EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR XR with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
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 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 |
More on EFFEXOR XR: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR XR | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | depression | decreased sex drive | Effexor XR (150mg/day) is a miracle drug (for me). I haven't felt this good in 15 years. Relaxed, calm, focused, happy, etc. I do not feel drugged, and beyond a decrease sexual drive, no side effects. | M | 45 | 6 months | 4/16/2009 | 4 | Mild Depression/Lack of Motivation | I don't have any side effects unless I miss a dose. If I miss a dose; I get electrical (zap) feelings in my head. My head feels crazy. I have vivid dreams and just general feelings of being unwell. | The very first time I took them, I felt amazingly clear headed. Everything was sharp and crisp. I felt hopeful, things didn't appear to be hopeless any longer. I was calm and logical! Effexor XR is the only SNRI I can take. It helps with my type of depression. It's also amazing how it takes care of the swelling on the bottom of my feet from Periphial Neuropathy. I started on 37.5mg. Then I increased to 75mg and stayed there for awhile. Then I went up to 150mg. and stayed there for quite sometime. I started to feel overwhelmingly tired and more depressed, so I weaned myself off 150mg back down to 37.5mg because I just didn't feel well on the higher dose. I think the 37.5 works best for me. When I weaned down, I didn't have the horrible withdraw symptoms I thought I would. The only time I had the electric like (zaps) and crazy head feelings was when I totally missed a dose. You have to wean down on these slowly. I also changed the time of my dose too. Instead of taking it in the mornings, I take them at bedtime to prevent restless legs. When I was taking them in the mornings, by night time, my legs would be so restless, I couldn't sleep! All in all though, I would recommend them. | F | 58 | 4 years | 4/16/2009 | 5 | Prescribed for hot flashes | I haven't experienced any side effects. | I love Effexor XR! I call it my "happy pill". I've had mild depression off and on in the past and no other medications have helped me like Effexor XR has. And it does help diminish my hot flashes. | F | 50 | 2 years | 4/15/2009 | 3 | Depression, mild anxiety | Weight gain, severe loss of libido, headaches, "brain fog", brain zaps if dose is missed | When I first started taking Effexor XR I couldn't stay awake and I never felt hungry when I was awake. So I intially lost some weight. Which made me happy since I'd also gained weight on Paxil, Lexapro and Elavil. Once the drug built up in my system, I felt better but sort of detached. Nothing was great, nothing was terrible; everything was just OK. I settled for Ok rather than being depressed. But the weight came back and then some, lack of interest in the outside world, weepiness, sleep problems and NO LIBIDO AT ALL. I've taken 75mg and then doc increased to 150 during winter. I now want to get off and try Wellbutrin SR to help with depression, lack of libido, smoking and weight. But doc increased my Effexor instead. I hate the way this drug makes me feel---or not feel. | F | 38 | 4 years | 4/10/2009 | 1 | depression | DO!! NOT!!! miss a dose it will drive you crazy my head feels like im hooked up to a battery and every time i turn my head i get jump started. | I have been on effexor for 2 years and loved it at first but know ive been on the same dosage for 5-6 months i am having symptoms like i missed a day and i know i took it every day it gets worse some one help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | M | 30 | 2 years | 4/7/2009 | 1 | depression | blurry vision, confusion | an evil drug that brain damaged my emotions...i don't care about anything i was supposed to FEEL now i feel nothing all i want to do is disappear from this life | F | 48 | 4 months | 3/31/2009 | 4 | severe depression | I started taking Effexor XR approximately 2 weeks ago. I started at 37.5 mg for 7 days and have now been taking 75 mg for 5 days. I felt euphoria for the first 7 days: I started exercising again, my chronic back pain went away, I organized my desk, papers and finances, I was able to finish some adminstrative duties that had been hanging over me for quite some time. My anger diminshed almost completely and my best friend commented on how I seem like my old self again. Prior to 2 weeks ago I had never been on any meds. My depression started as post-partum and then just blossomed out of control over the course of the last 2 years. After only 2 weeks on Effexor, I feel like I have my old life back. I'm enjoying my daughter and life as a Mom like I never have before. I'm running again and dug my mountain bike out today for my first ride of the season. And what's really positive is that the pain I've had since being 5 months pregnant has pretty much all but disappeared since taking this drug | My psychologist pointed out that most people on website forums are people that are unhappy about their meds and have an agenda about passing on their warnings. So I'm on here specifically to provide a positive outlook. I am so happy on this drug right now that I am sad I didn't take it before, or listen to my friends and family who said that I had 'changed' since pregnancy. Talk to your GP and a mental health professional and get some REAL advice. | F | 40 | 12 days | 3/28/2009 | 1 | depression | vision problems, the more I took it there would be vibration in my eyes, confusion | DO NOT TAKE THIS CRAP IT HAS RUINED MY LIFE. CANNOT DRIVE. FEEL NUMB ALL THE TIME. I NOW TAKE NO MEDICATION EXCEPT FOR SLEEP. HAD A CAT SCAN AND NOTHING SHOWED UP. i USED TO FEEL WORRY, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, NOW I FEEL NOTHING BUT ANGER TO THE SO CALLED PRO THAT PERSCRIBBED THIS | 48 | 4 months | 3/25/2009 | 4 | OCD, GAD, TTC | In the beginning: stomach upset, slight dull headache, some blurry vision and seeing "tracers" especially at night, constant yawning. Six years later: none unless I forget to take it. | I've been on Effexor XR for more than 6 years now and overall it's probably helped me 60-70%. I go through phases of doing good, and then not so good. Diet, exercise and taking the time to relax play major roles in how well I'm doing. I also take klonopin 2-3 times a week when I feel overwhelmed. Other drugs I've tried are Zoloft which made me extremely agitated and Luvox that I couldn't stay on long enough to see if it worked or not because I couldn't get past the headaches and nausea. I was on a tricyclic at one point with the Effexor and it made me feel like I was really crazy (very scary). I'm at 225mg/day and I'd like to wean down because of the side effects from not taking it but my doc says this isn't necessary and it's probably just part of my OCD that I'm worrying about being on the meds in the first place. I wish they'd figure out what causes OCD already, or at least how these meds work. I feel like a guinea pig that no one can help sometimes!!! I know the things I do don't make any sense, I just don't understand what's wrong with me. | F | 34 | 6 years | 3/23/2009 | 2 | Anxiety, depression | Throat ulcers, ear ache, jittery, nervous, migrane when I missed a dose, dangerous interaction with Incocid suppository (for pain from tear in disc) blood in stool, vaginal bleeding. | Felt flat and no interest in life. Didn't make me any happier or less anxious. Side effects were awful - antibiotics for ulcers and ear ache, stomach cramps, period screwed up. Am weaning off, and is going well. Took a 37.5 pill apart, removed 1/4 beads. Bad head ache next day, but after that OK. After 4 more days on 3/4 dose, took 1/2 beads out and had no side effects. Will drop to 3/4 beads out in another 4 days, then stop. | F | 48 | 25 days | 3/17/2009 | 4 | social anxiety, depression | I get dehydrated very easily and frequent headaches. Pretty sure I've gained a few pounds due to the drug. Makes me crave sweets, I think. It's also harder to orgasm, but I'm okay with that. Not a huge issue. | Overall, after trying about 7 or 8 different meds I came back to Effexor as I find helps me the most. After many years of having anxiety/depression I am now working with a therapist that helps me. I think the first time I was on meds I thought it would cure me. But it never did, it just made me able to function, but I wasn't truly happy. Anyway, I finally figured this out after many difficult processes. I had to fix me and I finally found a shrink that was able to help. My anxiety is lowering, but I still stay on the Effexor for now. I do look forward to coming off of it, but for now it helps quite a bit. I've already weaned down to 37.5mg anyway. The most uncomfortable thing about it is the constant dehydration and headaches. Even after doing yoga I am dying and I can drink 5 glasses of water and only then feel better. It's crazy. I don't like the extra 5lbs either. But whatever. | F | 34 | 4 years | 3/15/2009 | 4 | depression, ptsd | withdrawal-like symptoms when dosages were missed | I took this medication for about two years. My general practictioner recommended it for me because it was an "activator" (as he described it) - it would help to motivate me to get out of bed and go to class, work, etc. It definately did that for me, and helped to stabilize my moods so I could cope with everyday issues instead of feeling like everything was falling apart around me. I gained a lot of weight while taking it, but I think that had more to do with my lifestyle at the time than the drug itself (although anorexia is listed as one of Effexor's side effects - I'm still waiting for that one to kick in, lol). The only negative thing I could say about it is typical of all anti-depressants - if I missed a dose, it made me horribly ill with headaches, anxiety, nausea, bouts of crying... it was awful. I stopped taking it due to pressure from my parents, but it was definately a mistake. It helped me manage my life and my depression so much better. | F | 23 | 2 years | 3/11/2009 | 4 | | 3/10/2009 | 5 | Depression | Stomach upset and headache in the beginning, now no noticable side effects. | I have tried many different anti-depressants and I have found Effexor to be the most effective of all that I have taken. I take 150mg and I feel balanced and happy as long as I don't miss a dose. If I miss a dose the depression comes right back with a vengence. The only side effect I notice while taking the medicine as directed is insomnia. This is a side effect for me when I am taking any medication that contains a SSRI. | F | 41 | 2 years | 3/5/2009 | 4 | Depression and Anxiety | Night sweats, loss of appetite, vertigo feelings, headaches, tiredness, weight gain, low sex drive. | I've been on 75mg for 3 months now and the psychiatrist has just uped the dose to 150mg so I can get the full benefit. First intial weeks were absolutely terrible on the drug but after that I found it to help a lot with my depression and anxiety. WIll let you know how the 150mg dose goes! | F | 26 | 3 months | 3/5/2009 | 1 | Mild Depression | Grind teeth at night, strange dreams, tired, can not miss a single dose or I feel awful, withdrawn, moody, and have begun to see them in my stool. | Side effects are way to extreme. E-mail me if you have experianced the same things. | M | 35 | 10 months | 3/5/2009 | 4 | depression | when i first started effexor xr, i experienced nausea, dry mouth,sweating,and trouble sleeping.NEVER,EVER miss a dose! i have never experienced craziness like that before. | Im starting my fifth year and i have noticed some long term side effects; weight gain, the inability to lose that weight and low sex drive. im am terrified to get off it due to the side effects. my doctor said she is going to help me so that i can wean off slowly and hopefully with no real problems. | F | 38 | 5 years | 3/3/2009 | 5 | depression anxiety | loss of appetite for the first few months. | Tried many ssri's over the years with limited success. now on effexor and lamictal and I have my life back for the first time since i was ten. Don't let people scare you especially those that have been on anything for less the 6 months. | F | 55 | 2 years | 2/27/2009 | 2 | Depression/Anxiety | Memory loss, always feel tired, nausea, waking up several times in the middle of the night, horrible withdrawal, no sex drive, blurred vision, headaches, feeling like everything is a dream state | I don't want to be on antidepressants anymore, but have tried three times to wean off it, and have the worst withdrawal. I get paranoid to where i cant leave the house. When I go back on it, I have about a week of insomnia. | F | 22 | 4 years | 2/27/2009 | 1 | anxiety and insomnia | I was taking 87.5 for 2 weeks. Immediatly felt increased anxiety. Woke up every morning at 4am. even after taking an Ambien CR. Stopped cold turkey after 2 weeks and had dry heaves and flu like symptoms. After 4 days I feel much better and sleep so much better. Anxiety is way less. What in the heck??? NEVER AGAIN!! | I really wanted to give this a chance, but it made me a wreck. Not worth it! | F | 55 | 2 days | 2/27/2009 |