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
 
 5  GAD Horrible hangovers, forgetful, better sexual response, weird shock sensations when I forget to take a dose, more struggle with weight I am on 75mg for Generalized Anxiety. My crazy worry thougts are pretty much gone and I think that I am happier than I've been in awhile. The worst thing about this drug for me is that as I continue to take it, my ability to process alcohol gets much worse. I don't drink often, but when I do, I experience blackouts and serious all-day hangovers complete with vomiting etc. I definately plan to cut down on alcohol, but it is a drag. My doctor gave me Wellbutrin to take in addition to the Effexor because of an unmotivated feeling, but I haven't wanted to take it because I am worried about additional side effects - especially when I have a couple glasses of wine. F 35 6 months
3/21/2006
 1  anxiety, panic attacks Insomnia, severe sweating, aches and pains, "wired" feeling HATED it! This was the worst med I have tried. It made me feel like I was wired all day long, and my anxiety was still there, completely. Had to go off of it, but that process was even worse... F 26 2 months
3/21/2006
 3  anxiety When I first started taking effexor 37.5...and had an odd surge of energy for the first month. It was really weird--i couldn't sleep well, but that was okay because I wasn't tired. Here are the bad long term side effects: -i became lethargic (maybe a little depressed)...missed classes, functions, etc...that i norm wouldn't have -felt a little slower mentally good: -great sleep! -made me feel less anxious (maybe because i was always in a semi-groggy state...) -no other noticable side effects for me I liked Effexor, and only recently stoped taking it because the benefits didn't outway the side effects for me (being extremely lethargic). Another thing I wanted to note, is that I think Effexor is a better medication than Paxil cr, which i also tried. Also, don't worry to much about withdraw...it wasn't bad for me at all (prob. because of my low dosage), i had slight shocks for around a week that were hardly noticable. So don't let that side-effect worry you too much! F 20 6 months
3/24/2006
 5  Depression First two weeks- yawning, fatigue, after 1 year elevated blood pressure M 43 2 years
3/25/2006
 5  Depression Delayed orgasm (not a bad thing, just requires patience); sweating (could be menopause, too); yawning; vivid dreams. If I miss a dose, I get twitchy (dizzy, numbness or tingly sensation) and have vivid nightmares (and that's only a few hours off the med). *I had some nausea the first week or so, but it passed* This is the first anti-depressant I have taken after a life-time of depression, including several suicide attempts when I was younger. I resisted medication because I didn't want to feel "doped up." I can't believe the difference Effexor has made! I had the "hunkering down" sort of depression; this drug (and I assume the therapy, too) has given me the life I wanted. I do worry about withdrawal symptoms, though, because missing a dose produces some nasty symptoms. F 46 1.5 years
3/31/2006
 1  Anxiety Sleeplessness, shakiness, INCREASED anxiety, suicidal thoughts, vaso-vagal response resulting in nausea, sweating, near black-out. I have never had such a horrible reactrion to any drug. I took 1 75 mg dose, for anxiety. I am not a depressed person, I do not typically have suicidal thoughts. I simply took the drug for anxiety. I was so sick, even 48 hours later, that I became nauseous, began sweating profusely, and almost passed out in church on Sunday. I realize this drug may be helpful to many, but be careful, and try to begin taking it on a weekend,. If I had taken this during the week, there is no way i could have made it to work for the 48 hours following the single dose I took. F 31 1 days
3/31/2006
 3  anxiety (very weepy and worried) insomnia, groggy feeling most of the day, blurred vision I started on 37.5 mg and could feel a big difference very quickly. I didn't cry at all on this and I wasn't worried about much of anything. In those respects, this was great! I also felt really "slow"....like I had taken Nyquil or had a hangover. My vision became very blurry...I couldn't believe how much worse my vision became!! My appetite increased and I couldn't sleep at night. I took this low dose in the morning, thinking that surely it wouldn't affect my night time sleep, but sure enough, I wouldn't be able to fall asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning every night. This was the worst side effect I experienced. I know that some people take sleep aids to counteract this, but I just didn't want to get on those. I began to want to just sit around in the afternoons instead of being active like I usually was. Also, I was yawning like crazy. I don't know if this was a side effect of the drug or just of me not sleeping much at all!! Anyway, I took myself off of this dru F 33 1 months
4/2/2006
 4  Depression Hypomania! Increased blood pressure (110/68 is my normal, went up to 170/110). After taking this a while I was diagnosed with bipolar II. I had to stop because it was creating a life-threatening situation with the increased blood pressure. I was upset that I had to stop because this made me feel good! Although the psychiatrist wasn't happy with that because I was actually experiencing hypomania, not "normal" life. Overall though I liked it. F 26 1 months
4/4/2006
 1  anxiety from health issues tons. extreme sweating, ejaculating at a different time then the orgasm, suicidal depression, a non-functioning human was the main side effect. they warned me about these side effects too. like people are going to live there life like that. you might as well be dead. just an awful drug. i was a little depressed before. after taking this drug,i was running out trying to commit suicide every day. then there are withdrawl symptoms too. i have more luck with klonopin and the benz.. M 21 28 days
4/5/2006
 4  severe depression, anxiety Jaw clenching, excessive yawning, extremely bizarre dreams and terrible nightmares, false awakenings, dullness of emotion, "whatever" attitude.. I have missed a dose here and there but have noticed no withdrawal symptoms. Currently on 225mg a day. Switched from Paxil. Effexor XR worked very well for me for a long time but about 6 months ago I had a relapse partly due to a major life change. Dose was then upped from 150mg, now doing a little better. I'm giving this drug a 4 because it has kept me alive which Im thankful for. I do feel however that doctors belittle the side effects IMMENSLY. The worst thing for me were the nightmares though they have stopped now. My dreams were 100% real to me and often very disturbing. However I had also out-of-this-world, wonderful super dreams which I now miss terribly. I feel like a zombie also, just recently Ive started feeling stronger emotions again. Effexor XR has made me feel that things are ok and I dont want to change anything, I am not discontent though I think I should be. Everything has been just blah for so long. F 23 3 years
4/6/2006
 4  Depression No real side effects to speak of. People have mentioned weight gain as a side effect on this board, which makes me a bit nervous because since going effexor, I sometimes get these ridiculously strong cravings for fast food, especially french fries. It could be the medicine, or maybe I was just depressed about not ever eating french fries. Hard to say. In any case, no sexual side effects or night sweats or any of that stuff. When I was depressed before medicine, I never really thought of taking my life. However, since being on medications for the past year, I rarely get depressed anymore, but when I do, it is like utter pits of despair type depressed. Very weird. It's like I don't have as much middle ground with my feelings anymore. Either very up or very down, but only since taking anti-depressants. M 28 1 years
4/7/2006
 5  Depression Dry mouth, sleepiness, electrical shocks, superrealistic dreams (I like them), in the firs few weeks light sleep. During my parting from my girlfriend I experienced blurred but clear view. Probably this is now side effect at all. I got my emotions back, felt like the android delta in a Stark Treck movie after switching on his emotion chip.. First of all I like this medicine. It helped me to get back my emotions. During my depressive phase I had nothing what was worth for living (a good job, assets, nice appartment, nice girl friend, I should have been the lookiest man, but I felt only worthless). Starting at 75 mg in August '06 I'm tkaing 300 mg each day since November, sometimes more. Today, everthing around me is much more friendly (colurs, people, music) it feels like in my childhood. My memory is back and I'm able to think fast again. Why haven't I started my therapy ten years ago? If you ever felt a swoosh followed by a loud noise or electrical shocks plus strange dizzines, please contact me, beacause this is an ugly seldom side effect (over dose, withdrawl?). M 33 8 months
4/12/2006
 3  Panic disorder/anxiety/depression nausea, dizziness, racing heartbeat, yawning, feeling of being jolted - my body seems to jolt suddenly from the inside out - hard to describe, but it also feels like I stop breathing at that moment or like I might be about to have a seizure (I've never seized) or like I will gag. Started at 37.5 and then moved to 75 per day. The side effects I am experiencing are enough to make me uncomfortable on a daily basis. Most disturbing are the nausea and the jolting feeling both of which are daily occurrences. I was already having a problem with appetite and weight loss, so I'm not positive I can blame the Effexor for that. On the positive side, I do find that at times I have more energy than I used to. I do occassionally, though, have a "blurry" memory and I feel forgetful. There might be a better drug for me, but I am very afraid of quitting as the withdrawal symptoms of this drug are legend for their horror. F 36 3 days
4/12/2006
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 1  Depression Gained 50 pounds when I have never been overweight in my life. Also had no sexual desire. After I quit, I have started losing weight and I have gone into a sexual frenzy! F 41 3 years
4/18/2006
 5  Long term depression Very tired the first dose of 75 gm. By dose two, that was totally gone. Vivid dreams. I am now on 150mg a day. I am not sleeping well at night...but hey its only been a week of 150mg. I love Effexor. After I started effexor I begain to read about other peoples experiences on it and going off it. Some of those posts scared me. Then after about two weeks I started to feel better, really better. By my third week I was able to say that I felt normal again. And honestly, I would much rather take this stuff for the rest of my life than to feel the way I did before effexor. Wow, this is life, again! Welcome back me! F 33 6 weeks
4/23/2006
 5  severe depression at first it caused my emotions to become flat. that's tapered off, as has the sexual dysfunction side-effects. the higher the dosage, the harder it was to orgasm. this has eased a bit, thankfully. but i did find out after awhile that the longer the sexual activity, the harder it was to climax. which was cool for my girlfriend as she liked the increase in oral sex that offset my relatively quick work (five minutes or so). i also yawn constantly, but not tired. i'll be at the gym actively working out and i'll just yawn and yawn. it's the only anti-depressant that has ever worked for me. M 26 8 months
4/24/2006
 3  Depression, anxiety and insomnia The side effects did not become apparent until I stopped the drug, and include nasal discharge, amenorrhea (my menstrual period stopped on Effexor ER and came back when I discontinued the drug), intense itching all over my body, increased skin sensitivity, increased sensitivity to sound (similar to a migrane, but without pain), stomach cramps, nausea, increased insomnia and vivid nightmares. Today is the fourth day with no meds and I still feel gasy as well. The itching subsides after a few days. It was much, much worse three days ago. The side effects in coming off the meds last for a long time. I did not replace this drug with another drug, I just stopped all drugs. I find my mind shifting in a way I can only describe as similar to the body sensation I get when I travelled on a large cruise ship, when the ship would make a turn--it would make my whole body feel weird in the same way my mind feels now coming off this stuff. It's better if I rest or sit quietly. If I go outside into a crowded place with lots of noise, I feel overwhelmed by the noise and my temper flares up much more easily than it did before I took Effexor. Hopefully this sensitivity will subside as well, but it has been very intense for days now. I started with 37.5mg (starter pack) last summer and increased gradully to 150 mg per day. I did not get benefit from it until I was up to 150 mg per day, and then it seemed to help my depression, but not my anxiety. F 47 9 months
4/25/2006
 3  Depression, anxiety and insomnia The side effects did not become apparent until I stopped the drug, and include nasal discharge, amenorrhea (my menstrual period stopped on Effexor ER and came back when I discontinued the drug), intense itching all over my body, increased skin sensitivity, increased sensitivity to sound (similar to a migrane, but without pain), stomach cramps, nausea, increased insomnia and vivid nightmares. Today is the fourth day with no meds and I still feel gasy as well. The itching subsides after a few days. It was much, much worse three days ago. The side effects in coming off the meds last for a long time. I did not replace this drug with another drug, I just stopped all drugs. I find my mind shifting in a way I can only describe as similar to the body sensation I get when I travelled on a large cruise ship, when the ship would make a turn--it would make my whole body feel weird in the same way my mind feels now coming off this stuff. It's better if I rest or sit quietly. If I go outside into a crowded place with lots of noise, I feel overwhelmed by the noise and my temper flares up much more easily than it did before I took Effexor. Hopefully this sensitivity will subside as well, but it has been very intense for days now. I started with 37.5mg (starter pack) last summer and increased gradully to 150 mg per day. I did not get benefit from it until I was up to 150 mg per day, and then it seemed to help my depression, but not my anxiety. F 47 9 months
4/25/2006
 3  depression/anxiety Just started experiencing the brain (head) zaps everyone is talking about. WEIRD!! More importantly for me is the severe NIGHT SWEATS. I just came back from the doctors office and told him about them. He is sending me for a chest xray, blood work and stomache ultrasound. I asked him if there was anyway they could be from the meds and he said no.?! I am very relieved to see I'm not the only one experiencing them! The're so bad I get up and have to towel dry! Dry mouth and of course, a decreased ability to maintain an erection and it takes forever to orgasm and when I do, they're like a slow dripping tap :( I also hear ringing in my ears at night like the doorbell. For what it's worth, I seem to be drinking much more alcohol than I had previously. As for the depression/anxiety, I feel that that the med has done it's job. I've been on them for a month at 75mg. I don't experience the lows that I did however I also don't experience the highs I had as well. The doc wants to bump up my dosage? After reading about the side effects on here, and those when you stop taking the med, (scary) I'm not sure what I'll do.!?! M 40 45 days
4/26/2006
 1  social phobia Pronounced fatigue, felt like a zombie, like I lost my personality, I wasn't "me" anymore, no interest in life at all, sex drive completely gone, nausea and constipation, dry mouth, bad at times, it just didn't work!!! It DOES NOT work for anxiety. I did NOT have depression. F 44 3 months
4/27/2006

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