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 |
| 2 | anxiety | BIG knots on my face, neck and back very similar to acne, but harder and very painful. NO sex drive either! | F | 28 | | 5/4/2004 | 2 | depression, SAD | Increased craving for sweets at 37.5 dose; also constipation, which I've never had in my life. At 75 dose, dry mouth, painful muscle tension in neck and headache on that side of head, extreme sleepiness, physically dragged down. Dream exaggeration, but not unpleasant. | After three weeks on 37.5 dose, there was some mood elevation. Then I went to 75 dose and I think mood elevation remained but I was too tired to notice. Sleeping 12-14 hours per night, then nodding off on the bus, on the couch. Coffee had no effect. Pain in shoulder, as if someone were pushing me, resulting in headache bad enough to keep me in bed 30 hours, dizziness at that time too. That sense of someone pushing me along from the outside was unexpected and unpleasant; I'd much prefer to feel better from the inside out. If Effexor had a personality, I'd say it was a nasty Master Sargeant marching me along. The mood elevation came rapidly, but the side effects more than cancel out the benefits. I'm now tapering off with 37.5 for 10 days, at which time my supply will run out. I hope to get Effexor XR out of my system and go back to Prozac in the future. When I took Prozac for a year 10 years ago, a mere 5 mg dose/day gave me a great lift -- yes, from the inside, it seemed. I was in a fine mood, got tons of work done, made big decisions, even looked better. I had minor side effects with Prozac for about three weeks, then smooth sailing. I'm very sensitive to all drugs, and of course aging changes your system somewhat. Effexor is not for me, but I'll miss the exciting dreams. Probably it's a good drug for those with more robust systems. | F | 67 | 5 weeks | 5/5/2004 | 2 | major depression | Changed sleep patterns, unpleasant dreams, yawning, blurred vision, increased blood pressure, on higher doses lethargy, | Withdrawal took several weeks and still had sleep problems, body aches, headaches, jumpiness, disengaged feeling | F | 53 | 2 years | 4/19/2004 | 2 | Depression and Anxiety | At first the only side effect that I experienced was yawning which was annoying but tolerable. After being on this drug for an extended period I have began to feel increasingly more anxious and depressed than I was before I began taking this medication. The withdrawl symptoms are also terrible. I have had the worst headaches ever and also have been very dizzy and that is after only missing one dose. | Consider this drug carefully before you begin taking it. The withdrawl symptoms are horrible. | F | 19 | 6 days | 4/26/2004 | 2 | Bipolar disorder | Sleeplessness, tremors, anxiety, headache, dehydration, nausea | When I stopped this medication, I had the worst withdrawal of my life, like electric shocks in my head. | F | 51 | 5 months | 5/19/2004 | 2 | anxiety, insomnia, dysthymia | I've had trouble sleeping forever. Zoloft was a miracle for me for years, but then | Mood improved, but only when sleep not disrupted. Sleep disrupted approximately every other night while on this drug. | F | 33 | 3 months | 8/4/2004 | 2 | Anxiety and Depression | Vivid nightmares, night sweats, sleepy during the day | not working anymore. | F | 20 | 6 months | 9/17/2004 | 2 | neurogenic depression | extreme dependancy | F | 33 | 2 years | 9/11/2004 | 2 | major depressive disorder | Couldn't sleep because of leg zingers like restless leg syndrome,Did nothing for relief of depressive symptoms for me. | Withdrawl was the worst I ever experienced,I tappered off of it slowly,But it took about six weeks for the withdrawl to end,But thank God it did end!So if it is hard for you to come off of this drug,your not nuts. | F | 50 | 1 months | 4/16/2007 | 2 | depression | weight gain, dry mouth, decreased libido | Withdrawal is unbearable. Glutathione may help to get off from this drug. You can get sublingual tablets at a health food store. Also, to minimize withdrawal symptoms, you may ask your doctor to switch you to Prozac. Hope this helps, and do some research before taking any drug!!! Good luck to everyone!!! | F | 23 | 12 days | 1/4/2007 | 2 | Major Depression | excessive sweating on my face and scalp (to the point where I would like look I just got out of the shower when walking from my car into the mall); very vivid sexual dreams but no sex drive; my symptoms did not completely go away, I still have depressive episodes that last 2 days-1 week. | I have suffered from depression for 12 years and have taken multiple medications over the years. Unfortunately, side effects (especially the decreased sex drive) are very common with each one. I will be going off the Effexor XR and onto a different medication because I can not tolerate these side effects. | F | 27 | 4 months | 10/8/2007 | 2 | depression | BRAIN SHIVERS, night sweats/bizarre dreams, restlessness, dry mouth, weightloss, panic attacks | i've only been on it for a few months and i'm wishing my doctor had never given it to me. if i don't take it at the same exact time every day, the brain shivers start, and sometimes they're so bad i pass out for a few seconds and wake up on the ground. i dread withdrawal from this drug and i'm scared to get off it, but i think that i'd better before things get any worse... THINK TWICE BEFORE TAKING IT the short half-life is not worth it, regardless of how effective it is in treating your depression/anxiety/whatever else you have | F | 19 | 2 months | 1/28/2007 | 2 | Depression | Lots of heart palpitations | F | 27 | 30 days | 7/17/2006 | 2 | Depression | Head pain that moved around my head and wouldn't respond to ibuprofen (not a normal headache kind of pain and it would sometimes last all day); nausea; blurred vision, constipation, even vomited a few times. | Thank you to the person who posted the "removing beads" method to get off this medication without withdrawal. I started by removing 4, then I decided to try 10 more per day, now I'm taking out 20 at a time. I'm opening my capsule and removing about 104 beads tonight. I should be off this stuff in about 12-15 more days. I'd rather go with an SSRI than this stuff if these side effects are what I'm supposed to put up with! I'm not nearly as depressed as I was, but that might have more to do with an awesome support network of family and friends and good counseling than the medication... | F | 39 | 7 weeks | 7/5/2007 | 2 | Mild Depression/Hormonal Balance | Insomnia, anxiety, abnormal vision, weight gain | My MD recommended this drug when I complained of not feeling "balanced" after delivering my son in February 2006. After missing two doses over a holiday weekend and feeling the withdraw effects I started to research this drug. I am now completely paranoid to come off of it but feel I have to now before my body becomes more addicted. I'm on the generic pill, 75mg's twice per day. I only sleep decent (not well) when I have wine and/or a Vicodin and/or a Lioresal (muscle relaxer) in the evening before bed. When I go to sleep without "help" I lie awake with muscle anxiety (can't lie still) or my mind tells me I'm addicted to alcohol or pills because I cannot relax without them. This drug has made me more anxious and I question nearly all of my actions. I'm even anxious about speaking with my doctor about weaning off as I'm afraid he'll try to convince me to try it a little longer. All of these comments I'm reading are interesting but scary. I'm open to anyone's | F | 34 | 2 months | 10/9/2007 | 2 | depression/anxiety | I took one pill and never again. In about 45 minutes I felt like someone lite a fire inside my body is was scarry. I had heart palpitations where I thought my heart was gonna pop out of my chest. I had a slight constant headache, I got the munchies for everything and at night I suddenly got sick and did not sleep a wink. I feel like crap. Although I will say yesterday I did not cry. And oh yes my pupils were dilated. To me I would never like to experience that again. I just thought I would share my thoughts. I hope it helps others and I hope I can find something to work for me. | F | 35 | 1 days | 11/30/2006 | 2 | Depression | Weight gain, profuse sweating, dizziness, headaches, tiredness | The weight gain has made me feel horrible about myself. I get severe headaches which last a few days at a time. I am tired all the time, difficult to wake up. I can't think straight. Not much better than when I was depressed. Still can't function. I am on dose of 225. After reading the comments, I am scared to go off the drug. | F | 52 | 2 days | 10/11/2007 | 2 | bipolar disorder | None except with missed doses, then nausea vomiting and diarrhea. NO sexual side effects whatsoever. Some memory loss and word confusion. Transposing words or saying wrong words. Gait disturbance. Not sure that the memory loss is from effexor or lamictal. | Do not miss does or quit without medical supervision. Must be weaned off this med. I take this 150mg daily, with lamictal 400mg daily. I still have significant depressive symptoms. I am currently seeking other drug combinations. | F | 41 | 2 years | 8/17/2005 | 2 | anxiety , panic attacks,depression | night sweats, headache, severe agitation, severe anxiety. | used 75 mg for about six weeks, tried to titrate up, but side effects were horrible(blackouts). This is the worst antidepressant ever, have tried lex, zoloft,paxil and prozac. The only one that seemed to work was prozac-although it stoppped after awhile, will try again. Effexor has done nothing to alleviate the anxiety; in fact it makes it worse. I decided to quit cold turkey and don't believe the hype- you will experience brain tremors for a little while ,but they are nowhere near as bad as quitting prozac, b/c prozac's half-life is soooo long. This medicine is overrated!!! | F | 33 | 7 weeks | 10/13/2006 | 2 | depression | didn't last 24 hours--I started having withdrawl effects after 10 hours--nausea/vomiting | F | 47 | 2 weeks | 12/11/2004 |