EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR XR with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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More on EFFEXOR XR: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR XR | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | STRESS AND NIGHT SWEATS | I DIDN'T EXPERIENCE SIDE EFFECTS WHILE TAKING EFFEXOR XR 75MG I HAVEN'T HAD A PERIOD FOR 3 MONTHS, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT IS DUE TO THIS MEDICATION.I AM GOING THROUGH MENOPAUSE. | F | 52 | 3 days | 6/1/2007 | 1 | IBS | I have been on this drug for three years and have been having what I felt were "fainting spells", but in reality it may have been seizers. I have dizziness, hot flashes, heart "flutters", no sex drive, restless legs, nausea, sleepy most of the time, shoulder tension, dry mouth at times, can't get out in direct sun light (causes dizziness and/or fainting spells), can look into blinking lights, headaches, etc | I really wanted to make people aware that no matter how long you are on a medication side effects can occur later into taking it. I was shacked when they told me that it was all side effects including the seizers. That is scary when all is well and bang you are hit with this. Just be careful with this and all medications. Do not ever feel like it is dumb to bring up what might be a side effect to you doctor, it could be (even three years later). | F | 32 | 3 years | 6/1/2007 | 3 | dysthymia (chronic low-grade depres | The first time I took 450 mg/day. I got depressed faster than it worked. Psychiatrist kicked me off cold turkey. I went psychotic, shaked uncontrollably, threw up anything I ate, had horrific nightmares. Went back on to kick Paxil. Now at 300 mg, I have started tapering off. So far, just itchy and sleepy. On SSRIs I've gained 65 pounds, raised body temp, raised cholesterol, heavy sweating, yawning - I can't take it anymore. Am going back to tricyclics, but the cold turkey was so scary I insisted on starting the new one while tapering off. | I've been prescribed over the daily maximum, and cold turkeyed by a psychiatrist. The one who put me back on it had Effexor freebies all over her office. Do the doctors even read the monographs? | 2 years | 6/3/2007 | 4 | depression, bulimia | alcohol intolerance, increased sweating at night, nightmares, loss of libido | Efexor has worked for me a lot better than Prozac, which I was on earlier. I feel a lot happier now, and actually look forward to the future. However, I hardly ever want sex, and can't drink alcohol. It is a bit unbelievable, but even after one or two drinks I feel nauseous dizzy and headachey. Well, I don't mind not drinking in itself, but it's a social problem, as it's hard to refuse drinks or just sit there sourly sipping diet cola stone sober when your friends are happily tipsy and buying rounds of beer. | F | 26 | 6 months | 6/4/2007 | 2 | depression and anxiety | Headaches; sleeplessness; teeth chattering; tremors; restlessness; loss of appetite; eyes hurt; yawning; tired mentally but physically restless | I took one 75mg XR and for 2 days did not feel myself. I think it was too strong for me but maybe I just need to work on issues instead of taking a pill. It's not for me, this medicine. | F | 37 | 1 days | 6/4/2007 | 2 | depression | i continued to feel more and more depressed and suicidal as my dose was increased | i have been coming off it for last two weeks, from 225mg, down now to 75mg, and i am feeling like my old self. i am waiting for these dreadful side effects i have read about to kick in, but at the moment i feel so much better than i did two weeks ago. | F | 53 | 8 months | 6/4/2007 | 5 | Panic Disorder, Depression, Anxiety | Goofy happiness in the beginning, temporary lowering of sex drive, shakiness | I take 225 mg. of Effexor XR. It's the best anti-depressant I've ever taken. I took Lexapro once and it majorly screwed me up. Paxil made me gain weight, and Prozach interfered with my sleep and didn't seem to do much. I'm comfortable with this drug. | F | 26 | 1 years | 6/5/2007 | 5 | PMDD, DEPRESION, ANXIETY | When I started it I hated it constapation,dry mouth , sex issues,insomnia, and tired. | It saved my life I had suiccidal thoughts horrible pms anxiety. at first taking I thought this is almost as bad as all my syptoms my dr. convinced me to stay with it and treat my syptoms stool softner wich I only took for short time. I now take it at bedtime because first 4 hours make me tired but at night I would have insomnia so now I take at night with ambien to sleep past 3 A.M. if I dont use the ambien I am like a alarm clock everynight and not able to get back to sleep. Its the only way I feel like a normal person cant live with out it I take 225mg. for about 2 years now. | F | 41 | 2 years | 6/5/2007 | 4 | depression, anxiety, social anxiety | I didn't really experience any side effects... I had a headache that lasted about a week. I also had dizziness and exhaustion, but those went away in a couple of days. | This has done wonders for my extreme sensitivity and irritability. Anxiety and social anxiety virtually gone. But skipping a dose is BAD. Headaches, nausea, exhaustion... Along with mood swings, irritability, etc. It's basically all the symptoms I experienced before I started taking it. Except for the physical ones | F | 22 | 6 months | 6/5/2007 | 3 | depression w/ psychosis | weight gain (75lbs.), dry mouth, irritability, spaciness, massive brain shivers (shocks) if missed dose. | I was originally taking 450 mg. and came down to 300 mg. on my own which is not recommended in the slightest. The brain shocks every time you turn your head and the raging at others makes me want to take out a fatwa on my psychiatrist for ever suggesting this drug. However, it did help my depression and should be used as a medication of last resort. | M | 35 | 5 years | 6/5/2007 | 3 | poor sleep & depression/anxiety | initially dry mouth, slight nausea. terrible "brain zaps" if I forgot the daily dose of 75mg. after some months I recognised muscle weakness and sore joints, especially finger joints which would swell a little. Also although I had stayed the same weight for 16 years I have put on 6kg and think it will be difficult to shift. After 12 months (recommended time by doctor to take this drug) I asked to go off it - nearly 3 months in and phasing down to half dose of 37.5mg every second day for the last month I am still getting horrid brain zaps, muscle weakness, headaches, nausea and I noticed a weakening of my eyesight while on this drug. the side effects of Effexor far outweighed the initial benefit I received by taking it. I would not recommend it to anybody. | It might not be addictive but the side effects are insidious and really affect your lifestyle. Exercise is supposed to help elevate your mood, Effexor can limit your ability to exercise due to the muscle weakness and sore joints some people can suffer. | F | 48 | 12 months | 6/6/2007 | 2 | depression, anxiety | This drug was wonderful in the beginning. It worked that way for approx 4 months and slowly started to lose its effectiveness. | WITHDRAWING FROM THIS DRUG IS AWFUL. I feel sorry for those in the future that choose to do so. I am an intelligent woman and I am not kidding when I say how sick I feel coming off this drug. I take 150 mg and my doctor advised me to take it every other day for 1 week and then every 3rd day the second. He advised to continue the 150 mg, which amazed me conidering every testimony I read claimed docs insist on cutting dosage down by half each week. The worst side effect I am experiencing is these so called "brain shocks" or better known as the worst possibly dizziness you can feel, x1000!!! Other withdrawals include and not limited to: frequent bowel movements, constant nausea, blurry vision (I was wrong when I thought mine could not get any worse), severe depression (worse than before I started taking the drug for depression!), etc.... I would really consider NOT taking this drug ever, no matter how bad you feel. It is only a quick fix and the withdrawal hell is not worth th | F | 30 | 6 months | 6/6/2007 | 3 | major Depression | hard to stop taking it! But had fewer side effects than Prozac. | F | 50 | 8 years | 6/7/2007 | 5 | Depression and anxiety | Electrical sensations in limbs when missed dose. Night sweats. Increased energy. | I have done well on Effexor, however it is an extremely hard medication to discontinue. I have been on 150mg for about a year. I noticed an immediate improvement in my energy level and mood. Things are still well, as long as I don't miss a dose. I get tingly, electrical feelings in my limbs and a slight euphoric feeling. Nothing painful or anything, just irritating. Also when I tried to get off the medication, I had severe mood swings; very agitated. | F | 24 | 1 days | 6/8/2007 | 5 | Severe psychotic depression | First few tablets some nausea, lack of sexual feeling/no orgasm at first then this improved a good bit after a few weeks. | I did fine except for the side effects. I had no trouble whatsoever giving it up. I was on 225 mg ER per day. I dropped one then 2 months later the other then 2 months later started taking one every second day then stopped. No problem, we dont all get withdrawal. It was fine. | F | 42 | 2.5 years | 6/8/2007 | 2 | Depression, anxiety | Dizziness, nauseousness, confusion, forgetfulness. | I took EffexorXR 75 mg. for 5 months and started having bad confusion and forgetfulness. My doctor said it was the EffexorXR and if I wanted to get off of it and try something else I could. I wanted to try life without relying on antidpressants so dr. said to take Effexor every other day for a week and then quit. That landed me in the ER. I was so dizzy I couldn't see straight. I was having massive hot flashes too. Thought something was horribly wrong with me but they said Effexor is very hard to get off of and the symptoms were most likely from it. Dr. said I needed to come off Effexor slower. I dropped down to 37.5 mg. and I've been taking it every 36 hrs. for 5 days and now I'm doing it every 48 hrs. for 5 days and then quit completely. I am still so dizzy it is almost impossible to function, hot all the time, and nauseous. The withdrawal symptoms have been horrible. I'm really angry that my Dr. would prescribe a medication that ultimately would be so hard to get off of. I pretty mu | F | 35 | 5 months | 6/8/2007 | 5 | Depression | Mild stomach upset first few weeks. at 150mg, I was fatigued, and if I missed a dose, I could always tell by afternoon, as I'd begin to feel wierd and have "brain zaps". | For me a small dose of 75 mg per day works better than the higher doses. Helps sustain remission of my depression and avoids problems of higher doses. | F | 45 | 2 years | 6/9/2007 | 5 | anxiety/substance abuse | slight fatigue, clitoral priapism (treatable) | Changed my life! Had SEVERE anxiety, panic disorder, OCD, and some depression since I was born. Started to abuse Vicodin to control it, and it escalated from there to oxycontin. Two and a half weeks on 300 mg, and I truly am free of this demon. 28-day rehab and NA meetings help keep me clean also, don't get me wrong, but I could not stay clean without Effexor XR. Thank you!!!! Don't give up! There's hope and happiness if you find the right medication for yourself! | F | 24 | 2 weeks | 6/9/2007 | 1 | depression, anxiety | shock sensations in my head, profuse sweating, lack of libido along with difficulty reaching orgasm, no relief from depression and mood swings, suicidal thoughts. | Effexor didn't help my symptoms of depression at all. I was still a wreck. My psychiatrist kept wanting to raise the dosage rather than switch medications, and finally had me up to the maximum dosage. With the increased dosages came increased sweating, increased shock sensations, yet no relief from the depression. Withdrawal was ABSOLUTE HELL! I'm no longer on an anti-depressant. After trying zoloft (massive weight gain), paxil (zombie-like), wellbutrin (allergic reaction), effexor was the last straw. I'd rather just deal with it than go through side effects like that. | F | 24 | 2 years | 6/9/2007 | 1 | depresson | weight gain, insomnia, mood swings | I am trying to wean myself off this drug it sucks i am dizzy lightheaded and nervous..... i went from 75 mg to 37.5 it has only been 3 days and it is really bad... but i am not going back i can only hope for the best. | F | 31 | 1 years | 6/9/2007 |