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 Gender with females listed first (reviews with no gender reported listed before females). 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/Anxiety | ZONKED OUT for the first 2 weeks while getting used to my 75mg dose. I've always had a very high sex drive but now climax is next to impossible (and COMPLETELY impossible once I was upped to 150mg). While on 75mg, I could miss a doce and be ok, but after 2 days (or just 1 day while on 150mg), severe dizziness/vertigo, fatigue and inability to focus. Weight gain of about 30 lbs., constant cravings and unable to control my cravings. | It really was a saving grace. I can funtion like a normal person, and am back to being ME (albeit a slightly larger me). Problems are still there but do not overwhelm me like they used to, and am able to control racing thoughts. As long as I don't miss a dose, I'm good! | F | 27 | 1 years | 5/22/2008 | 4 | Anxiety / Major Depression | First 3 weeks were awful. I had pretty much every side effect, dizziness, extreme nausea, my gag reflex was in overdrive i couldnt brush my teeth some days, sweating, crazy dreams, no sex drive etc. but on the plus side my anxiety had gone. | Anxiety is pretty much gone, and its like i woke up from depression like it was a bad dream. Im more motivated, went from doing NOTHING And hardly leaving house to reenrolling in university and searching for a job. Side affects all come back back even if im like 2 hours late in taking a dose which is bad but my fault. Mysex drive is still pretty low and i have difficutly having orgasms during sex which sucks but all in all im pretty happy. | F | 22 | 2 months | 1/22/2010 | 4 | I worried about things | Everything was great on it...trying to wean myself off of it is a different story. I have tried twice and I get so dizzy that I can't function. Needless to say, I'm still on it. So afraid to try quitting it again... | F | 38 | 2 years 37.5 | 12/27/2013 | 4 | depressing | none | none | F | 42 | 3 years | 12/31/2009 | 4 | general anxiety | increased dreams, weight gain, reduced anxiety | the very first week I started I noticed an incredible sense of relaxedness. i remember this vividly but it didn't last. i ended up on 300 mg for most of my time on this drug. recently i saw my doctor and he felt that i shd try something different maybe due to the improvement re anxiety but the problem re OCD. Not OCD in the typical sense of locking doors etc but in the emotional and mental aspect of the worrying etc. So I have tapered off and am now completely off the Effexor XR. Started on prozac when i got down to 75mg of the EffexorXR. My biggest comment is this: that I had hardly any of the horrible symptoms that others describe in trying to get off Effexor - thankfully! Just to let others know that not everyone has a hard time getting off of this drug; and I was at the full 300 mg. | F | 48 | 3 years | 12/23/2009 | 4 | Depression/anxiety | On start up, when increasing the dose, and when reducing the dose: dizziness, headache, mild nausea. THe dizziness was uncomfortable but none of the side effects was unbearable. They went away each time after about 4 days. I found that if I forgot or delayed my dose (normally taken at breakfast), I would have dizziness and a headache by about 2pm. I also noticed once I stopped taking it that my skin cleared up, so I guess it may have caused a small amount of acne?? Not sure about that one! Of all of the antidepressants I've tried, this one had the most bearable side effects on start up. | I was on Efexor XR for about 3 years, most of the time on a dose of 300mg per day. It definitely helped with my depression and anxiety. I read a lot of horror stories about withdrawal symptoms, but in the end they were a bit of an anticlimax. I tapered pretty slowly - 150mg for about 6 months, then 75mg for a month, then 37.5mg for a couple of weeks, then I opened the capsules and took 1/2 for about a week, then I divided the little spherules into 3 piles, and did this for about a week. When I stopped, I got that annoying dizziness for 2-3 days, then on and off for another 3-4 days. Not really bad at all. | F | 33 | 3 years | 12/12/2009 | 4 | Depression/Anxiety/no motivation! | I was on 150mg. for several years after starting with the 37.5mg. It was not until I weaned from 150 to 37.5 that I started having trouble. I didn't realize just how much it did help! For several months after weaning I started having horrible sweating spells. My mind wasn't sharp and things didn't look as clear as they once did. I could be standing somewhere and I'd start sweating with beads of sweat pouring off my temples, forehead, and down my back. I felt anxious and had no desire to go out and about. I began thinkng there must be something horribly wrong with me or I had thyroid issues going on because no one around me was sweating. After my blood work came back normal, I sat down with my doctor and talked more about the sweating. He seems to think it's because I'm on a very low dose of Effexor (after being on 150mg and going down to 37.5. He suggested I go back up to 75mg because when I was on a higher dose, I never had this profuse sweating thing going on, and I didn't feel as an | I'd like to hear more positive comments on Effexor! I tried Cymbalta and became suicidal! Cymbalta is definately not the right medication for me, even though it helps a lot of other people. It's trial and error, what works for some, may not work with others! | F | 58 | 4 years | 9/3/2009 | 4 | Anxiety, Depression, Panic Disorder | Mild nausea, drowsiness during the day, but can't sleep at night, constipation, blurry vision, decreased appetite, difficulty urinating. | Overall the side effects haven't been too bad. I have recently tried several SSRIs with horrible side effects which is weird because those are supposedly the best tolerated. My depression has lifted tremendously since starting this drug (only on 37.5 mg), the anxiety and panic is still lingering but it seems to be improving. I am still taking Xanax once a day. The nausea is a little bothersome, hopefully it will subside soon. This is probably one of the better antidepressants out there. | F | 20 | 5 days | 9/6/2009 | 4 | Depression | Gained 60 pounds in 1.5 years. | First antidepressant that ever worked for me. It helped me get through business failure, divorce,& bankruptcy with a smile on my face. | F | 59 | 10 years | 8/13/2009 | 4 | Depression, Panic Attacks , Aniexty | Loss sex drive; weight gain; night sweats; nightmares; muscle twitches and jerky when sleeping; ( miss a dose i get depression or panic attack- sometimes withdraw symptoms) | I take Effexor with the combination of YAZ for PMDD and it has worked for the best. I don't want to switch medicines again since I have been on quite a few- Prozac, Zoloft and Lexapro and also I am afraid of what the withdraw symptoms would be like. | F | 33 | 4 years | 8/25/2009 | 4 | Severe Depression | Decreased Libido | Have been taking Effexor XR for 9 years. I was suicidal before I started taking it. I take 150 mg once daily. I couldn't survive without it. | F | 42 | 9 years | 6/26/2009 | 4 | Depression/Anxiety | Dilated pupils, nausea, chills, dizziness, "brain zaps" and muscle spasms/tremors. | I've alternated between Zoloft, Celexa, and Seroquel for the past 7 years. This seems to work the best. Experienced all symptoms at their fullest upon first use. After about 6 weeks of getting used to the 150mg/day dose, I felt fine. Days I forgot to take my dose were miserable-- same nausea and chills as before. | F | 17 | 9 months | 7/13/2009 | 4 | depression, agitation/anxiety | fatigue( which got a better by switching the dose to morning rather than at night); some sexual dysfunction (reduced sensation or difficulty achieving orgasm, but not nearly as bad as with SSRIs); WITHDRAWAL CAN BE FRIGHTENING | This drug gave me calm and focus in a way no other antidepressant has. I still think back on it because treatments since (for mixed diagnoses of depression, ADD, or possible bipolar) are getting me nowhere. I quit Effexor twice abruptly, as is not recommended, and it was scary. (First I quit when I discovered I was pregnant, and next because sexual side effects got worse after trying it again after other SSRIs and mood stabilizers). It's not the weird brain "zaps" and "tracking" that are troublesome with discontinuation--those go away--but the immediate plunging into a severe instability and nervous collapse, resulting in a greater depression to dig oneself out of. When I am tempted to go back down that road, I recall that is has no easy escape. this could be a good medication option, but I think my diagnosis is inconclusive anyway (it's all trial and error; I think I am Aspergers with depression and irritability/anxiety and ADHD, but this can look like bipolar so n | F | 35 | 2 years | 8/23/2008 | 4 | anxiety/depression | at first loss of appitite and after that none to speak of | I have tried all types of antidepressants:paxil, prozac, zoloft, trizadone and everyone of them failed to do anything except make me feel like crap. Next I tried effexor and actually it was working wonderfully for me for a little over 6 months. Unexpectedly I got pregnant and was told to disconinue immediately (no tapering off) and unlike everyone else has said I actually didn't have any withdrawal, except the occasional "head zap" feeling. I was on 225 mg daily. Recently went back to the doc to ask to be put back on it, instead he gave me pristiq, which I hear is almost identical to effexor. Can't find much info on it however, anybody taken pristiq? | F | 24 | 8 months | 8/23/2008 | 4 | anxiety | during the first few months the anxiety continued until the drug set in. | I really like this drug. Still have some anxiety, but I am much better on the drug than off. The only disadvantage of this drug that i have found is that it is very expensive. | F | 23 | 1 years | 8/12/2008 | 4 | depression, anxiety, menopause | This medication saved my life during life events that were beyond my control. Trying to come off of the medication is very difficult. I am having "brain shivers", "watermelon head", weight gain, etc. I was taking 75mg for almost 2 years. Dropped to 37.5 mg but having trouble coming completely off. | F | 52 | 2 years | 7/30/2008 | 4 | Depression, social anixety | I took this about 5 yrs ago and while taking it I had a period of dry mouth, I also was almost numb I was in school at the time and could not stay focused on my work. I had no real emotions just whatever. I felt empty inside but at that time I kinda liked it :) | It helped over all with depression, I stoped taking it after about a year no side affects. I just started thinking about taking it again when I came across this site, I have a friend that is Deeply depressed and I am recommending it to her. | F | 24 | 1 years | 8/11/2008 | 4 | social anxiety and depression | Ringing in the ears, dizzyness, headache. | It does what it's supposed to do, but makes me dumb and ditzy in the process. | F | 20 | 2 years | 7/24/2008 | 4 | depression/anxiety | loss of sex drive, anorgasmia, numb genitals, flatulance, yawing (went away) | This drug helped with depression. I stopped because the sex side effects were getting to be a bummer. I've been engaged to be married, and for this whole year have been unable to ennjoy sex. It's like I've got an epidural. This is where I will stress that people take caution, and please email me if you have feedback: I went off the drug to prepare for my wedding/honeymoon, and get my sex0life back. I have been off the meds for 1.5 months and the siden effects have not gone away. I am mortified that this is permanent and it is extremely frustrating. Please share your thoughts if you have any experience with this issue. | F | 31 | 1 years | 6/14/2008 | 4 | Depression | At first, side effects were pretty numerous...vivid dreams, night sweats, loss of appetite, nausea, etc. After a few months, the only problem I've really had is headaches. | I've read so many negative comments about this drug but it has really worked well for me. I was depressed for years but left it untreated. Tried Zoloft first but had no reaction. I honestly felt better after taking Effexor for only a few days. I can live with a few side effects as long as it cures my depression...:-) | F | 29 | 9 months | 7/18/2008 |