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 |
| 4 | depression and anxiety | crazy dreams!!! very sleepy and tired sometimes, loss of appetite, increased sex drive comes and goes, neck pain, random headaches, constupated, thirsty, other then that much happier, funnier and caring! | havent cried in a year, no deep emotions...but the worrying and stress is completely gone! 150 mg a day, dont eat as much lost a bit of weight. get really horny at times! amazing dreams but really messed up! trouble waking up in the morning, lots of naps. pretty happy with it lets see how it goes! overall back to my happy self... | F | 25 | 1 years | 11/8/2008 | 3 | panic disorder, major depression | i am now on 300 mg. extremely tired, hot flashes, and sweating all night. can not miss one dose, or i have extreme side effects, disoriented, crazy sleep and feeling like i can't wake up, tingling fingers.... | i am so relieved to not have panic attacks any more, but i am not comfortable with all the side effects. instead of feeling controlled by anxiety, i now feel controlled by effexor. | F | 30 | 10 months | 11/11/2008 | 4 | F | | 11/17/2008 | 4 | depression | constipation, aching muscles in both legs and fatigue | M | 20 months | 11/17/2008 | 1 | Anxiety | Let's see, I became extremely social and talkative. I went from being shy and quiet to very talkative, obsessed with socializing and talking to just about everyone I knew. I shared personal, random and weird things with tons of people. I gained weight even though I exercised every day. I did an hour of treadmill every day and still gained weight. I became manic and talkative, my sex drive went up. I was obsessed with partying and socializing and became very manic. I just kept talking about random things and became overly friendly. I became so annoying and when I went off, I was like a different person. It did relieve the anxiety, but it turned me into this manic, psycho social person. After getting off it, it took a very long time to lose the weight, lots of exercising and dieting to be skinny again. I was all into socializing, partying, I would talk about the weirdest most random stuff to people. It's so embarrassing. | My personality changed completely on Effexor and I said and did so many embarrassing things. I feel like a fool and am so humiliated. Everyone noticed how manic I acted on Effexor and I feel like it just put this new person into my body. It caused this severe personality alteration. Everyone I met on Effexor thought of me in a completely different way then people I met before and after Effexor. I was on some other drugs at the time, though. Effexor has led to many embarrassing situations and revelations after getting off it. I was talking about the most random things on it and just became way over the top. It took away some moments in my life I will never get back. When I got off it I became a totally different person, it was like my old self that I couldn't remember appeared. It's scary stuff. | F | 20 | | 11/18/2008 | 1 | Anxiety | Mania, Hypomania, talkativeness, weight gain even though I did lots of exercise. It takes awhile to lose the weight after you get off it. I exercise a lot every day. Before I was on Effexor I was very shy, while on Effexor I became overly talkative and outgoing and had every symptom of hypomania. I was socializing constantly and became obsessed with socializing. The hypomania lasted the entire time I was on Effexor. I exercised every day, I did an hour of treadmill a day and still gained weight on Effexor. I did and said so many impulsive and embarrassing things while I was on Effexor that I never would have said or done before. The hypomania is very embarrassing after you get off of it and realize what you said and did. | I experienced hypomania for the first time ever on Effexor. It feels great in the moment, but once I got off it, it's really embarrassing looking back at the things I said and did on Effexor. I am so embarrassed now. I was told I was very manic on it and hadn't ever experienced hypomania until Effexor. I am so embarrassed now, I made a total fool of myself on Effexor. | F | 20 | | 11/20/2008 | 3 | Depression | Mania at times, especially when combined with alcohol. Mood swings. Lost effectivness after 8 months | This anti-depressant is not for someone that drinks. I've not had as much problems when taking anti-depressants and alcohol than with this one. Took it as a teen it worked very well and lost effectiveness after a year. | M | 23 | 3 years | 11/25/2008 | 3 | depression | meds relieved my depression but then I began to experience: forgetfulness joint pain sleepy/tired easily confused | meds did relieve my depression but trying to come off of this medication is horrific. I wish I had been told about this particular side effect before I started taking it. | F | 54 | 2 years | 11/28/2008 | 4 | Depression | No real side effects besides a little more lethargy/sleepiness than usual. I only experience a little nausea/dizziness if I miss a dose. | Has worked relatively well and is the only anti-depressant I've been on. I take it at night and any time I miss a dose, I tend to have very vivid dreams and night sweats. Sometimes the sweating gets so excessive that I need to shower in the middle of the night. But again, I only experience this when I forget to take the effexor. | F | 20 | 2 years | 12/1/2008 | 4 | Depressive schizoaffective disorder | Night sweats that soak the pillow and sheets, noticeable loss of sex drive, mild fatigue, very very mild tremors in hands that are rarely noticeable. BUT, if I miss a dose all hell breaks loose. | After trying zoloft and lexapro with little or no relief, I tried Effexor. I didn't really feel that much better until I got up to 225mg. I've been on 300mg for about a year and a half and I'm pretty satisfied. I suffered with severe depression for most of my life and was only diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder 2 years ago. I can honestly say that I haven't felt this good in over 20 years. BUT, since I had gone untreated for so many years, I do not actually know how an average adult is supposed to feel. I guess I'm still mildly depressed but it's a lot better than constant mood swings, rage, paranoia/anxiety, panic attacks with vomiting, crying/screaming until I hyperventilate, constant thoughts of suicide and utter hopelessness and dispair. Only real problem is that I'm completely dependant on this drug and the withdrawal is unbearable. Missing a dose causes constant 'brain zaps' that I can HEAR and feel, dizziness, loss of balance, crazy vivid dreams that I confuse with reality | F | 30 | 2 years | 12/3/2008 | 2 | depression | trouble sleeping-still depressed | This drug didn't help at all. I kept telling my doc that I wasn't feeling a difference but she just kept prescibing it. She always had plenty of samples to give out. I felt like she was "bought" by the drug reps that kept giving her the samples and she was prescibing it for her benefit not mine. The withdrawals were not pretty. Would never ever ever take this again and I found a new doc. Don't be afraid to test the system and tell your doc no, that things aren't working and they aren't listening. | F | 44 | 8 months | 12/7/2008 | 4 | depression/anxiety | loss of appetite and jittery at first - still cannot take it too late in the day or I will not sleep that night. the craziest most vivid dreams. Dry mouth!! slight constipation. I do have high blood pressure, but I can't say if it is caused by the effexor or if it its just genetic | I am very happy with my results from taking this. I have been on 150mg for about 5 years. It has kept me quite stable. In the past year I have been having more mood swings, and bouts of severe depression. I was prescribed 75mg more, I couldn't really tell the difference. Now that winter is again in full swing, I will be taking the extra 75 again. I did try to stop taking it 2 years ago. I was weaned off of it and still experienced the severe withdrawls. Now I know what drug addicts go thru. I would have givin anything for a "fix" of Effexor. I switched to Wellbutrin for about 2 months and never felt right. I had to go back on the effexor. I AM worried I'm an effexor "lifer" at least it works for me and the side-effects are tollerable. | F | 33 | 5 years | 12/12/2008 | 4 | social anxiety disorder/ depression | often tired, intense dreams, higher sex drive | this drug has probably saved my life, i began taking it at the age of 16 when I often felt suicidal and was unable to participate in normal teenage life. I began taking 37.5 mg which went well but when i went to college i had an increase in my anxiety and went up to 75 mg, last year after having some traumatic social experiences i went up to 150 mg which has gone well but I do have a constant internal dialogue questioning how much this medication changes my energy levels and/or sex drive. i continue to take it because i appreciate how moderate it makes my moods. | F | 21 | 7 years | 12/13/2008 | 1 | Major Depression with GAD | mental confusion and weight loss at first, later side effects were fast and large weight gain, acne, severe insomnia, brain zaps, | Well at first this medicine was my knight in shining armor... besides a brief period of slight mental fuzziness and confusion I adjusted well to it in the first 6 or so months I was on it and felt better than I had in years. Then it seemed the low dose stopped working so we went up to the next level and that soon stopped working so we went up to the highest level which worked until my eyes were constantly twitching and I was completely exhausted all of the time. I went back down to the middle dose of 150mg daily and that worked better for a few months.. Now, after a little over a year on this medicine, my weight has ballooned up atleast 50 pounds in 4 or 5 months, I have severe acne mostly on my chin (seems to be a common side effect from my research online), and I was, once again, unable to sleep and yet very tired all of the time and my anxiety was back for the most part and I'm depressed about my weight and the awful pimples. I am so disappointed in this medicine and really wish I'd | F | 21 | 1 years | 12/13/2008 | 5 | axiety, OCD, panic attacks | I was a little manic at first and I dont feel hungry anymore, I guess it's because it controls my axiety. But ih helped me to feel less edgy. | Effexor has been great for me so far, I was suffering from PPD, my life was dark and my problems seemed to be way worst that they really were. Effexor helped me realized that it was just my mind. My OCD is more managable now, I dont go around freaking out and fixing things and cleanning around the house and I no longer haver paranoia. I also sleep better and have more energy to do things. I have been on lexapro before and so far I like effexor better because although lexapro worked for me effexor gives me much more evergy. I'm affraid of the withdrown side effects but every medication will have that. I got into a conclusion that I cannot live without medication anymore and it's just a fact. | M | 2 weeks | 12/17/2008 | 1 | Depression | Now that I've been on it many years I am developing new problems including, liver, substantial weight gain, not being able to work, pressure in my head. And still have some of the old problems night sweats, insomnia, nausea. | This drug is terrible, it has taken my quality of life and my children have lost a healthy mom. My Dr.put me on it to help me cope while my husband was deployed over seas with the military. If you start taking it for any length of time you will have to take it for the rest of your life, approx 2 months ago I tried to go off because I didn't have health insurance and I couldn't afford the scrip. By the 5th day I was in excruciating pain, like someone was sticking my finger in a light socket and electrocuting me. And threw the years I have also had these electrical shocks if I miss a dose. This is bad stuff and no matter what I've tried I go back. I've weaned myself down to 37.5 MG daily. And hoping a solution is found. I personally feel the drug company should be responsible for those wanting to get off. They should have to absorb the cost of an in treatment center where a physician can be present at all times to help you threw the withdrawals. | F | 38 | 7 years | 12/17/2008 | 1 | anxiety | I want to kill myself! I wasn't depressed before | M | 24 | 12 months | 12/21/2008 | 4 | Depression | I have very strange dreams. If I miss 2 days of taking this I experience dizziness/disorentation. I can't seem to get enough sleep. | I have taken zoloft and lexapro in the past with no luck. I have tried a psychologist. I finally went to my family dr. and she prescribed me this. I am only on 37.5mg but it seems to work. My mood has definately improved for the better. I am however very concerned about what will happen if I need to go off of this med. I am currently laid off and have no health insurance and the cost of this meds. is insane. | F | 23 | 9 months | 12/22/2008 | 4 | Major Depression | Sleep issues, also I now have a harsh edge to my inter-action with others. This was attributed to anxiety.. so have a med for that. | Generally seems to doing a good job with mood, though I'm not impressed with the sleep issues (couldn't sleep...so now I have a drug for that). I've also lost about 30lbs.... 240 down to 210lbs. (Not that I complaining on that one). I've been through most of the SSRI's... this SNRI seems to be working .. at least for now. But now you see where once I took 1 med for mood, I now need 3 ..... | M | 50 | 3 years | 12/26/2008 | 1 | Depression/anxiety | I took Effexor in 2004 for Gad/depression, after taking it for a few weeks I was often manic and had some suicidal ideations(usually while driving). The feeling of disconnection from reality was quite intense at times. I believe these drugs are still experimental and should not be widely prescribed yet. The sale of these drugs are an attempt to "cash in" on as wide a variety of mental problems as possible. | Withdrawal from Effexor was one of the strangest experiences I have ever had. It was like there was a electroshock generator installed in my brain which would give me a jolt every 30 seconds or so. Also, random electric flutter throughout my whole body was quite uncomfortable. These were the main symptoms which lasted aprox. 3 weeks after stopping Effexor. I believe taking this medication resulted in long term damage to my nervous system which I still deal with today. I would recommend against taking SSRI drugs unless your symptoms are unable to be controlled by any other means. I think many people who end up taking these drugs would be helped more by a caring counselor/therapist, it's too bad insurance would rather pay for this poison rather than take the time to help people through tough times and feelings in a more humane way. | M | 35 | 5 weeks | 12/27/2008 |