EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR XR with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date from oldest to newest. 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 |
| 1 | depression | 1. Paresthesia or neuropathy (continuous intense tingling, burning, stabbing pain over entire body) 2. Weight gain 3. Lethargy and fatigue 4. Lack of desire to do anything but lie in bed 5. Grinding teeth so badly I need braces again 6. Difficulty in finding right words 7. Profuse sweating 8. Jolts through body when lying at rest (made sleep difficult) 9. Hair Loss 10. Loss of coordination (resulting in two falls with injuries) 11. Mental fogginess | Been on EffexorXR about 8 yrs. Not much help. Dr would only increase dose. Side effects, worst of which is neuropathy, intense tingling, burning, stabbing pain over entire body. I asked doctors if the Effexor could be the cause of the neuropathy. Both stated no. Prescriped Lamictal w/Effexor. Symptoms worsen dose was increased. 3 weeks ago Lamictal was not helping much at all. Had me taper off Effexor for 9 days so I could change to Cymbalta. By that time, the Neuropathy symptoms had totally disappeared. Skipped and doctor had me taper off Lamictal. 4 days later, ER visit. I was in full blown withdrawal. Violently shivering as if cold, but actually hot & sweating profusely. Foggy thinking. Couldn't focus. Crying easily over anything. Weird & vivid dreams. Panic Attacks! Intolerable! It is so bad you think it would better to die than to feel like that. The ER Doctor has me taking the smallest dose of Effexor until I go to my regular doctor on Monday. As soon as I took the Effe | F | 51 | 8 years | 4/29/2007 | 5 | Anxiety | When I first began taking Effexor XR, I experienced some bad dreams, very tired, nausea; it felt alot like the flu. BUT here is my advice. STAY WITH IT! The symptoms are only your body getting used to the medication. The sympoms occur anytime there is a dosage change; down or up. The good news is this. THIS MEDICATION WORKS GREAT! | I've take this medication for over a year now and had amazing results. The highest dose I took is 75mg 2X per day. This gave me a VERY even feeling. I felt normal for the first time in many years. In combination with this medication I've been seeing a psychologist. I've learned to talk myself down from the anxiety; so now I have reduced my dose to 37.5mg 2X per day. I had a few withdrawal symptoms for a few days, it felt like the flu. Also it kind of felt like my axiety was returning; but just like my doctor told me that was just the dosage change. Sure enough I feel fine again! I will hold at 37.5mg 2X per day for about three months then drop the daily dosage to 37.5 1X per day for another three months; and then off all together. REMEMBER any dosage change will create symptoms; RIDE IT OUT! The symptoms go away! This is an awesome medication that gave me my life back! | M | 42 | 1 years | 4/30/2007 | 4 | anxiety, panic and depression | Extreme Sexual Side Effects! Nausea- if not taken with food. Short term side effects at the beginning of taking this medicine. | I've been taking 75mg for about 4 years now. -thats as high of a dose that I could handle without bad side effects. (If your having bad side effects at a high dose, talk to your doctor about lowering it). Up until now the medicine has done wonders for my anxiety and depression. Before taking this medicine I couldnt leave the house for about 2 years, suffering from panic attacks that controlled my life. The only real down fall was the low sex drive and unability to orgasim. But now the drug seems to be wearing off. I'm starting to have panic attacks again and anxiety and racing thoughts that make me feel like I'm gonna go crazy. I would really like to get off this medicine and switch to something else- Hopefully something that will take care of my anxiety and not kill my sex drive. I'm really scared to get off the drug though. My advice would be to those seeking info about the drug. IS that all drugs work differently for everyone. Make sure you start at a low dose and work your way up. | F | 23 | 4 years | 4/30/2007 | 1 | depression | could'nt sleep much, mood swings,explotions,hurting myself like pulling hair out, punching myself, argumenitive, very hyper, | F | 15 | 8 months | 4/30/2007 | 4 | depression, anxiety | most noticeable side effect: dialated pupils. also severe withdrawal symptoms/"brain zaps", increased time to orgasm (though admittedly I started this medication so young that I don't really know if it's the medication or me). | I started taking this many years ago, and for about a year it was fantastic! Then I began sleeping ALL THE TIME. About a year and a half after that, the doctor decided it was the effexor, and I was switched to SSRI after SSRI... until finally I was ordered a sleep test and it turned out I had VERY severe sleep apnea, and there was evidence that it'd been around for a while. So, when treated for SA, wanted to try effexor again because it was the only one that had really worked! I'm not entirely sure it's working this time, there's been a lot of external events recently (deaths etc.), only time will tell. | F | 20 | 4 years | 5/1/2007 | 4 | Anxiety Depression | If i do not take this medication everyday or miss a dose I become a total b***H, as my husband says HAHA. I have gained 50 lbs since I started this med about 9 years ago however I am working on the weight loss. But since i started this med I have Panic attacks less often and I am more confident and I quit smoking too. | Now if I can loose 50+ lbs then I will be really happy :) | F | 34 | 9 years | 5/1/2007 | 1 | One and a half years | I don't remember any side effects at first, but once you are on this medication for awhile, beware of the withdrawls when you taper down to eventually get off the drug! It was awful! I had dizziness, nausia and headaches for three months after slowly tapering off it. | F | 31 | 1 years | 5/1/2007 | 5 | Depression/Anxiety | Dry mouth, weight loss, yawning, insomnia at the very beggining, | This is the best thing that has happened to me. It killed my "impending sense of doom" and now I can lead a normal life. I can deal with the side effects as long as it makes me feel this good. My mother has been on it for 8 years and I also have two very good friends that have been on it for 2 years and 4 years. | F | 34 | 4 years | 5/2/2007 | 5 | depression/panic attacks. | Extreme fatigue, no sex drive. | This medication has saved my life. No more panic attacks. If you have been depressed and feeling suicidal a long time the side effects arn't so important. Give it time and keep in touch with your Dr. Every medication will have some side effects. But when you just want to feel normal like other people and enjoy life its worth it. I've tried many, many other meds. and this is the only one that worked. There is hope. Feel free to email me. | F | 37 | 6 years | 5/3/2007 | 5 | panic attacks | severe sweating,nightsweats | i will take the sweating and nightsweats anyday over the severe panic atacks. | F | 40 | 3 days | 5/3/2007 | 5 | Depression | Mild anxiety for first 2 weeks | Have been on effexor for several months now and can't remember feeling this good in a long, long, time. Energy level is phenomonal, mood is great and almost no side effects. I have seen a lot of people posting with complaints about getting off effexor, but at this point I hope the improvement lasts forever and I have no problem with taking a single pill the rest of my life if needed. No different than taking one for my high blood pressure. I know no single pill is good for everyone, but if nothing else has worked for you, this may be an excellent choice. | M | 40 | 4 months | 5/3/2007 | 5 | anxiety | None | None | M | 4 days | 5/3/2007 | 4 | depression | Have trouble making decisions. Feel goofy at times. I have to listen very good to have a decent conversation with someone. | weight loss, I have been on Effexor Xr for 8 months. I don't like to drive my car hardly anymore due to feeling dizzy and I don't feel as sharp as I used to. Reading all the coments about trying to get off this medication scares me. | F | 56 | 8 times | 5/3/2007 | 4 | Depression | I dont feal any side effects from this drug except i notice a masive differance when im drinking hard booze.beers alright to an extent and weed is a o.k. iv done most chems and organics on this stuff and the worst mixture is booze! | this dose work for depression i have 5 more months to go and im fealing 70% | M | 17 | 7 months | 5/4/2007 | 5 | Anxiety, Severe Depression | During the first 10 days: brain zaps, felt like I was on acid a bit, but those feelings subsided very quickly. After first ten days: Dry mouth (but just reminds me that I need to flippin' drink some water!) and not a good thing if I have caffeine (I get a little jumpy) | So far, so good. This has helped a great deal, but I have been anxious/ depressed/ suicidal my whole life. Not sure if this drug's side-effects are good for those that are just mildly depressed. I've self-medicating with hard drugs and food forever it seems, and its nice to be on something that allows me to function, and to be social, with out being paranoid. Effexor isn't without it's negatives, but without it I wouldn't be able to be consistent or reliable. | F | 30 | 2 months | 5/5/2007 | 4 | depression | F | 18 | | 5/5/2007 | 4 | general anxiety disorder | Vivid dreams (not scary, but great for story telling), extensive drowsiness, odd ejaculations, slight weight gain, and vertigo for about the first 2 weeks. If I miss ONE dose: extreme dizziness and shaking. | Overall I would recommend this drug. Everything has happened at 150 mg/day and all in all I am pleased with it. The strange ejaculations stopped after about 3-4 months and unfortunately the vivid dreams subsided around the same time (for the most part;)). If I had to say a few negative things about this drug they would be that I feel dependent upon the drug, but being dependent upon the drug is WAY better than experiencing anxiety. The other thing would be that missing a single dose ruins my day because I am incapable of doing anything productive while I am dizzy and shaking. But all in all I am lightyears better with this drug than I was before without it. | M | 19 | 8 months | 5/5/2007 | 1 | OCD & panic disorder | While taking the effexor: brain 'zaps', inability to become angry, complacent, stomach pain. | I couldn't stand the brain zaps; I told my doctor about them, she claims she's never heard of it and said I should come off the medication if it got worse. Stopped taking it a week ago and I have been so sick. How can they prescribe a medication like this without warning people what will happen when they stop taking it? The brain zaps have gotten so much worse, I have a constant swooshing sound in my head. Dizzy, nauseous, vomiting, diarrhea, extreme pain in my limbs, numbness in mouth, lips and extremities, headaches, stomach aches, mood swings, crying out of the blue and blurred vision are all symptoms I attribute to stopping this medication. Every day gets better though and I'm looking forward to being done with this drug once and for all. | F | 34 | 3 weeks | 5/5/2007 | 4 | Anxiety | No side effects but I have been taking it for a while now so I dont remember if I had and side effects in the begining. | I have been taking this drug for about 4 months, (give or take a week or two) and I have had 3 anxiety attacts, where as before I was having attacts atleast once a week. I think I got tired when I first started taking it. Sex drive is the same. Now heres the bad part. I went outta town for the weekend, left on a friday and I forgot to pick up my refill......I didnt have a pill till Monday, I suffered half the day Saturday, and all day sunday, up untill bout 1200 afternoon Monday. I slept all day Sunday and just felt "blah". I think I was having brain zaps as they say, its kinda an indescribable feeling for me. Almost a twitching thing I guess. Horrable all the way. Dont miss a dose!!! | F | 26 | 4 months | 5/7/2007 | 4 | Anxiety | No side effects but I have been taking it for a while now so I dont remember if I had and side effects in the begining. | I have been taking this drug for about 4 months, (give or take a week or two) and I have had 3 anxiety attacts, where as before I was having attacts atleast once a week. I think I got tired when I first started taking it. Sex drive is the same. Now heres the bad part. I went outta town for the weekend, left on a friday and I forgot to pick up my refill......I didnt have a pill till Monday, I suffered half the day Saturday, and all day sunday, up untill bout 1200 afternoon Monday. I slept all day Sunday and just felt "blah". I think I was having brain zaps as they say, its kinda an indescribable feeling for me. Almost a twitching thing I guess. Horrable all the way. Dont miss a dose!!! O yeah, extreem vivid dreams now | F | 26 | 4 months | 5/7/2007 |