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 |
| 5 | Depression/OCD | Body tremors, Low sex drive, Difficulty getting an erection, Loss of need to socialize, and Weight gain | If it were not for Effexor XR (300 mgs) and Lamictal (75 mgs) I would not have been able to focus and stay on task in finishing my bachelor's degree. This drug may work too well in allowing me to see the world for what it really is almost in an alienating way...Effexor XR makes being alone perfectly fine and combined with the low sex drive I feel little need to meet people which is not good. I get withdrawls on the 2nd day of not taking the medication to the point of being frantic...not lovely. The food I used to avoid I LOVE now...to the point of gaining 40lbs which is also not lovely. Hope the comments help and good luck. | M | 28 | 14 months | 12/11/2006 | 5 | OCD and BDD | Experienced some sleeplessness, loss of appetite/weightloss, some dry mouth. | This drug (taken at 275 mg for me) has been amazing. My severe OCD symptoms started to vanish almost immediately (which is rare from what I understand)...The weightloss I experienced was an amazing side effect (also keeping in mind that I have a body image disorder where I am occupied with my weight). It really helped to ease depression and debilitating OCD symptoms which were interfering with happiness, social functioning, work and school performance. I take it in combo with Xanax XR/ Generic Xanax. I started out taking 35 mg for a week then up to 75 mg for two weeks then 150 mg. Now I am taking 275 mg with 75 mg pills in the morning and one at around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. | M | 21 | 2 days | 7/19/2005 | 5 | Depression | Sweating, clenched jaw, teeth grinding, sleep disorder (fall asleep quickly, sometime insomnia. Nausea | Took med for 5 years and tapered off and was without for 18 months. Depression returned so I went back on at 75MG /day and instantly felt better. The side effects are far less hassle than being in my dark depression | M | 42 | 3 years | 7/24/2006 | 5 | anxiety, depression | Extremely hyper active. I also take Seroquel which stops the hyperness but I take it for mild Schizophrenia. | Very good drug. | M | 34 | 1 years | 3/15/2007 | 5 | Anxiety | The first few nights I had a difficult time falling asleep. Other than that I had no side effects.It helped my anxiety greatly and allowed me to live a normal life again. I only went up to 75 mg of xr. | I need to currently come off of the effexor and am very scared at what other people are saying about withdrawal. I am currently at about 37.5mg and if anyone who has had success is weening off could possibly email me with their ways of getting through I would appreciate it. | M | 30 | 5 months | 11/4/2004 | 5 | anxiety/depression | Oh man.. This is a miracle drug, im on 150mg for about 5 months now, and it changed me completly, i feel so good about myself!!! i cant belive it. Its like changing to a new refreshed happy brain :P the only thing i hate about it is having sex side effects, dont get me wrong but some times i cant get an errection, but if i do sex has never been better lol. | M | 25 | | 11/6/2004 | 5 | chronic depression | difficult in reaching orgasm | Neither Paxil nor Wellbutrin had any significant effect on my depression. Effexor XR works very well to date at 225mg/day but I an concerned that over the long term the drug may not continue to be effective. I have started CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) to supplement the medication. (The Feeling Good Handbook by David D. Burns, M.D.) | M | 57 | 2 years | 11/21/2004 | 5 | Anxiety, Severe Depression | I am very fortunate to be one of Effexor XR's success stories. The drug was incredibly effective for me. Effexor XR coupled with a strong hunger for God helped save my life. The side effects weren't too bad at all: a minor case of tinnitus that was noticeable only at bedtime, decreased libido but manageable, and somewhat of a flat mood that made me reticent. But the benefits FAR outweighed the side effects. I am very grateful. I first tried Lexapro for 4 days, which had wicked side effects of nausea, vomiting, insomnia, etc., then I switched to Effexor XR and it made all of the difference....a night and day difference. The best part was that I was able to keep my mental acuity while taking Effexor XR, which I needed in my job. | I don't have anything to prove what I'm about to type, but reading through the posts it appears like maybe less dosage would be better for most if not all folks. I only took 75 mg which was a tremendous sweet spot for me...I'm certain that anything stronger would have lead to the bad side effects that most experience and write about. For full disclosure, I also used small dosages of Xanax (0.5 mg per day, on better days I cut the Xanax in two and only took half of it) along with Effexor XR 75 mg 1x/day, and the two together in these smaller dosages were tremedously effective. Withdrawal wasn't a problem but I did go slowly by tapering down to a week at 37.5 mg before quitting completely and timing it such that days 4-6 that I was off of it occurred during the weekend away from work...withdrawal took about two weeks. Hang in there, life will get better! | M | 43 | 5 months | 4/18/2008 | 5 | depression/anxiety | In the beginning i had some dizziness and blurry vision but soon adjusted to 150 mg. In my weaning off process again had some dizziness and some days of serious depression where I thought I was back to square one...but it did go away. | Helped me a great deal to deal with depression/anixiety brought on by death of my father and stress at work. 150 mg was the max i reached and stayed on that for close to a year. I have been weaning off extremely slow. I reduced from 150 mg to 112 mg to 75 mg to 37.5 to 18.25 to 12.5 to where i am today at 6.25. At each interval I have stayed there for 3 weeks. Only real problem was going from 75mg to 37.5 where i experienced deep depression for about 3 days but it did subside. I am almost there and just fight off any withdrawal effects people misdiagnose and think depression is back...its only withdrawal | M | 52 | 2 years | 4/16/2008 | 5 | I had some pretty crazy dreams while on Effexor XR but nothing more than strange. My blood pressure did go up while on effexor and had to adjust my blood pressure medication. | Effexor is like any drug. It will work well for some and not so well for others. The highest dose of Effexor that I took was 150mg. It did a great job! It got me through a really tough time in my life. While on Effexor I saw a therapist and she helped me work though my problems. After being on Effexor for a year I decided to wean slowly work towards being Effexor free. I would reduce my dosage by 37.5mg every month. With each lowering of the dosage I would experience a what I thought was the return of the anxiety. But it wasn't the return of the anxiety, just some withdrawal symptoms. By the end of each successive month of withdrawal I felt good again. In the final month of withdrawal when I went from 37.5mg to 0mg I did experience some brain zapps. The zapps were a little scary at first, but I just kept reminding myself that it was just withdrawal and that calmed me back down. It took about 3 months of no Effexor before the brain zapps went away. My advice, us | M | 42 | 1 years | 2/2/2009 | 5 | axiety, OCD, panic attacks | I was a little manic at first and I dont feel hungry anymore, I guess it's because it controls my axiety. But ih helped me to feel less edgy. | Effexor has been great for me so far, I was suffering from PPD, my life was dark and my problems seemed to be way worst that they really were. Effexor helped me realized that it was just my mind. My OCD is more managable now, I dont go around freaking out and fixing things and cleanning around the house and I no longer haver paranoia. I also sleep better and have more energy to do things. I have been on lexapro before and so far I like effexor better because although lexapro worked for me effexor gives me much more evergy. I'm affraid of the withdrown side effects but every medication will have that. I got into a conclusion that I cannot live without medication anymore and it's just a fact. | M | 2 weeks | 12/17/2008 | 5 | Recurring Major Depression | Decreased libido, which has somewhat improved over time. I believe this is a small price to pay for the benefits of the medications. | I am taking 300 mg Effexor XR and 300 mg Welbutrin XL per day. There is no doubt these medication have saved my life! | M | 47 | 5 years | 7/6/2008 | 5 | GAD/Agrophobia/minor depression | a little bit of memory loss. but other then that non that i can notice. | i been on buspar,celexa,cymbalta and lexapro. i tried a few months on nothing and that just made things worst. Effexor xr has truly been the best medication i have found to work for anxiety. i use to break out in sweats becasue i was so nervous. effexor helps me stay positive and gives me a better outlook on life. i actually feel like a normal person for once. i hate taking meds but i think of anxiety like a broken arm you got to wear a cast tell it gets better. i take 75mg every morning at the same time. be sure to take this med at the same time. i also drink a full glass of water with my dose. some meds arent for everyone. you got to just keep trying till you find one that meets your chemistry. this web site is good but id advise you to not go on it when your trialing a new med because everyones different. Good luck! | M | 18 | 1.5 months | 10/30/2009 | 5 | bad mood and short fuse | couldn't tell due to the multiple meds for other medical problems | i was depressed from the death of two of my family members but, when i stopped taking it after about six months i noticed my old agressive behavior and impatience with the world return. i started effexor again and became the kinder and gentler person i liked. if i miss a dose i notice within a day. i have abruptly stopped it and became a miserable bast-ard. i guess i am resigned to take this indefinately. i used to work in a field that required somewhat agressive negotiations; i wonder how i would have behaved if i was taking effexor. | M | 60 | 5 years | 5/21/2009 | 5 | depression | decreased sex drive | Effexor XR (150mg/day) is a miracle drug (for me). I haven't felt this good in 15 years. Relaxed, calm, focused, happy, etc. I do not feel drugged, and beyond a decrease sexual drive, no side effects. | M | 45 | 6 months | 4/16/2009 | 5 | OCD, Social Anxiety, Asperger's | Startup side effects (experienced during the first week and when escalating dose) : Nausea, loss of appetite, yawning (but not tired), getting songs stuck in your head, feeling odd, insomnia (it's a bit stimulating at first), night sweats, vivid dreams, dilated pupils, ejaculation delay. Continued side effects: ejaculation delay, slight daytime lethargy, and emotional "hardening". Other than that, you don't feel like you are on anything. | Effexor XR has been generally great. It's a medication I can't do without. I've gotten off it successfully twice (slow downward dose titration over a month or two) but my symptoms return. The only thing I don't really care for is the ejaculation delay. This is has been one of the primary reasons for me trying to get off of it. It's not all terrible however. When I reach orgasm it is very intense and it's VERY productive....The sexual dysfunction is dose-dependant and I'd be unwilling to go on a higher dose even though my partner is understanding. It has no effect on libido or erections for me, it just takes longer to finish. It has been great otherwise. It's way better than the Lexapro/Cipralex I was on. I'm happy and can deal with stressors. My obsessive thoughts stop and are replaced with logical deductions. It has made me into the optimistic realist I knew myself to be. I have improved so much on this medication. I've gone back to school to study my passion and finally got the balls to come out as gay to my family and friends. The only issue is that I've started defining who I am while on the medication. It has therefore been hard to come off it for long periods of time because I start loosing my built-up ideal self. I hate being dependant on a substance but I may have to make an exception for Effexor. My anxiety and OCD rear their ugly heads when I'm off it. I need to make peace with my situation. | M | 25 | 2 years 150 mg 1X day | 2/17/2015 Patient History | 5 | Anxiety | Yawning, vivid dreams | Worked great, low side effects | M | 35 | 10 years 75 | 2/12/2015 | 5 | Depression/Anxiety | Brain zaps within a few hours if not taken on time. (short half-life) Occasional loss of sexual function. | By far the best antidepressant I have taken in after 15 years of being on different meds. Previously tried Prozac, Zoloft, Cymbalta and Lexapro. The best thing about Venlafaxine/Effexor XR is that it is a SNRI, meaning that it works differently to most other antidepressants, and helps with compulsions or obsessive thinking, in addition to depression and anxiety. Small frustrations are now a breeze, and major challenges are now more manageable, whereas before I would find it difficult to complete even the smallest task without obsessing and fixating. Helps you look at the big picture of life and not just the small bothersome details. Downside of this is that occasionally it can lead to a loss of motivation because it removes the anxiety that often gets us started on something important. You have to take this med at the same time everyday, or within a few hours you will feel withdrawal. This is due to its very short half-life, meaning that it doesn't stay in your system very long. Other side effect I have noticed is reduced sexual function occasionally. Overall, this med has totally changed my life. Sounds like a cliché, but for me it's really true. | M | 37 | 1 years 150 1X day | 5/6/2015 | 5 | Depression, Anxiety, Social Anxiety | Missing 1 dosage can lead to uncomfortable withdrawal effects (called "brain shivers). Causes a mild case of erectile dysfunction. Causes night sweats. | Took Effexor XR for around a year and it helped even with the first small dosage. Was happier more frequently and less anxious in most situations. Depression was practically non-existent after a few months (along with the help of therapy). However, last few months with Effexor XR became difficult for side effects mentioned (took Wellbutrin to combat the side effects and it did it well, but was risky and dangerous due to a higher risk of seizures from high amounts of serotonin). Despite the side effects, would recommend Effexor XR as its effective and its side effects are not as bad as other anti-depressents. | M | 22 | 1 years 300mg 1X day | 4/16/2014 | 5 | PAIN | sweet more, and you do not want to start it and then quite taking it, or take it and forget it when going out of town. But besides that , what a huge difference it makes on my pain , I had a doctor , want to try this , I trusted her and I am very glad I did.... | Have taken it for 15 years, if you have any questions please ask.Thanks | M | 53 | 15 years 150 1X day | 2/14/2014 |