EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR XR with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
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 | My pupils are dilated and which is probably the cause of the headache I got the first day too. Slight jaw-clenching but I do that on my own anyways. | I've been on 35mg for a few days now and my energy and motivation have both sky rocketed! If I feel this good on 35s I can't imagine what 75s will be like. Also, I have noticed that I am not as nervous in social situations as used to be. | F | 22 | 3 days | 2/14/2008 | 4 | depression, anxiety | Insomnia at first then chronic fatigue, loss of appetite then normal appetite, terrible nightmares then odd dreams, headaches, nausea, blurred vision, constipation, shakiness, light-headedness, dry mouth. | I have been on and off the drug for 5 years. It was different each time because I started when I was 15 and I was changing so much during those years. It helped with depression and anxiety, though it does make me feel apathetic sometimes. The side effects are different each time, except for the weird dreams. I have been on 150mg for 2 months. I felt invincible at first, but now it is less effective. The worst side effect is definately the fatigue. This drug really alters your brain. It is dangerous if you are not careful. | F | 20 | 4 times | 1/31/2008 | 4 | General Anxiety Disorder, Depressio | For the first 2 weeks I was very nauseated. TAKE WITH FOOD!!! The first week as AWFUL! No sex drive, delayed orgasm, dizzyness, very tired, very sick. After a few weeks it wore off and I felt better for the first time in YEARS. | I have since had to increase my doseage (doctors told me this would happen) from 75mg to 125mg. Seriously, if you can get through the first few weeks (I actually had to miss a few days of work because of how sick it made me), it's well worth it. The first few days I felt 'high' - not a care in the world and had the dizzyness and blurred vision to go with it. As I said, after the fest few days, that wore off. After the first few weeks, I felt normal again. DON'T MISS A DOSE!!! Awful headaches, blurred vision, lack of coordination, etc. | F | 23 | 8 months | 1/24/2008 | 4 | Depression | sweats. loss of sex drive. Really sucks when you forget a dose. | Wanto to get off. Tried once. had t get back on. It does what it needs to do, but I wonder , at what expense? | F | 30 | 4 years | 1/23/2008 | 4 | Anxiety | The first 2 weeks: even more anxiety, but now, I'm just much much more sensitive to caffeine and I'm a "very cheap drunk". No other side effects. | It works for me, I feel much better now (been on 150 mg/d for 6 months). | F | 26 | 8 months | 1/23/2008 | 4 | Post Partum Depression w history | Nausea, a lil. brain "zapping" pressure, restless jaw (teeth wanting to grind) and HAPPINESS | Ive only been on it for 1 day and was a little naucious this morning and my jaw has been wanting to clench down. I started 37.5mg and in a week Ill be jumping to 75mg. I was so scared to take it that I delayed it because I read all the comments on this site. So I finally made to decision to start it and hope for the best and it seems like not too many side effects are going to get me. Haha. Im excited to start this drug and pray for a normal life once again. Ive had a miscarriage with twins and full term pregnancy in the past 1 1/2 year, husband in the Marine Corps always gone and lots of moving... I pray that this helps and I can overcome my depression and anxiety. Ill make another rating in a month,,, hope this helps someone | F | 23 | 1 days | 1/30/2008 | 4 | Depression | First two weeks: dry mouth, insomnia, nausea Now: weight gain | I am a happy person on Effexor. (150 mg) Before taking it, I had horrible mood swings, depression, thoughts of helplessness and suicide. I now feel happy and optomistic about my future. The only complaint that I do have is weight gain. I have gained significant weight while taking effexor but cannot say it is entirely from the med. Alot is also from going from being very active to less active and a sweet tooth plus stress eating. Although I am not glad about my weight gain, it is far better than living under the black cloud of depression. I did try Welbutrin, but it did absolutely nothing for me and felt like I was not taking anti-depression medication at all, so went back on Effexor. My dr did suggest that I not take my 75 mg dose in the afternoon and see if it helps with weight loss. I thought I would have side effects from missing the dose, but so far I have not. Too soon to tell if it is helping with weight loss. | F | 44 | 7 years | 1/19/2008 | 4 | Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic | Somewhat decreased sex drive. Felt very "high" in the beginning, and after increasing dosage. No other side effects until I stopped taking it. | I took this drug for 8 years, in varying doses from 37.5mg to 150 mg. It worked great until about 6 months ago, when it simply stopped working. My doctor said that this occassionally happens, as your brain chemistry can change for a number of reasons. So with his help, we began weaning me off the Effexor. I dropped from 150 mg to 75 mg without substantial side effects. When I dropped from 75mg to 37.5, all hell broke loose. I experienced this weird brain zap, where it felt like an electrical current was bouncing around in my head. I had severe panic attacks; way worse than when I was initially diagnosed. I suffered from heart palpitations and horrendous headaches. My doctor prescribed Lexapro while I attempted to drop from 37.5 to zero. I was evil to everyone near me in the morning, and cried for no reason every night. He put me back on 37.5, removed the Lexapro, and added Prozac. Then I went to Effexor XR on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only, with Prozac daily. Then I went to Effexo | F | 29 | 8 years | 1/10/2008 | 4 | MDD and GAD | 75mg: excessive sleepiness, shakey 150mg: excessive sleepiness, shakey, trouble concentrating 225mg: excessive sleepiness, feeling out-of-body (that's extremely scary.) | F | 19 | 6 months | 1/18/2008 | 4 | Depression & Anxiety | Constipation, Cold Sweats during sleep | The first SSRI I took was Zoloft, which only worked for a few months (I ended up having "poop out" - a syndrome that most people on the bipolar spectrum experience) - the constipation was so bad, I could barely stand it & the drug stopped working for me. Effexor XR has been really useful. I currently take 187.5 mg and have been on it for 4 years. I have missed a dose a couple times and it's not fun (panic attacks, extreme irritability) - it's best not to miss a dose. About a year ago, I went down to 150 mg and was so irritable I had to go back up. I exercise 3-4 days/week and eat healthy foods, but there is a good chance I will be on this drug for a long time - maybe that's scary, maybe not? What I do know is that I am much happier and less anxious since taking Effexor. I also take it with lithium - as a mood stabilizer, which has been a good combination for me. | F | 32 | 4 years | 1/18/2008 | 4 | depression/nerve pain | I was initially on Effexor and slowly got up to 100 mg a day. Was on this for several years, had back surgery and wanted to quit Effexor because I was no longer depressed or in pain. Withdrawal was very, very difficult as many here state. I ended up staying on a maintenance dose of half of a 37.5 mg tablet. After a year or so on this I had more spinal problems and related nerve pain. Upped the Effexor to 75 mg without much pain relief. I now switched to XR 150 mg for the past six months. I have lots of neck problems (DDD, herniation, stenosis, etc) so I thought the severe pain in my hands and arms was the result of that. HOwever, in thinking about when the pain increased, I realized that it coincided with my switch to a higher dose and XR. To compound the problem, I was put on Diovan 160 mg for high blood pressure at the same time. So I don't really know if the increase in pain is related only to the Effexor XR or Diovan also. | Overall, Effexor did very well relieving my depression. It helped keep migraines at bay and I had tolerable, minimal side effects. But getting off of this drug is really nasty. I had to d/c my meds a few days before a neck myelogram and had a very bad reaction to the lack of Effexor in my system. My pain increased tremendously and I was a basket case emotionally with crying, etc. I had to go back on the Effexor and make an appointment with my prescriber to find something to cover me for when I have the myelogram. I had the "typical" brain zaps and odd brain feeling, dizziness, anxiety. I would love to d/c this drug forever once my neck problems have been taken care of. | F | 52 | 7 years | 2/8/2008 | 4 | Anxiety, depression | Mildly bored and apathetic. | Don't let some reports of horrible withdrawal symptoms prevent you from trying a very safe medication that is extremely useful for many people. I felt the withdrawal symptoms if I missed a dose big-time - but big deal. And trust me, I felt them - the electric shock sensations - but they're nothing to be afraid of and I have severe panic disorder! You'd think a person with panic attacks would fear these sensations immensely, but if I can deal with them, anyone can. And when you do withdraw completely, it has to be done very slowly, like I did, and I barely felt any of those sensations because it was done properly. When I took it, I felt like a really calm, functioning human being - maybe two panic attacks in two and a half years of taking it. Now, since I quit taking it almost six months ago, my panic attacks are back - daily panic attacks. Effexor worked really well for me and I am going to go back on it because I know it helps with my panic and anxiety symptoms. It is definitely worth | F | 29 | 2 years | 1/17/2008 | 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 | 4 | anxiety | serious digestive problems at first but they disappeared within 5 days | I know stopping it will be difficult but I'll take the necessary time whether it's 3, 6 or 12 months. The drug is the only thing that allowed me to function for the past few years. | F | 41 | 1000 days | 1/5/2008 | 4 | depression; anxiety | decreased appetite, blurred vision, problems orgasming. | This drug has helped me a great deal so far. I feel much more uplifted and happy throughout the day. But, if you skip a dose, you do feel it, and it's not a great feeling at all. | F | 19 | 4 weeks | 12/21/2007 | 4 | PMS , postpardum (sp?) depression | NO sex drive, NO emotions | This drug did help with my PMS and it did get me over the huge hurdle of going back to work after my daughter was born. I was afraid to be without it, but have decided recently that two years is enough and I need to learn to deal with life on my own. Now that I have been reading this message board and others I think that I had more side effects than I thought. Joint pain, weight gain, and exhaustion being a couple of them. The withdrawal is HORRIBLE! Brain zaps, dizziness, slight nausea, exhaustion, etc, etc. I would not recommend it to anyone. If you feel you need some help dealing with life, do your research before you go on any prescription drug. | F | 33 | 2 years | 12/18/2007 | 4 | depression/chemical inbalance | dont remember the initial ones but now it's lack of sex drive, sweats, weight gain terrible headaches when i forget a dose | it's only recently that i have put it together that the weight gain i've experienced could be from this medication and also the total lack of sex drive could be as well! i'm on a mission to switch from this med. I have been on for a few years and been up to 225mg. it has helped me with my mood and keeping me on an even level but if i would forget that dosage by the end of the day i was worthless and in bed to sleep off the major headache and dizziness that was happening. i have had my dosage reduced to 150 and so far so good but i'm trying to be more aware of my body and how i react to things now. i want to change to wellbutrin to try and get some sex drive back before my husband leaves me | F | 32 | 5 years | 1/4/2008 | 4 | depression | fatigue and night sweats. Small white slow release balls in stools. this was alarming until i was told it is a side effect. | Very good, but don't forget a day. | F | 40 | 8 months | 12/6/2007 | 4 | anxiety | loss of apetite, weight loss, digestion difficulties | Before taking effexor I was suffering from severe physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. This included sweating, increased heart rate, constantly feeling like something bad was going to happen, problems breathing, increased stomache acid etc. I have not been on effexor for very long however already I have noticed an improvement. I no longer have problems breathing and I am motivated again. ( i had lost motivation for anything entirely). I am faced with digestion issues and a lack of apetite in result of taking this medication. However because my anxiety is under control currently I am beginning to truly live my life once more and I feel that the positives of this medication out weighs the negative by far. | F | 17 | 42 days | 12/3/2007 |