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 |
| 1 | ppd, panic, ocd pure-o | dizziness, weight gain, lack of sex drive, flattness in emotions, suicidal ideation, little anxiety while taking it, felt like it wasn't me inside my body, couldn't eat certain foods like creams or msg, absolutely no alcohol (learned that the hard way), withdrawal was hell on earth | The withdrawl was hell. i was dizzy and had vertigo and extreme panic attacks and crying spells for a week straight. I was having the same symptoms that put me on the stuff. However, been off of it for almost two years...I think it has lasting side effects (for months after withdrawal), I still have the anxiety disorder, but completely changed my life with great success. My periods are when the anxiety peaks. I am going to a homeopathic doctor next month to rule out food or environmental causes. Effexor only delayed the disorder and fixed the symptoms, not the cause of the disorder. | F | 28 | 5 months | 1/12/2009 | 1 | mild panic attacks-7 in total | took 37.5 mgs for 2 weeks, stopped without any effects for 2 weeks. Went back to my docs who uped my dose to double that a day and took it for about 5 weeks. Now i stopped completely after meds were done and the withdrawls r HORRENDOUS!!!!! The brain shocks r insane and making me sick !! How can doctors prescribe this to me.. I was perfectly fine b 4 this and now going on 4 dayz it seems there is no end to this feeling. Never was one to take meds for ANYTHING and all i did was tell my doctor i had been having some panic attacks and this is what i get. I asked about the side affects as well and NOTHING he said was even remotely close to what this feels like! I quit abruptly which is not recommended but i dont want or need any more drugs frying my brain.. EFFEXOR IS DANGEROUS !!! Seriously contemplate if your situation is that bad to take this and do research it because if i new what i was getting myself into I WOULD HAVE NEVER EVER TAKEN THIS POISON!!!!! POISON!!!!! How long would it | THESE PILLS ARE POISON!! RESEARCH THIS DRUG AND SIDE EFFECTS AS WELL AS WITHDRWALS SYMPTOMS AND HOW LONG IT TAKES TO LEAVE YOUR SYSTEM B 4 U EVER DECIDE TO SWALLOW THEM. I HAVE A 20 MONTH OLD DAUGHTER WHO IS WONDERING WHY MOMMY IS SICK??? NOT ONE TO TAKE DRUGS FOR ANYTHING AND NEVER WILL AGAIN!! I HATE DOCTORS WHO R SO QUICK TO JUST PRESCRIBE U SOMETHING TO GET U OUTTA THERE FACE! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! :@ | F | 28 | 5 weeks | 1/21/2009 | 1 | depression anxiety panic attacks | loss of bladder control,huge diminish in sex drive,difficult to orgasm,emotionless,felt like a robot,could sleep forever. | Both my boyfriend and I were taking Effexor XR and were experiencing very similar side effects but had no idea until we finally started talking about what was happening to us. We each thought it was "just me". After reading the comments from others we felt a relief to know we were not alone. Neither of us were told of the side effects while taking the drug nor WARNED of how SEVERE the withdrawl would be when trying to slowly cut back. The past few days have been an absolute HELL!!! I have been experiencing brain shivers to the point of feeling like I'm going to seizure. Bouts of weepng,overwhelming rush of mixed emotions and SERIOUS paranoia. Last night I felt like I has electric shock going through my entire body, especially my extremities. Uncontrollable muscle spasms and blurting out of random thoughts today. THIS IS THE WORST MEDICATION I HAVE EVER TAKEN IN MY LIFE!!!!! Patients need to be warned and given the opportunity to consider other options for depression reli | F | 37 | 10 months | 2/6/2009 | 1 | depression | headaches, migraines, lethargy, confusion, low-body temperature | When I started taking Effexor XR, headaches were not listed as one of the side effects. Now, I think they are. One week after starting it, I got a painful headache that persisted until I stopped taking the drug. Because it was not a legitimate side effect, my doctor refused to acknowledge the connection, which I suppose is a comment on my doctor, not the drug. I was perpetually confused, tired, lethargic. | F | 49 | 1.5 years | 2/9/2009 | 1 | anxiety, ocd & to balance 2nd RX | Severe hot flashes all day & night. Weight gain, enough worth mentioning. Please read about it's withdraw effects and research why this drug has been banned form several countries. | Effexor was given to me to combat the se's (side effects) of another med I was taking for OCD. The Effexor continued as each time I tried to come off I feel very sick, and crazy!If Effexor helps your symptoms it may be worth taking but you must keep taking it, forever. The withdraw effects are killer and I would do anything to keep another person from going through what I did. I stopped after linking the hot flashes to the Efx in seeing another doctor who helped people "come off" of Effexor. I followed a very long weening schedule that took 3 months & still the withdraw effects were intolerable & could have cost me my family.I was full of anger, rage & sadness. I was stuck,the SE's were to much to stand but the withdraw was even worse (that's why the 3 years). This drug has been banned from many countries, question that! BEFORE you take Effexor please drill your Dr. on the withdraw effects and see if there is an alt. drug for your condition. I have hear that comin | F | 34 | 3 years | 2/10/2009 | 1 | Anxiety/panic and Depression | While taking: depression (have had depression since I was a child but here self-mutilated for the first time in my life), rapid weight gain. While withdrawing: painful shocks/"brain zaps" in my face, mouth, hands; dizziness; hyper-sensitivity i.e. sudden, uncontrollable sobbing without warning. | Was on citalopram (Celexa) for a year and half; wanted to try something else due to side effect of extreme weight gain. Since other SSRIs in past had had similar effects, tried Effexor - and really regret doing so. Started with 37.5 and moved up to 75. Did not feel anxious, but depression flooded back worse than ever (see left); also gained weight even faster and developed stretch marks! Keep in mind that I've never been pregnant and I was keeping my caloric intake relatively low. Was then referred to a psychiatrist to figure out med situation and psych had me start tapering off the Effexor. I did it over a period of approximately 3 weeks and as many others have said, the withdrawal is horrific. Finished tapering Th 7/3 and "shocks" were debilitating in the following days. Have lessened but are still here as of 7/12. Will also burst into tears at even MILDLY sad or nice things. At first I thought the crying was due to scary things happening in my life, but after reading th | F | 26 | 2 months | 7/13/2008 | 1 | anxiety | digestive problems, high blood pressure, loss of memory, depression, increased alcohol & cannabis use, hallucinations, increased anxiety, disconnected feeling/numbness paranoya, serotonin syndrome which lead to paranoid psychosis, and hospitalization for 7 weeks | I first went to my doctor complaining about anxiety and was given cypralex which only increased the severity of my panic attacks. I was then given effexor. My stomache then stopped working and I was then given more medication to try to ease this side effect.I then began to suffer the side effects I have previously listed. Because of this I went to an emergeny clinic to have my health reviewed and was told to stop taking the medication...at this point serotonin syndrome along with psychosis were setting in..(without my own knowledge...i was unaware how sick I was because of this medication until this current time in which I am well.) I ended up being certified and in a mental healthy facility for 7 weeks. I went through a very long time of trial and error with different medications until finally they found one which worked for me...I now must be on this medication (seroquel) for a year in order to be certain that I do not suffer a relapse. If you are taking effexor and believe it is wor | F | 18 | 2 months | 7/15/2008 | 1 | depression | "brain snaps" HORRIBLE withdrawal | the worse drug ever! | F | 49 | 5 months | 3/31/2008 | 1 | Depression due to relocation to AK | At first no side effects, as long as I faithfully took my pill everyday. But then as soon as I forgot to take the pill, (just days after I started to take it) I experienced serious withdrawal symptoms, including electric shock headaches, weird sight problems, like lines squiggling through my eyes, major dizziness, sweaty palms and major hot flashes. My husband travels for work and is gone most of the time. I am now hooked for over a year on 150 mg. and I am still just as depressed as I was when I began taking the drug. I have sexual side effects... or should I say barely any sexual feeling at all, which causes my husband terrible grief when he comes to see me, he often thinks I am cheating or he is not turning me on. I hate this drug and want off but I have 4 children and no time to detox off this drug. I would need a babysitter for at least 3 to 4 weeks just so I could be sick and almost die from detoxing. | THIS DRUG SHOULD NEVER BE PRESCRIBED TO ANYONE!!! IT IS DEADLY AND ANY DOCTOR WHO PRESCIBEWS IT IS ONLY AFTER MONEY PERIOD, THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. | F | 33 | 1 years | 4/2/2008 | 1 | Migraines | Severe insomnia, panic attacks, withdrawal symptoms after missing a dose | Coming off of this drug was probably the worst thing I've ever gone through (and I've come off of prescribed narcotics before, and been through narcotic withdrawal). This drug should be taken off the market for the horrible withdrawal people go through, or doctors should at least make patients aware what lies in store if they ever go off of it. | F | 25 | 4 years | 4/7/2008 | 1 | depression | loss of coordination, slowed speech,dizziness; do not take this drug except as a last resort! | I was mistakenly diagnosed with Parkinsons disease due to the side effects of this drug. I did not realize that they were from the drug due to my depression at the time. it did help the depression but I still cannot speak at a normal rate. Has anyone else had this type of experience? I have also taken other antidepressants but currently am taking ONLY over-the-counter SAM-e, Omega 3 fish oil, and Relacore and feel better with fewer side effects than with any pharmacueticals. | F | 58 | 6 months | 3/28/2008 | 1 | depression, anxiety, irritability | always tired but cannot sleep at night, i wake up every hour. have to take sleeping pills with it. no desire to have sex, cannot orgasim, currently hurts to have sex. nausea in the morning, hot all the time all day long, long very detailed dreams like watching a movie, shortness of breath, fatigue, some night sweats, not feeling happy or sad, just dont care, at first was in a good mood no irritability but currently having mood swings. | F | 24 | 6 weeks | 2/26/2008 | 1 | Hot Flashes | Blurred vision, agitation, anxiety, weight gain, leg cramps, vivid dreams. | Do not go here. Drug from hell. Started out fine, progressed into bad blurred vision. Very difficult and uncomfortable detox. | F | 50 | 9 months | 2/27/2008 | 1 | Chronic back pain | This medication turned me into someone that was most definitley not myself. Severe mood swings, bursting into tears for no reason, severe depression, anxiety and panic attacks, trouble sleeping, nausea, feeling hopeless, thoughts of suicide. No desire to get out of bed in the morning, wanting to quit my job(that i love), withdrawal from friends and family, lashing out at family members. Feeling completely hopeless in regard to my condition. Withdrawal feels like your going through living hell, and that it will nevr end. | First I would like to state that if anyone is ever to pursue a class-action lawsuit against this drug manufacturer, I would like to be involved. I was not clinically or even slightly depressed before I started taking this medication. I was prescribed this drug to help me recover from a severe back injury that has caused me to be in bad pain for the better part of a year. My doctor told me: Pain causes depression, and depression causes pain so we'll try this out and see if it will help you get better'. When my dosage was at its highest of 150mg I developed severe anxiety, making it hard for me to continue my job, even making it hard to drive myslf places. I have since weaned myself off of this medication faster than suggested by my doctor, but I was so scared of the person that the drug had turned me into I just wanted it out of my system. I am on day 5 of not taking effexor at all, and am feeling many of the withdrawal symptoms listed on this site (i.e. 'brain surges' feeling faint, ti | F | 19 | 5 weeks | 2/27/2008 | 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 | 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 | 1 | bipolar depression | The drug caused me to have NO sex drive and NO emotions. When I should have been crying, I had no desire. The side effects of coming off this drug are hell. Obviously I see this is a very addictive drug as far as withdrawl symptoms. Even tapering the drug, I have had SEVERE dizzines and SEVERE nausea. No one can prepare you the side effects when you decide to stop taking it. | The Effexor did work for my depression while taking Lamictal. I felt great, but needed to try another anti-depressent to help with my sex drive. | F | 32 | 365 days | 4/23/2008 | 1 | Depression | Weight gain ( 20 pounds in 6 months )adverse sexual side effect, loopy when trying to come off of it, threw up many times a week within an hour of taking med. | not good due to weight gain, when coming off of it you feel OUT OF IT- sometimes I am even scared to drive a car because I feel so off. I am now on Wellbutrin ( awesome ) but I am still on effexor and have decreased my dose which makes you feel outside of yourself. I did not take any of the effexor yesterday as I hope to just take Wellbutrin but I am even having trouble typing these comments because I did not have a dose of effexor in the past 24 hours. Not a good suggestion for depression. | F | 37 | 6 months | 4/24/2008 | 1 | Migraines, possible depression | Headaches (ironically), dizziness, some nausea, tremors in hands, feet, legs, pins and needles and numbness in hands and feet, reduced appetite, extreme thirst, considerable weight gain (about 20% of body weight), frequent/urgent urination, blurred vision, short-term memory loss, difficulty speaking, cold extremities, unusually excessive sweating and body odor, vivid/detailed/frightening dreams, sleepiness and/or insomnia. Wellbutrin SR was taken at the same time, so some side effects may overlap or been exaggerated. | I've been suffering through extreme withdrawal effects for about 3 weeks now; they are the same or similar to the side effects experienced while taking Effexor XR, but more extreme and occurring in cycles rather than all at once. Serious, almost constant attacks of vertigo and 'brain zaps' have kept me house-bound, unable to drive or work, and frequently even unable to walk unaided. I tapered off fairly gradually from 150mg to 0mg, but the step from 37.5mg to 0mg has been by far the most difficult to endure. While the Effexor may have provided a limited amount of relief from the migraines for a short period (less than 6 months), that relief did not merit the side effects suffered, the incredible withdrawal symptoms I'm currently experiencing, or whatever risk there may be of long-term or even permanent damage to my central nervous system. NOTE: every time I reported to my doctor that I felt the Effexor was not helping me or was making my health worse through its side effects, he denied that the Effexor could be the cause of my discomfort and responded by INCREASING the dose. | F | 41 | 3 years | 10/18/2004 |