EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)

Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)

Filter Results

Compare EFFEXOR XR with similar:
 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)

  

Results are sorted by Date from oldest to newest.

Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR XRCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 5  Anxiety/Depression Feeling hotter than usual (but not too bad), bruising more easily. Dry mouth a little. On previous medications (Zoloft, Luvox) I never had reserves to get through the day if I was feeling bad (which was often). I would have lost my job. Effexor has given me back energy, feelings, and a life. I am more well than I can recall being in the past, and the side effects are not a problem. I'd rather have them and have a life too. F 32 8 months
4/28/2006
 5  depression I sleep sounder on this medicine so it can be more difficult to wake up and I'm really groggy when I do wake up. I love this medicine! I previously tried Zoloft (no change), Wellbutrin XL (no change), Lexapro (awful side effects and no change!), but after only a few days on effexor, I feel great. F 25 3 weeks
4/28/2006
 4  bipolar if missed dose in morning, by evening was extremely dizzy, disoriented, pressure in head/headache. Would take a couple of hours to go away even after taking medicine. No sex drive, could achieve erection but harder to sustain for looonnng time as had difficulty in coming to orgasm (much to wife's dismay). was taking 225mg of Effexor with 5mg Zyprexa, 300mg Wellbutrin. Seemed to help with the extreme irritability/anger I would have all the time and leveled me out more. Got rid of anxiety. Had somewhat of a lack of effect (who cares) attitude then, so not really happy either. New pdoc had taken me off Zyprexa this last week, and am in process of weaning off Effexor -37.5mg/wk at a time. M 40 10 months
4/28/2006
 1  DEPRESSION LIGHT HEADED NAUSEA, SORE NECK F 70 5 days
5/8/2006
 5  Anxiety, RSI, Depression First two weeks were a bit weird. During that time I had some pupil dialation, light nausea, sugar craving, abnormal vision (a cross between blurriness and tracers, but fairly light), significant lack of concentration, sleepiness. I still get occasional effects like those described, but much less severe. Also, my ability to concentrate has totally returned, in fact much better than in a long time. The only thing that I feel I really have to watch is the nausea. Taken without food, or not enough food to offset it will consistantly get to me. I haven't thrown up, but sometimes it does hit me suddenly. I try to be careful, but sometimes it still happens. Oh yeah, effects on sexuallity have been interesting. Though I do feel my immediate nerve sensations may require a little more coaxing to get up the mountain, my interest, creativity, and responsiveness have all increased. Net effect = more fun. Some folks have mentioned clarity in thought. After the initial adjustment, and even somewhat during, I must say I absolutely agree. Even more, it's like I can see bad patterns off to the side that my brain used to fall into, and I can just acknowledge them and pass them by. It's pretty amazing. I feed the core of my trouble is anxiety, resulting in physical pain and muscle spasm symptoms, as well as depression. And that is where I feel the medication is really helping. Because I'm not nervous, everything is easier. My experience with it is that it is distinctly increasing my awareness, but not in a self-conscious or worried way. Rather, with a calm, confident optimism that I can make better choices. It's facsinating, really. I even find myself catching the chronic habit of overtensing muscles in my arms and shoulders so much faster and more frequently. I'm able to just let alot of it go and reorganize my internal energy. I took Wellbutrin previously, and this is very different. To me F 33 1.5 months
5/10/2006
 3  low depression Serotonin Syndrome I was doing fine on 150 mil. and then due to an upcoming move suggested to my doctor we raise it a bit. He doubled it and now I find out he had me 75 mil. over the recommended dosage. I started losing days from Vertigo, spasms, headaches, confusion, etc. This did not happen overnight and it was more gradual - which is why I never suspected Effexor. Another doctor and two neurologists later I finally know that I ended up with Serotonin Syndrome and suspect I could be dead by now had I not put two and two together. The neurologists never even questioned this area. It is important that anybody taking these types of drugs know that this possibility does exist and to watch the dosage. It is said to be rare, but I suspect as more and more try these drugs we will hear more about this. My symptoms were not necessairly listed as side effects and that is what threw me. I was on no other drug and it had to be the high dosage. I read this site and realised it could be this and cut the do F 47 5 years
5/12/2006
 4  Depression Rash of Chest&Back, Sweating, Vivid Dreams, Bruising More Easily, Dizzy, Loss of Appetite, Thirsty, Jaw Clenching, Weight Loss I been on 75mg of Effexor for about a month now and its seems to be helping my mood.... and if this tiny little capsule can do that then I think its worth suffering some side effects F 28 1 months
5/14/2006
 3  Depression and anxiety Inability to orgasm on dosages higher than 75mg a day. Slight apathy and abscent-mindedness (I make lots of typos, etc.). I guess that's because it's an effective anti-anxiety drug for me. Apart from that, no adverse side-effects. Before Effexor XR, I tried: paxil, citalopram, sertraline and trazadone. None of them helped much. Some made me feel worse. Effexor is the first antidepressant that has really helped. And I noticed positive effects from day one. My anxiety is much improved. I sleep better. I get fewer tension headaches. My energy levels are back to normal. I still sometimes feel unmotivated on waking up in the morning, but I don't want to increase the dose above 75mg because of the anorgasmia, and the potential difficulties in eventually quitting the drug. I did try 150mg a day for a week, but the benefits didn't increase. The main benefits for me are the reduction of anxiety and the improvement in my energy levels. I used to take Ativan for anxiety, but that made me absent-minded. Effexor doesn't make me so absent-minded. It hasn't really lifted my mood much, but my mood wasnt really my problem. My problem was severe debility, brought on, I think, by long-term anxiety. M 54 26 days
5/16/2006
 4  GAD, Panic Attacks insomnia, light-headedness, some nausea & constipation, extra visits to bathroom in the a.m., hand tremors, some jaw clenching, appetite changes, sweating. Some have passed. I had been taking the starter pack in the a.m. and had been concerned about the vivid dreams, esp sex dreams. Doc had me switch to late p.m. to see if that would help with the dreams. It did, but I am now realizing that the dreams were part of the med doing its thing and not something to be so threatened by. Started to have considerable trouble sleeping. Doc added some sleep aids, but they did not work too well. 6 wks or so of taking 150 @ night around 11p or so, I now believe I have figured out why the sleep aids did not work, and why I was so keyed up while in bed. Effexor is designed to get you going, and taking it that late at night, then mixing in sleep aids, it was a counter effect @ work. Sleep aids wouldn't work because the Effexor has the body amped up, while the sleep aids were trying to calm and relax. I would wake up light-headed and off balance, not really in control of myself. I had a big time panic attack late one evening 2 wks ago. Heart pounding whi M 39 4 months
5/17/2006
 5  depression after car accident thirsty at times, no labido as good as it gets, at a price M
5/18/2006
Email
 5  depression none that I know of M 46 5 years
5/19/2006
 4  Depression/Mood Swings/Anxiety I initially lost my appetite and lost about 6 lbs. I compulsively yawned for the first couple of days. I went from 37.5-75 mg right away, where I stayed for quite awhile until I was uncertain it was throughly working and wanted to try 150 mg. Biggest concern with this medication is it's drousy fatigue effect. It may be something to do with my sleep patterns, or something else, but as far as I know ever since I've been on this medication I've been ridiculously tired. I sleep all the time, and even when Im awake Im still tired. I cant concentrate because Im tired and Im forgetful, and worst yet I can't work out because I am just too tired! I am currently weaning myself off of Effexor XR. Wish me luck. It did it's job as far as treating my depression goes. I didn;t have my crying spells, mood swings, or suicidal thoughts. I still had anxiety sometimes and reaching orgasm was hard to do at first, but becomes easier with time. F 20 2 years
5/19/2006
 5  Anxiety I noticed that when I miss a dose or don't take it at my regular time schedule in the morning, I feel 'vibrations' which is not horrible, it's more annoying than anything. I've loved Effexor up until recently when I realized that I gained 45 pounds back since the weight loss surgery in 2000. I had gastric bypass in 2000. After the surgery I noticed that Zoloft caused a burning in my stomache so I stopped taking it. I tried Celexa and it made me very very sleepy right away and I couldn't stand it, so I quit taking that. My doctor wanted me to try Effexor XR. I started taking it on Sunday and by Wednesday I noticed that it was taking care of my anxiety/anxiousnes BIG TIME!! I am going to head to my doctor this week and see if he'll prescribe Wellbutrin for me. I'm hoping I'll have one of the good side effects such as weight loss/increased metabolism. F 49 4 years
5/21/2006
 1  Mild depression/Grief Shock feeling in head, insomnia, depression (ironic, eh?) cutting myself with objects, weight gain, severe migraines I would NEVER take this medication again if someone paid me a million dollars. It was horrible. I went from a mildly depressed person to a psycho maniac that was cutting herself two to four times a day. I had thoughts of suicide and paranoia. I NEVER had problems like that before. The Dr. told me to give it a little more time. When I put a knife through a door I figured it was time to stop. I was on it for two months before it got that bad. It was pure hell for two more months because of the withdrawals in my head. I was miserable. F 32 65 days
5/22/2006
 3  situational depression sleepy, weight gain, headaches F 33
5/24/2006
 2  for chronic depression fatigue, constipation, emotional flatness, great weight gain F 64 9 years
5/25/2006
 3  anxiety/depression stronger heart skips, blurry vision it would have been great if not for the strong heart skips M 35 5 days
5/26/2006
 4  For OCD and Physcosis Lack of intrest in the opposite sex. Weight loss. Dry mouth. I think it is a wonderful drug that has changed my mood wonderfully and has made me much less irritable. F 17 1 days
5/27/2006
 4  For OCD and Physcosis Lack of intrest in the opposite sex. Weight loss. Dry mouth. I think it is a wonderful drug that has changed my mood wonderfully and has made me much less irritable. F 17 35 days
5/27/2006
 1  depression no side effects but horrible withdrawl---------never would have tried it if I'd known about the ongoing "shocks" and the lack of sex drive F 32 4 months
5/27/2006

Previous Page       Next Page

BACK TO TOP