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 |
| 3 | Depression / anxiety | At 75 mgs migraines for the first week or so. Slight inablilty to orgasm. (took a lot longer but still able to) Increased to 150 mg 7 days ago. Migraines again for the first few days. Back and forth between feeling really tired to feeling extremely energized and different times through out the day. Appetite is completely gone. Ate 1/2 a side salad yesterday and was full. (not normal for me). Sexual side effects have increased. Unable to orgasm, slight loss of sexual desire. | I'm torn. I've tried lexapro, paxil, celexa, wellbutrin and this is the first med that has actually helped me feel better but I don't know if I can deal with the sexual side effects. I'm starting to feel like I'm not myself anymore because of this and I don't want this to affect my relationship. I've been in a great mood and feel so much better but something is definitely missing. I don't want to get to the point where I have no desire because it just doesn't work anymore. Is it at all possible to counteract this side effect? It wasn't as bad on 75 mg but the 150 has seriously improved my mood. | F | 32 | 2 months | 12/18/2006 | 3 | depression | lethargic, unusual vivid dreams, yawning, difficulty reaching orgasm | Sorry - posted 2X, time taken 3 MONTHS, not 3 days.....I was diagnosed with "double depression"....Started on 37.5 mg for about 2 weeks, no change, only very sleepy, missed worked, switched to taking at night, uppped to 75mg for a week or two, helped a little bit, I was at an extremely depressed point in my life before I started and it got me back to my "regular" state of derpression. I am now on 150mg, with hope that is will just get better....my ONLY side effects have been listed, but mainly unusual vivid dreams. My cocern is that I read more negative reviews of effexor than positive and it is really scary - ANYONE HAVE A GOOD EXPERIENCE ON THIS???? | F | 27 | 3 months | 12/11/2006 | 3 | depression | yawning, decrease in appetite, happy urges, sad urges | This is my second time around on this medication. The first time was fabulous. I lost 10 pounds in the first month. I wanted nothing but water. I had to have had at least 2 gallons a water a day. This time, I am not feeling the effects as much. I am not as thirsty as I thought I would be and my appetite seems the same. The main part of my depression is my weight. I am not heavy. I just need to lose about 10 pounds. It just seems to always bring me down. Now I am wandering if taking it the second time around is effecting what it's supposed to do. Any suggestions?? | F | 24 | 10 weeks | 10/8/2007 | 3 | panic attacks | At first, was very happy. Did its job and stopped the panic attacks but the withdrawals are unbearable and can't get off. Please help! | I don't know if anyone on here knows this, but you're not supposed to get pregnant on Effexor XR because it can cause damage to the baby. When my husband and I wanted to start trying the withdrawal symptoms have kept me from being able from getting off. I've felt wierd electrical shocks, extreme fatigue and almost blacking out. This was at 37.5 mg, the lowest I've been told you can go. I've tried tapering for a year! Anyone been through this and actually got off? Appreciate any comments. | F | 28 | 3 years | 7/12/2006 | 3 | depression | Has helped my depression, but I feel disconnected to the world, like I am just floating through it. I could care less about the house, my personal hygiene and health, job , kids. I don't even care if we go out to have fun or not. Frankly I prefer to just lay on the bed all day. I don't sleep, just lay there, but that doesn't bother me-I just don't care about anything. I aksed my doc about it, but he said that was not a side effect. I am going to try once again (for the millionth time) to get off. | it did help the depression but I want to "feel' alive again. | F | 55 | 4 years | 7/17/2006 | 3 | Severe depression, organic based | The withdrawal is exactly what is described. It is unfortunate, but probably quite true that the brain itself changes to adapt to this drug, which in the case of this particular toxin (all psychoactive medications are, theoretically, poisons -- not mine but a Stanford M.D.'s words) -- I have begun the process of accepting that the changes will have some permanent effect, one of which being the inability to be free from the symptoms withdrawal brings with it should I have to stop taking the drug. | I, too, like a few others have been taking effexor xr since it was initially released. In the decade or more of experience I've had, the dose I take daily is 300mg. I don't suffer from high blood pressure. The organic chemistry of my brain leaves me at a disadvantage for producing the right amounts of neurochemicals. Effexor keeps what I make available longer and that's added consistency and stability to my sleep, appetite, movement, etc.. Effexor xr has been the one medicine that has helped but even it has proved to be limited over time. I would not recommend this or any other drug like it to anyone with a mood disorder or any other condition except perhaps one that is already disabling. I am glad it was available as the best choice at the time, but 10 years ago, the doctors dismissed us when first describing the agony of stopping or missing my prescribed dose. They prescribed more drugs to combat obvious 'anxiety' and paranoia. Fortunately, I knew they were just blowing air from whe | F | 37 | 10 years | 1/4/2007 | 3 | axiety - panic attacks | none | just harsh coming off, must do gradually | F | 33 | 2 months | 1/8/2007 | 3 | depression, anxiety | muscle spasms, weird dreams, night sweats in the beginning, anxiety started to increase the longer I was on it, slightly blurred vision, brain and motor skills didn't always work together. | Worked great for my depression and it did increase my appetite some, but it was controllable and very tolerable. I liked Paxil better, but the increase in appetite was impossible to live with. | F | 38 | 45 days | 1/12/2007 | 3 | Depression | Heavy sweating - weight gain of 38lbs, diagniosed with hypothyroidism since taking it | F | 44 | 18 months | 9/13/2004 | 3 | Depression | Nausea in morning, Dizziness, Heart rate increases quickly with exertion, occasional head rush, most distressing aspect is foggy thinking - sluggish thoughts | I am only on 37.5 mg of Effexor XR and have taken it for 6 days. The first day I was extremely nauseous and almost fainted when lifting a heavy object. Since then, it has improved my mood greatly but I think this is due to my inability to think about many things at once...my slowed mindset has prevented excessive worrying which caused my feeling sad and pessimistic in the first place. Unfortunately, I am being told by my physician that I am going to be gradually increased to 150mg/day since this is the typical treatment regime. I am nervous about this as I am uncomfortable with the loss of my cognitive capacity with this drug. This is the first time I have been treated medically for depression and I have not been diagnosed by a specialist. | F | 34 | 6 days | 9/15/2004 | 3 | DEPRESSION/ANXIETY | INTENSE JAW PAIN, TREMORS, INSOMNIA, LACK OF SEXUAL DESIRE, DRY MOUTH, MOOD SWINGS | F | 45 | 6 months | 8/4/2004 | 3 | Depression | Sleepy all the time and have put on weight, but not sure if either of these can be directly connected to the drug. | F | 28 | 1 years | 8/1/2004 | 3 | Depression | Complete loss of interest in sex, weight gain, inability to feel full, extremely bad withdrawal symptoms | I definitely had less depression and anxiety, but I felt so neutral I didn't really care about anything. Also, I never felt full when I ate, and now that I'm off, I'm having difficulty losing the weight. | F | 33 | 3 months | 7/27/2004 | 3 | anxiety; severe panic attacks | loss of sex drive, nervousness, sweating | this drug has helped my panic attacks about 95%. it seems to have helped with anger issues and depression as well. but, if i forget to have my prescription refilled and can't get it for a couple of days... then that's when it gets really bad. minor effects: irritabilty; insomnia, etc. major side effects: displacement; short-term memory loss; | F | 24 | 3.5 years | 7/7/2004 | 3 | anxiety and depression | Side effects were constipation, sweating in my sleep,insomnia while I was on the medication. When I was coming off was living hell! Dizziness,shocking sensation when I moved,nausiated and weight gain, crying and moodiness!!! | Effexor was a bandaid for a short period of time. My body stopped reacting to it after a while and I had to up my dose. After my dose was uped my body felt like it was in a tunnel and so I just knew it was not the medication for me. My husband said I was like a zomby yet others say i was easier to get a long with. To be frank I wish I had never even been on this medication I feel like it has messed me up emotionally and medically. I now have shocking or ping sensations that won't go away!!! I would research other medications before using this one! | F | 23 | 12 months | 7/2/2004 | 3 | Depression | i felt completly drunk most of the time i was on it. it aslo eliminated my sex drive. also there were headaches, weird dreams, jaw pain, loss of appititte, and i didn't really care about anything anymore, but i wasn't depressed. | its did stop my depression, but that's only because it stopped me from caring about anything. so i guess it worked, but the side affects were too strong to handle, so i stopped taking it. Little did i know the withdrawl was worse. i became violent, anrgry and hostile towards friends. although it worked, i wouldn't recommend it. | F | 19 | 2 weeks | 6/29/2004 | 3 | stress, pms, ibs, sleeplessness | yawning, but feel better, just enough to take the edge off | F | 31 | 7 days | 8/19/2004 | 3 | Depression/Anxiety | EXTREME DRY MOUTH, but not until I was taking it for over 4 years. | Please email me if you have ever experienced DRY MOUTH symptoms that started later on in treatment (not initially) | F | 36 | 5 years | 8/20/2004 | 3 | Depression and anxiety | Since taking this drug I have developed hypothyroidism, have been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome because no matter how much I sleep, I am always tired. I have gained 20 pounds that I cannot loose. I do not find joy in doing anything. My body jolts in my sleep so severely that I wake up. I have also started grinding my teeth in my sleep. I am on 150 mg now of Effexor XR. I did not think that these things were caused by the medicine until reading this site. I am terrified to get off the medication now because of the withdrawal symptoms, plus the regular fears that the depression and anxiety will return. HAS ANYONE GOTTEN OFF OF EFFEXOR AND HAD WEIGHT LOSS OR REVERSAL OF CONDITIONS CAUSED BY EFFEXOR XR? | This medication did help significantly with my depression and anxiety, but now that I am feeling so much better, I want to feel better without the med. | F | 24 | 2 years | 6/25/2004 | 3 | depression | anxiety attacks | F | 27 | | 6/25/2004 |