and for worse (not depressed but never really happy either). I feel the mental side effects (memory loss, confusion, lack of motivation are really affecting my life -- personally and professionally -- so I am thinking about quitting. On a positive side: no effect on sex drive (never had one, still don't), no effect on weight, and good at filling in the deepest pits of depression. | F | 35 | 1.5 years | 7/15/2004 | 4 | Depression | Early side effects -trippy vision trails. Fall asleep in five minutes. Weird dreams. Over time I noticed an extreme lack of motivation. Just sort of a mellow, good-feeling, go-with-the-flow feeling, which is a lot better than feeling suicidal, that's for sure. | If you're an artist, I wouldn't recommend. It saps your creative drive. | F | 31 | 2 years | 6/17/2004 | 5 | depression/anxiety/panic attacks | Weird visual effects (trails and a trippy feeling) at first when taken during the day. I switched to taking one dosage per day at bedtime (300 mg) and now have almost no side effects. Sex drive is fine, no weight gain or loss, sleep is good. Nausea for a few minutes if I'm still awake when it kicks in, a little dizzyness sometimes if I get up in the middle of the night. If I miss more than one dose, I'll sometimes have a night of broken sleep and alternate feeling hot and then cold all night (covers on, covers off, repeat). I'll be back to normal the next day, though. Alcohol (more than 3 drinks or so) seems to cancel the drug out for that day but doesn't cause any bad reactions for me. The only slightly bad thing I can say (now that I've tried Wellbutrin) is that Serzone might cause me to be a bit unmotivated and slightly lethargic. Then again, that might just be me, with or without Serzone. | Serzone's been a godsend to me for over 9 years in keeping my depression and anxiety in check. Not that I never get in a bad mood or feel down or irritable, but now it lasts for a day or two instead of a month or two. Overall, I feel normal and pretty balanced when I'm on it. I used to have a problem with panic attacks but haven't had a single one since I've been on this drug. Occasional situational anxiety or sleeplessness can be completely cured with one .25 mg Xanax. I recently switched to Wellbutrin XL (about 2 weeks ago) because of the discontinuation of Serzone and the liver disease problems, but I think I'm going to go back to the Serzone (generic is still available and hopefully will be for a long time to come). Wellbutrin made me feel energetic and unusually motivated for the first few days, which I loved (Serzone doesn't do this, unfortunately), but I'm bothered by other side effects like instant weight gain, restless sleep, an increasingly tense and slightly anxious feeling, and the fear of new panic attacks or even seizures (I was twitching the other day after having had a few drinks the night before and it really scared me because I've read that alcohol can lower the threshold for seizures and twitching can be a sign of an impending seizure.) I'm really not sure what to do at this point but I'll figure it out in the next few days. | F | 42 | 9 years | 6/9/2004 | 4 | depression, insomnia, and anxiety | I get irritable mood about every other day but this appears to be due to me have early morning awakening in which I wake up one hour before I want to and can't fall asleep. I feel worn out and fatigued on these days. Lots of my symptoms are from environmental factors, so that when there's stress factors (eg. moving, looking for work), I get depressed. I am dysthymic, having some chronic depression. My brochure from a few years ago says serzone should help with edgy, irritable mood. I actually like the medicine. I have been on 400 mg but was reduced to 350 mg. I take most of dose before bed with a benzodiazepam and get right to sleep. I like serzone because I am not getting up at 1 am like I used to with Buspar. | I am taking serzone about 5 years now. I saw brochures in the mental health clinic and asked if could try it out. I really liked the brochure information. When the drug label warning came out, my psychiatrist informed me and recommended another medicine but I didn't want to switch. About 1 year ago when I got another doctor, I was told again about the warnings. At first, my new doctor wanted me off it, but then agreed to do blood work to monitor my liver enzymes. I have normal blood work and feel O.K. with taking it. I heard about the FDA recall in June, 2004 but I want to stay with serzone. | F | 44 | 5 years | 5/25/2004 | 1 | | 5/20/2004 | 4 | Depression | F | 54 | 10 years | 5/19/2004 | 5 | depression | Loss of sexual drive/libido | Serzone has been a great help to me. Recently my doctor decreased my dosage of serzone and instituted a blended therapy including Wellbutrin. I'm feeling great, liver function is normal. I'm quite surprised to read the comments of the other folks but take solace in the very small and possibly biased sample. | M | 63 | 3 years | 4/22/2004 | 1 | Depression | Serzone worked fine in the beginning, but after a few month I started to feel very sick for several hours after taking it. We tried adjusting the dosage and time of day that I took it but nothing helped. This went on for over a year. After about another year the effectiveness started to decrease so I tried to switch to a different drug. Trying to get off of Serzone was a nightmare, literally. I had nightmares, night sweats and terrible anger for almost 2 months after tapering and stopping Serzone. | I would never tell anyone to take this drug. It's bee banned in almost every country except the US and I think it is dangerous! | M | 34 | 2 years | 4/16/2004 | 1 | depression | groggy, woozy - couldn't wake up, unsteady on my feet, dry mouth, nausea | My doctor wanted to supplement the Wellbutrin I was already taking, and gave me a sample packet of Serzone. So groggy I couldn't go to work the next day, nearly fell in the bathroom, didn't dare drive. Tried to give it a week to get used to it but gave up after 4 days. They listed 10 possible side effects and I had 9, on the way to all 10. Hate this stuff. | F | 56 | 4 days | 3/30/2004 | 3 | anxiety and PMS | This stuff helped mildly with anxiety but not a huge difference. It helped more w/my pms then anxiety but it still wasn't enough to totally get rid of my pms and sometimes I would get irate or irritable for no reason any time of the month but atleast I didnt' become physically violent. I didn't want to take it all month long at the dose I was taking it at due to the liver warnings and also I can take meds for pms half the month instead of all month if I take something besides serzone. | Wasn't quite worth taking it all month for my pms. But I had no side effects as far as weight gain, sexual, sleepiness. So that was good. | F | 28 | 9 months | 3/25/2004 | 1 | anxiety | none really | Did not do ANYTHING FOR ME | F | 25 | 6 months | 7/14/2003 | 4 | depression/anxiety | Initially I experienced dizziness, sleepiness, lack of concentration loss of appetite and loss of physical strength. But those things passed. Now after being on them for about 6 weeks my vision seems a bit blurry occasionally and my short term memory is bad in the mornings. | I have been on Zoloft for about 4 years and at first it seemed to work well, but then the effects became less until it seemed like it wasn't doing anything for me. My libido had completely gone and even though I didn't have a major depression while on it, I was still quite anxious and my feelings were generally very flat. Serzone has given me back my sex drive and my feelings in a way where I can enjoy them without being overwhelmed by them. I tried being on nothing a few times and couldn't handle the intensity of my emotions, both good and bad. | F | 41 | 6 weeks | 5/19/2003 | 2 | depression/anxiety | feelings of unsteadiness, feelings of fatigue, memory loss of slowed reaction. | F | 24 | 2 days | 3/18/2003 | 4 | depression | dry mouth, double vision-at first, but went away pretty quickly | everything was fine for 18 months. Then I started feeling depressed again. My doctor increased my dose. My double vision came back temporarily. 5 days later I could not figure out WHAT was wrong with me. I was dizzy, had severe headaches, and had a | F | 44 | 18 months | 2/26/2003 | 5 | depression | Vision blur when going from dark to light and in morning for about 5 minutes | Really did a good job for me overall. Doctor concerns about liver problems-took me off after 5 years. | M | 53 | 5 years | 2/11/2003 | 3 | depression | confused thought process, weight loss | F | 43 | 1 years | 10/8/2002 | 1 | Insomnia | I had a severe reaction to the medication. Went into a paranoid schizophrenic state for about 6 hours. Confused, disorganized thoughts, panic, hallucinations... horrible!! | M | 26 | 1 days | 7/17/2002 | 5 | depression & bulimia | decreased sex drive | I love the stuff! It's almost worth having no interest in sex to have no eating disorder (after 20 years!)and feel energetic and upbeat. Now my doc wants me to stop because of the warnings about liver problems. SIGH. | F | 54 | 4 years | 6/9/2002 | 1 | depression/severe loss of appetite | paranoia, sudden outburts, delusions, uncontrollable thoughts of suicide... | well, at least I was able to eat again -- but it wasn't worth an overnight stay in the psych ward. sheesh... | F | 27 | 2 months | 6/7/2002 | 4 | major depression; anxiety | Headaches for first two weeks; headaches any time I miss a dose. Drowsiness for first few weeks. | Very few side effects for me; no weight gain! No problem with dimished libido. | M | 33 | 1 years | 5/1/2002 | 4 | depression | taken at night made me sleep like a baby, very dizzy and no coordination for a few weeks, but not that bad. visual changes for a week. MY SEX DRIVE IS BACK!!! | this medicine has been great for me..i was on zoloft and wellbutrin sr. but my sex drive was not there at all...dropped the zoloft and added the serzone to wellbutrin, everything is great. yes the first few weeks are hard on this medication..but it is well worth it in the end. | M | 24 | 2 months | 2/2/2002 | 3 | depression | absolutely none | I'm not sure this medicine is actually helping my depression, but it does help with the anxiety, insomnia, and nightmares that come with my worst episodes, especially if I take a larger dose at night than during the day. | F | 27 | 7 months | 11/8/2001 | 2 | Anxiety & Depression | Nausea, dizziness, weakness, changes in vision, and extemely tired - but couldn't sleep. 33 hours later, still felling light headed and weak. | Not the drup for me! | F | 32 | 1 days | 10/12/2001 | 3 | anxiety/mild depression | headache, fatigue, spaciness | F | 22 | 30 days | 10/5/2001 | 2 | anxiety | Insomnia and halucinations/visual disturbances from my 1st and only 50mg before bed dose. | Dissapointed that it was't right for me! Laying awake during the night provided an interesting stream of conscienceness of WAKING dreams/halucinations. Anyone else???? | M | 36 | 1 days | 9/23/2001 | 1 | Severe depression and anxiety | Increase in migraines, became manic, agitated, circulation so poor had to sleep in flannel pjs, socks and winter gloves in summer, poor mental function, blurred vision, increased suicidal ideation, uncontrollable anger, paranoia, Poor sleep pattern with increasingly disturbing nightmares with crying and screaming while asleep, immediate weight gain (fluid retention?). | Felt great during manic periods, better sexual functioning than on other antidepressants. | F | 52 | 5 weeks | 8/25/2001 | 1 | major depression | Weight gain and fits of anger | Weight gain was rapid. Metabolism really slowed down and I slept alot. I also experienced anger or near rage that came out of nowhere. After a couple weeks I was angry all the time. As soon as I quit taking Serzone, the feelings of anger went away. | M | 49 | 1 months | 7/26/2001 | 4 | depression and panic attacks | None whatsoever | This medication helped my depression so much, I don't know what I'd have done without it. I probably would have had a nervous breakdown. However, it did nothing for my anxiety and panic attacks, otherwise I'd probably still be on it now. | F | 24 | 6 months | 7/24/2001 | 3 | post tramatic stress disorder | extreme drowiness. I just started but I am having difficulty functioning. | I know after a few weeks it should go away but the effect it has had on me has been tough, especially when you have four kids under the age of eight. | F | 32 | 4 days | 5/28/2001 | 3 | Depression/Gen. Anxiety Disorder | Grogginess, constipation, small light streaks in vision, increased fidgetiness and lack of concentration | Although the side effects have been far milder than with Paxil or Wellbutrin (hooray!), it also doesn't work much for me - I don't reach the same depressive lows, but a baseline pessimism is still there, and it worsens my anxiety/OCD symptoms (lack of concentration, inability to sit still). Hope to find something better. But great for insomnia! | F | 29 | 5 months | 5/26/2001 | 3 | depression & anxiety | increased appetite, tracers in vision when awakening or tired, sedating effect, agitation | F | 49 | 2 months | 5/25/2001 |
| 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. |