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 | i am so afraid to start after readin the comments | F | 62 | | 4/4/2007 | 1 | depression | 1. Paresthesia or neuropathy (continuous intense tingling, burning, stabbing pain over entire body) 2. Weight gain 3. Lethargy and fatigue 4. Lack of desire to do anything but lie in bed 5. Grinding teeth so badly I need braces again 6. Difficulty in finding right words 7. Profuse sweating 8. Jolts through body when lying at rest (made sleep difficult) 9. Hair Loss 10. Loss of coordination (resulting in two falls with injuries) 11. Mental fogginess | Been on EffexorXR about 8 yrs. Not much help. Dr would only increase dose. Side effects, worst of which is neuropathy, intense tingling, burning, stabbing pain over entire body. I asked doctors if the Effexor could be the cause of the neuropathy. Both stated no. Prescriped Lamictal w/Effexor. Symptoms worsen dose was increased. 3 weeks ago Lamictal was not helping much at all. Had me taper off Effexor for 9 days so I could change to Cymbalta. By that time, the Neuropathy symptoms had totally disappeared. Skipped and doctor had me taper off Lamictal. 4 days later, ER visit. I was in full blown withdrawal. Violently shivering as if cold, but actually hot & sweating profusely. Foggy thinking. Couldn't focus. Crying easily over anything. Weird & vivid dreams. Panic Attacks! Intolerable! It is so bad you think it would better to die than to feel like that. The ER Doctor has me taking the smallest dose of Effexor until I go to my regular doctor on Monday. As soon as I took the Effe | F | 51 | 8 years | 4/29/2007 | 1 | depression, anxiety | Stroke (at least 4) until I stopped effexor xr (150 mg p/d)While on the medication my head floated about a foot above my body. I had NO emotion, I just existed. This lasted for 2+ years. The worst thing was that I didn't realize I was just existing until I got off the medication. I feel better than I ever was while on it. My libido is excellent! It didn't exist while on it. I feel like I just woke up out of a coma practically. | Again, if you've just started this medication, if you have any strange problems with your eyes (even if it's just once) stop them at once. This means that you're having constriction in the vessels in your brain. EXERCISING caused my strokes. Luckily, i'm young.(relatively) | F | 32 | 2.5 years | 4/23/2007 | 1 | Post term-2 miscarriage Depression | Horrible insomnia, shakes, the "brain shivers" many talk about, and I couldn't sit still. I lost over 50 lbs in the last 6 months just from lack of eating or throwing up what I did eat. The doctor knew I was on Steroid inhalers and a smoker when not pregnant, but did nothing when my blood pressure skyrocketed but double my dose. I had to stop working because I work in Tech/IT and I couldn't stare at a computer screen or focus my eyes without becoming violently nauseous. Horrible vertigo -- I felt like I was always in a bad hash high and scarily disconnected from my body. I started S/I again for the first time in years while on Effexor. It all finally came to a hilt after not taking 2 doses under doctors orders New Years Eve because I knew I would be drinking. Full blown hallucinations - slipped into a dissociative episode and called the cops on my husband thinking he was a boyfriend who died almost 10 years ago and trying to kill me. When I told the doctor about the episode, | The doctor put me on Effexor after miscarrying in my 5th month of pregnancy, but did not prescribe any kind of Grief Therapy. | F | 27 | 8 months | 4/7/2007 | 1 | anxiety / depression | The tremors worsened day to day throughout whole body | Do anything else DO NOT USE THIS | F | 53 | 5 years | 4/8/2007 | 1 | social phobia | Pronounced fatigue, felt like a zombie, like I lost my personality, I wasn't "me" anymore, no interest in life at all, sex drive completely gone, nausea and constipation, dry mouth, bad at times, it just didn't work!!! | It DOES NOT work for anxiety. I did NOT have depression. | F | 44 | 3 months | 4/27/2006 | 1 | depression | no side effects but horrible withdrawl---------never would have tried it if I'd known about the ongoing "shocks" and the lack of sex drive | F | 32 | 4 months | 5/27/2006 | 1 | for depression | I had incontinence!--and every day on it! My doc didn't want to believe it..but I convinced him to take me off this drug because I believe that is the issue. He suggested to go see my gyn doc to rule out any infection etc. I did so even though I knew nothing was wrong. In any event, I'm not on Effexor any more and voilla the incontinence has stopped! | F | 42 | 2 months | 6/1/2006 | 1 | bipolar | no side effects | if u love Effexor... wait until you get off this drug! You will be so sorry you ever started taking it. For more info, look up articles on Effexor discontinuation symdrome. I stopped it in February/2006 and I am still experiencing withdrawal symptoms! I have been off work ever since then. Bad, bad, bad... it's been compared to worse that stopping Heroine!!! | F | 51 | 6 years | 6/1/2006 | 1 | depression/anxiety | for the first few weeks it helped me feel better. then I began to have problems sleeping and started crying easily for no reason. I had a very hard time coming off the med. I was only on it for about 5 months. | I wasn't hungry, but gained a lot of weight. I know I wasn't as active on the drug as off of it. I would never consider taking an antidepressant again. It was a horrible experience. I was never warned about possible side effects of it either. | F | 47 | 5 months | 7/7/2006 | 1 | depression | 8 weeks [so far] HORRIBLE WITHDRAWL symptoms after a careful 4 week stepdown withdrawl from wellbutrin and effexor in which I ended the wellbutrin after 2 weeks and then decreased effexor to 37.5 before stopping it. My symptoms are 1. Upset stomach and diarrhea 2. Easily bruised with large 2-4 inches bull's eye bruises 3. Swelling in hands and painful joints | My psychiatrist 'never heard of a reaction this bad' | F | 53 | 1 years | 7/9/2006 | 1 | depression and anxiety | the first day i throw up, and was numb all over for a week. I felt better for a week then after that i got really tired all the time. I started to loose wieght. i miss a dose i get numb and in a bad mood for a few days. | I heard that it's a life long drug. I tried to get off of it three times...and i am still here | F | 23 | 2 years | 11/4/2006 | 1 | What I thought was Depression | When I went to 75mg I slept for 20 hours the second day. People said I looked disoriented. I decided to take it before bed. Vivid dreams, HUGE weight gain, I couldn't eat enough chocolate. | I quit taking it after about a month (cold turkey) - 3 days of living hell. Headaches, dizziness, out-of-body-ness, Vivid serial Nightmares, one in which my mother & I were kidnapped, they all seemed to include murder, mayhem and being chased!! I was afraid to go to sleep. It did help with anxiety though, but not worth it!! | F | 35 | 1 months | 12/23/2006 | 1 | depression/anxiety | After one dose of 50 mg I fel into a state of sheer panic and terror. Tremors, sweating, hallucinations, feeing like someone was trying to kill me. | I threw the bottle away the next day when I was able to leave my bedroom without feeling terrified of my husband. The effects of that one pil lasted for two days. It may work for some, but it wrecked me...try taking it when you have a few days off work, just in case!!! | F | 25 | 1 days | 6/7/2006 | 1 | Bipolar I and Depression | Increased anxiety increased blood pressure. Feeling jumpy, going to come out of my skin. | Coming off of Effexor was very hard. I had chills, shakes and extreme nausea. Had to take Klonopin and Prozac to get off the Effexor. I would not recommend this drug to others. | F | 42 | 6 months | 10/8/2007 | 1 | Major Depression & Anxiety | Excessive sweating, dizziness, constant heartburn, worsened insomnia & nightmares, complete inability to orgasm, suicidal ideation, loss of interest in everything, agitated my agoraphobia & paranoia, massive weight gain, thyroid dysfunction, hypomania, mixed episodes. Crippling depression. While getting off of it: Two Suicide Attempts, hallucinations, severe mania, rapid cycling, confusion, tachycardia, tunnel vision, & a pyschotic episode. | This was the single WORST medication I've ever taken & put me off meds completely for 3 years & I unfortunately HAVE to be on meds to function. It took 9 months to get off of it, I continued to experience after effects long after I stopped taking it completely. I wouldn't recommend this to Anyone, EVER! Especially if there is a chance that you like me, might have Bipolar depression, instead of Unipolar. Took 2 years for my thyroid to be ok again & even then weight loss was only achieved by the development of anorexia nervosa. It caused one of the blackest pits of depression I've ever been in & my life has been pretty f*cked up so that's saying something. I HATE Effexor! | F | 25 | 1.5 years | 6/7/2006 | 1 | Depression, arthritis pain | Horrible - within a few hours: nausea, extreme tiredness, muscle weakness as though I'd been to the gym for hours, shakes, acid stomach, diahorrea, bad taste in mouth, no appetite. | The day after starting the medication I had a 2 hr sleep after work, went out for 3 hrs that night, came home & slept 13hrs. Next day I was up for 4 hrs then slept 3 more, before 12hrs more that night. Next day was worse. I had no energy, felt confused & dizzy and couldn't wake up. No appetite. Walking down steps my muscles were shaking & I had no co-ordination. Bad nausea and upset stomach. By day 4, heart racing (I have a mitral prolapse) & constant shakes all over. I was on Aurorix a couple of years ago & never had any of this. Stopped 2 days ago & still shaking & no appetite. | F | 40 | 4 days | 1/21/2007 | 1 | Social Anxiety Disorder | After taking it almost a year began to have short term memory loss, which turned into complete amnesia. Then 2 months later started fainting about 8 times a day and then started having seizures. Then started having psychotic episodes where I thought people were coming to get me. It also caused my sister to gain about 50 pounds. | This is a horrible medication. When I was put in a mental hospital, in May, for the psychotic episodes it caused, the doctor took me off of it right away. I have been much much better since I have been off of it and all of the side effects have gone away. And I never even saw a change in my anxiety while on it. It was just awful. | F | 17 | 18 months | 1/15/2007 | 1 | panic attacks | brain zaps numb face constipation so sex drive (and for me that is way oppisite of normal) i actually feel dumb and lost. I forget what i am doing alot i don't like anyone, rage, paranoia, headaches, insomnia, then some days can slep 20 hrs. | I WISH I COULD SUE THE COMPANY AND MY DR.!!!! Anone feel free to email me with how long your withdrawl symptoms were. I had to literall take out 2 dots from the capsule every day until the 150mg capsule was gone. All the side effects I listed are still prevalent and bad. I feel like I am going crazy. Some days I wish i didn't even wake up they are so bad. I don't think this should be on the market at all! My Dr. even had the gall to tell me it was not addictive at all. I am afraid to go see him now because I think I might severely hurt him. My poor boyfriend has about had it with my anger and my not caring about anything any more. My business i made is going to crap b/c of this med. I am normally very active and motivated. I also Gained 40 pounds. I didn't even gain that much while pregnant. DON'T TAKE THIS DRUG THE WITHDRAWL IS WORSE THAN A MY PANIC ATACKS THAT SOMETIMES USED TO HOSPITALIZE ME. | F | 28 | 1 years | 1/18/2007 | 1 | depression | None, thank God | THANK YOU FOR THIS SITE. MY DOCTOR PERSCRIBED THIS FOR ME AND BEFORE TAKING IT, I FOUND THIS SITE. I THREW THE STUFF OUT. I PREFER LIVING WITH THE DEPRESSION THAN EXPERIENCE A FRACTION OF THE SIDE EFFECTS DESCRIBED. THANK YOU!!!!! | F | 45 | 1 days | 1/24/2007 |