EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)

Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)

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 ANTIDEPRESSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

EFFEXOR XR  (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: 1997-10-20 (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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More on EFFEXOR XR: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR XRCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 1  anxiety I have only been taking effexor xr for 2.5 weeks. The first 2 weeks were fine other than some drunk like feelings. The last few days I have felt very strange and sweating uncontrollably. Also, I am unable to sleep do to bad night sweats. My doctor told me to continue the medication, however, I don't think it is going to be and option, M 2 weeks
8/16/2005
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 4   This medicine helped me for many years at 300mg.XR. Now it's not working so my doctor is taking me off to put me on Parnate. It is like having the flu when you come off. Everything hurts, aches and pains. Tiredness and sick stomache. I think I have to sleep through the withdrawls. F 37 3 years
8/17/2005
 2  bipolar disorder None except with missed doses, then nausea vomiting and diarrhea. NO sexual side effects whatsoever. Some memory loss and word confusion. Transposing words or saying wrong words. Gait disturbance. Not sure that the memory loss is from effexor or lamictal. Do not miss does or quit without medical supervision. Must be weaned off this med. I take this 150mg daily, with lamictal 400mg daily. I still have significant depressive symptoms. I am currently seeking other drug combinations. F 41 2 years
8/17/2005
 3  Depression/Menopause/Severe Anxiety Well, i started my first dose yesterday,(37.5 mg) and about an hour into it. . . i started feeling anxious, very nauseas, almost to the point of getting dry heaves, dizziness, nervousness, my pupils were dilated and i felt like i was speeding my ass off. These effects last all day long. Also, I have no appetite. Have to force feed myself. It was almost a horrible feeling. I also take Zanax in the evening to help me sleep, but it didn't seem to work well. I got a total of about 3-1/2 hours of sleep last night. Woke up wide away at 4:30 a.m. and i felt like a zombie. I'm on my second day, and can't wait to take my dose at 11:30. I just hope i don't feel like i did yesterday. Right now, i'm feeling really spaced out. I have slight paranoia, and have dull emotions. I am going to hang in there, give it time, and hope that these side effects go away. Stephanie Too soon to tell about this drug. F 40 2 days
8/18/2005
 1  Anxiety, pms... Headaches, odd feelings when off the drug (vertigo, headaches, fuzzy feelings, irrational thinking) I would reccomend that NO ONE Take this drug unless it is a last resort F 42 8 months
8/20/2005
 1  PTSD ADHD migraines depression First weight loss, which was bad becaus I was previously anorexic, then 35 lbs weight gain. I've become a whale. Also agitation/night terrors/panic attacks, inability to sleep more than 4 hours a night, nightmares, impotence + anorgasmia, suicidality - I was in a psych ward for 3 days. I know this drug works for some people, but the side effects seem to outweigh any benefits - there's a petition on the web to force Wyeth to disclose all the undisclosed side effects about this insidious drug. And yes, it DOES cause anorgasmia - not just impotence - in males. Effexor is a supposed M 42 10 months
8/20/2005
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 5  Mild depression / anxiety Yes it has reduced by libido, but I think the brightening of my mood makes up for this side effect. M 50 10 years
8/24/2005
 5  depression, surgical menopause Heavy bruising and bruising too easily; extended bleed time. Unable to sleep through the night. Unable to get into a deep sleep. Bouts of repeated yawning, which left me breathless. Bouts of drowsiness, lightheadedness and being unable to focus my eyes, like I just had to go to sleep (used caffeine to fight it). Constant tinnitus, ringing in my ears, buzzing & wooshing noises, as if I could hear the blood rushing through my veins. Increase in blood pressure. Headaches. Immediately had a problem with bruising too easily. Some of the bruises were very large and filled with blood. Over the next 8 months, 4 doctors insisted it wasn't the Effexor, but they were wrong. The insert from the pharmacy said it was a serious side effect. When I finally got them to listen to me, and after my physical and blood work all tested normal, they started switching me to Lexapro. The Effexor caused bouts of yawning and lightheadedness, which were exhausting and annoying; had to drink coffee to counteract this. Sometimes the coffee didn't work. I ended up taking an energy pill with the Effexor (Syn-er-gy from Ameriden) so that I could cope and work. During the first couple of months, the tinnitus was so loud, it made it difficult to hear the tv or radio, and made it hard to fall asleep. It gradually tapered off, but if I took the Effexor at night, the tinnitus was very loud as I tried to fall asleep. Found that if I took the Effexxor at noon, I was able to sleep b F 45 8 months
8/27/2005
 3  for mild depression/regular highs weight gain mostly and i think my dose is too high, when i was first put on it it was just 75mg and i have gradually increased it to 300mg sometimes - now i think this high dose has caused me to have an excessive appetitte i am worried about trying to cut down gradually as i read so much scary stuff about going off it F 60 5 days
9/5/2005
 1  Mental illness Very dizzy, next day could not get out of bed. Problems breathing. I will never take this medication again. F 32 2 days
9/6/2005
 5  depression,mood swings tight jaw,elevated blood pressure(went away),electric shocks in head on higher doseof 225mg,twitching in my sleep,hard to cry,need more sexual stimulation to orgasm,blurry vision Tried alot of other meds.This has been the best. Weaned off over a period of 2 months. Went into a horrible depression shortly after stopping completely. Very happy to be on it again.Take 150mg in the am. F 48 3 years
9/10/2005
 5  ocd obsessive thoughts no side effects lost 50 lbs on it that i gained from luvox,sleep 10x better, excellent drug, obsessive thoughts leave my head much faster now(tried anafranil,prozac,luvox,trazadone,zoloft, with no results at all) M 29 4 years
9/12/2005
 1  depression Severe adverse reaction. tremors (whole body), complete loss of libedo, difficulty concentrating, extremely high strung, agressive and hostile behavior. 25 pound weight loss. it should be taken off the market. F 38 7 months
9/13/2005
 5  Depression & Anxiety 150mg/day - inability to sleep more than 4-5 hours at a time, headaches (usually mild), constantly sleepy. Decreased appetite. 75mg/day - no side effects/none severe enough to notice. No weight gain like everything else I've tried. Seemed to take less time to build up in my system and therefore, I got relief from the depression and anxiety much sooner. F 40 1 years
9/15/2005
 4  depression, anxiety, OCD Wired with a dry mouth... I feel a little apathetic right now because this is the first time that i have felt good in a while and feel like sitting around and enjoying it... i bet this passes and then i get some motivation No one talked about what happened during the first couple of days and i bet people are wondering. By day two I felt better, I had a little too much energy even (probably because i am used to having none). I haven't felt like eating at all except when i realized that I had forgotten a meal so i ate to keep my energy up. I thought this was supposed to take weeks to work and I felt great day 2. I didn't even realize that I had felt that awful until I felt good. I don't ever want to feel like I did again. Effexor saved not just my life but my quality of life :) F 22 5 days
9/19/2005
 2  depression, anxiety Extreme hypotension and tachycardia (fast pulse). I had to be pulled of the medicine quickly b/c the cardiac symptoms were becomming dangerous -- and withdrawal was terrible. I could not have survived it outside of a hospital because I had to "taper" so quickly (I essentially stopped cold turkey). Also, there was some thought that it was inducing hypomania. This medication REALLY helped my anxiety. A lot. It did not do much for my mood, but I was also severely anorexic at the time I was on this. Withdrawal was pure HELL. F 20 2 months
9/21/2005
 5  bi-polar disorder I haven't experienced any side effects what-so-ever. This drug changed my life! I suffered from extreme depression for 3 years and nothing worked. After being on Effexor XR for only 4 weeks I noticed a drastic change in mood. M 31 3 months
9/23/2005
 4  Despression At first the dry mouth, tremors, headaches and the night sweats were terrible, especially week before mensturation - increase in appetite constantly (binging) while no one looking ..... unless the appetite was just an excuse? I have been on Effexor XR for about 12 months now and taking 450mg in the morning. Though my moods do feel much better ...I dont have that darkness surrounding me constantely, I am very tired and the weight gain is bringing me down. I combine this with Valpro and now take 1000mg morning and night. I am also taking every weight-loss diet pill or diet, starving myself or whatever and then binging ....? as I said not sure if its just me making excuses or the medication. F 34 12 months
9/24/2005
 5  anxiety, psychosomatic problems None. But then, I have taken several other SSRIs in the past, and have never had any side effects. No side effects when reducing dosage from 150 ER to 75 ER. I have now reduced to 37.5 ER (by halving dosage) and I think I am beginning to experience some problems, but it's kind of too early to tell yet - it might be coincidence. It definitely helped with my panic attacks, anxiety, heart flutters, psychosomatic heart pain, breathlesness,etc. which are now GONE. I have reduced the amount of alcohol, and lost a lot of weight. Of course, as with all the drugs of this type, you don't really know whether you might not have to some extent gotten better on your won. F 35 1 years
9/27/2005
 1  Depression Weight gain, insomnia, heart pains, dizziness, suicidalness, zero sex drive, numbness Worst drug i've ever had the misfortune to have prescribed to me. Have been on it for over 6 years now, and have been trying to come off it for the last 6 months, and even with cutting back very gradually on the dose for months, it has caused dreadful side effects, feeling dizzy and like i am going to vomit all the time, feel spaced out, feel absolutely dreadful. Have had absolutely no sex drive whatsoever, am completely dead from the waist down, feel like it has ruined my sex drive for life, as even now i have not had it for 5 days, i still feel nothing whatsoever. This is the worst drug ever, i'm sure i'd be better off if I'd taken cocaine or something, as it has completely ruined my life and made it worse than ever. Avoid at all costs, even if your quack might want to ruin your life with it. F 23 6 years
10/2/2005
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