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 |
| 5 | Depression and social anxiety | Should be noted that the side effects have not been sever enough to cause me to stop taking the medication. though i have noticed some. if i take it on an empty stomach i get really nauseous and get a bad headache. if taken late i will not be able to get to sleep. also causes loss of hunger, brings out my eating disorder, inability to cry. dizzy. dialated pupils. but noticeably more social/ outgoing/ friendly/ happy. | it gets the job done! I love it. | F | 20 | 7 years | 12/23/2007 | 5 | Depression | None. | This drug saved my life. I can feel things again. I'm social, I go out and I'm not negative about the world. I have my life back thanks to Effexor. | M | 35 | 11 months | 12/25/2007 | 4 | Depression with anxiety attacks | The worst thing I've had is the nightmares/vivid dreams, almost every night. Very difficult to wake up from them and banish their craziness from my mind. After a while, it becomes very wearing, since the dreams for the most part are so intensely frustrating and repetitious. Totally unlike normal dreams. | Other than the dreams, effexor works for me, especially in eliminating the anxiety attacks, which bother me more than being depressed. I've never taken more than 75 mgs a day, and have had no trouble tapering off, which I do when I have reason to hope that life is going well enough that the depression may be over. When I start back, I notice results in a couple of days for the anxiety attacks, but the depression takes longer to improve. Unfortunately, the dreams are such a problem that I don't want to keep taking this drug indefinitely, so I keep hoping I can get off it and continue to feel well. Maybe someday that will happen. | M | 62 | 6 times | 12/26/2007 | 3 | depression/ocd/anxiety | weight gain | I have been on this for only a few months. while it worked great initially it quit now. (not uncommon with me) but I really did like it when it worked for me. | F | 29 | 3 months | 12/26/2007 | 3 | Fibromyalgia | Constant state of hypomania, insomnia until XR dose started, missed doses result in horrible neurological effects (sensation like bugs crawling in my head, dizziness, headache, somnolence). | I just finished a four week wean from my prescribed dose of 150 mg/day. With each lowered dose, I experienced three days of hell with the neurological effects of lower doses. Took my last dose on xmas day, and this is the absolute worst feeling EVER. As far as Effexor's ability to keep fibromyalgia exacerbations at bay, I was somewhat satisfied, but still had pain regularly but far fewer debilitating bouts where mobility was severely impaired. I've been on this medication for 12 years, and getting off of it has scared me on many levels. A diastolic blood pressure that was regularly >100 mm/hg was in part motivational. My doctor was also concerned about weight gain (particularly in the liver, which now I read happens to some folks who have been on this drug for a number of years) and subsequent elevations in blood glucose levels. It would not have been my choice to go off this medication if the problems it was causing weren't outweighing any potential benefit. Frankly, I miss | F | 40 | 12 years | 12/27/2007 | 1 | depression | Night sweats, inability to focus or concentrate, high blood pressure, the worst side effect are the sensory disturbances (best described as feeling like electrical shocks/impulses in brain, ears, and extremities) | The medicine seemed to help with my depression. HOWEVER due to several factors (developed inability to concentrate/focus while taking drug and blood pressure increased from normal to stage 2 hypertension) my doc and I decided to stop Effexor and try something else. I am on day 6 of weaning off Effexor, and feel terrible!! I can not sleep, the "brain shocks" are terrible, I'm very irritable, and talk like I've had 3 pots of coffee. I would VERY highly recommend researching EFFEXOR WITHDRAWL before taking this drug. Start with the FDA's medwatch, then check out the Effexor Petition for "testimonials" on how good this drug works! | M | 4 | 4 years | 12/28/2007 | 1 | Anxiety | Weight gain >60lbs, seizures, muscle tension, internal bleeding, high blood pressure, worsened anxiety, long-term withdrawal symptoms, took SIX MONTHS to taper. | ********* WORST DRUG EVER!!! NEVER TAKE IT!!!************ | F | 34 | 2 years | 12/28/2007 | 1 | depression | Sleepy, constipated, unable to orgasm, felt "out of body" most of the time. Some improvement in mood but not worth it, at all. Withdrawal is difficult and unpleasant. | Would not recommend this drug to anyone. | F | 48 | 2 months | 12/28/2007 | 5 | Depression/Anxiety | When I first began to take this medication, I experienced insomnia. Thankfully that faded and I am back to normal. No weight gain, no change in appetite, overall I like this medicine. Everyone is different though, I am just thankful that I found something that worked. | Trying to get off of Effexor was a pain though. I had to get back on it. I have heard this from several people. Hopefully I can slowly wean off of it, but I'm still waiting. Right now it is vital that I take it. | F | 25 | 2 years | 12/29/2007 | 4 | Depression | Vivid dreams/nightmares, possibly some tiredness. Some mild effects on discontinuation but nothing too severe, although I did come off it slowly over two or three months. | Greatly improved my depression in a month or so after fluoxetine only gave a slight improvement. Effectiveness seemed to level off after a while and further improvement was slower - another six months until I could start working effectively again. | M | 25 | 9 months | 12/29/2007 | 1 | menstrual irregularities | Eventually put in total arm braces and this KNOWN side effect of Effexor (myalgia) was misdiagnosed as Fibromyalgia. I eventually had ALL the symptoms of Fibromyalgia while taking EFFEXOR and was convinced I had it and would never get better. | When I realized, myself, that the EFFEXOR was causing my illness, under my Dr.'s advice, I stopped it cold turkey. If the drug was not bad enough, the cessation was hell. I lost touch with reality, quit a job I loved, was thrown into bankruptcy. I am convinced Wyeth knows this can happen and has effectively hidden it to continue profits. Today I am off ALL drugs, do not have Fibromyalgia and think Wyeth Labs should be held accountable for the hell this drug has put good people through. | F | 54 | 2 days | 12/30/2007 | 1 | anxiety | Severe depression, suicidal, lightheaded, brain fuzz, almost ruined our family life! | My husband took this and these comments are about him. This drug was a disaster for my husband! He said that it helped his anxiety slightly, but at a huge huge cost, He has never seriously considered suicide except while on this drug. He was lightheaded and had a "fuzzy" mind often, especially if he was late or missed a dose. Any drug that could cause this much depression and does so frequently, and is so hard and dangerous to come off of is dangerous. I would recommend close supervision for anyone taking this, and only take it as a late resort, too much risk. I personally wanted to try to get it off of the market! | M | 28 | 6 months | 12/30/2007 | 1 | Depression | Severe night sweats,3-4 times a night,Major lack of interest in anything, no energy at all,no sex drive, | Don't do it,find something else | F | 38 | 2 years | 12/30/2007 | 1 | mild depression | insomnia/erratic sleep schedule, feelings of exhaustion, extremely vivid/abnormal dreams, weight gain (20+#), feelings of surrealism/disassociation, and brain "zaps" | If at all possible, avoid this treatment!!!! It is very invasive, and has been very difficult to quit. For me, the side affects do not justify any benefits that could be gained. Do yourself a favor, and get several opinions before committing to this potential nightmare! | M | 50 | 3 months | 12/31/2007 | 5 | Depression | Occasional insomnia, jittery or finger tip numbness when a dose is skipped, need to increase dosage over time | This has been a great drug for my depression. I've had no decrease in my sex drive, I've gained no weight, I feel more positive in general and less irritable when on it. Whenever I've missed a dose I know it, but I always associated it with my depression and Effexor as the remedy. It takes a few days to work, but miss once and it hits you hard. As for getting off. I quit cold turkey when I wanted to get pregnant again (I experienced dizziness, numbness in arms and fingers, over all scattered brainness..but it only lasted a few days ) and stayed off it for a year...within weeks of birth I was back on it again and am very happy with the results | F | 35 | 3 years | 1/1/2008 | 4 | depression and anxiety | I had a few side effects in the beginning such as less of an appetite and some sleepless nights but after about two months my body must have adjusted to the medicine and now I am doing just fine and the side effects are gone. | F | 27 | 11 months | 1/2/2008 | 4 | Depression | Yawning at first, no appetite, fatigue, no sex drive. Now that I've been on it for a while, I get random tics when at rest that aren't severe enough to really bother me. My knees shake a bit and my dexterity seem a little impacted going down stairs, but it's worth feeling normal again. | I had pretty mild side effects at first, nothing severe enough to make me want to quit taking it and nothing out of the ordinary. I used to panic while driving, worried about what other drivers thought of me, I couldn't function at work or with my coworkers, I didn't want to get out of bed in the morning. I'm back to feeling totally normal and it's wonderful. Totally worth any of the minor side effects I feel now. My appetite is back and the sexual side effects and fatigue are gone. | F | 22 | 5 months | 1/2/2008 | 3 | Bi-Polar, Anxiety, OCD thinking | chronic constipation, dry mouth, severe weight gain, pituitary tumor, low sex drive | Effexor changed my life for the better and I would recommend it for someone for short term as long as they understand about withdrawals and to taper off of it ever so slowly. I just would not have taken it for 11 years if I had known it causes pituitary tumors. This has not been "officially" determined yet... but I have absolutely no doubt about it. I believe that Effexor unbalanced my endocrine system and that soon we will start hearing about how Effexor causes pituitary tumors. | F | 41 | 11 years | 1/2/2008 | 1 | Gen. Anx. Dissorder, depression | first couple of weeks I had no cares at all, nothing felt good, nothing bothered me, no motivation to even do routine chores..almost no energy...but very different feeling then being depressed and not wanting to do anything. Stomach aches, head aches, loss of appetite,dry mouth | I usually take 225mgs in the A.M.When I missed one day I awoke the next morning and soon had the "head Zaps" mentioned here. Driving to work i realized it had to be that I missed a dose (this is at 4:30 am) I took my dose at 10 a.m.,I had to leave work sick and was in bed by 1pm CRYING, brain zaps, sens. to light, legs and hands zapping, sick to my stomach. THIS MED IS BAD, I hope tapering will go well for me. Thank all for your comments here, good and bad | M | 39 | 10 weeks | 1/2/2008 | 1 | Depression | Sexual Side Effects Horrible. Major Weight gain 35+ lbs. Always tired, never wanted to do anything. Still Depressed. Only in 75mg, couldn't imaging being on a bigger dose. Dizziness, crazy dreams, hard to go to sleep. | This drug is not one I would recommend to anyone. When I stopped taking it, the side effects were devastating. Severe chest pains, mood swings, dizziness, brain zaps, feel like fainting, nervousness, and many more. I will never take this again. I was on it for 10 months. | M | 36 | 10 months | 1/2/2008 |