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 | At first, lots; after a few weeks, only reduced sex drive | I think alot of doctors fail to prepare patients for the initial side effects. I'd read up on the mechanisms a bit, so I wasn't surprised that it was a bit like a mild acid trip from my youth. I was also, initially, very sleepy. Since the doctor said I shouldn't expect a difference for 2+ weeks, I was a little surprised that there were initial, noticeable effects in 30 minutes. But these were mostly the side effects, and real improvement in my depression didn't appear for the suggested two weeks. I've been on it for several months now, my life is greatly improved, I handle work stress much better, I handle my kids much better, and for maybe the first time in decades, I understand what real happiness is. My only complaint is that so much of my life was so subtly but truly less fulfilling than it could have been. I've reevaluated everything based on this experience. The initial side effects are pretty big, but don't avoid this drug on that basis. I'm still me - a much happier me. I'm als | M | 34 | 4 months | 1/16/2008 | 5 | Depression | None. | This drug saved my life. I can feel things again. I'm social, I go out and I'm not negative about the world. I have my life back thanks to Effexor. | M | 35 | 11 months | 12/25/2007 | 5 | YES | Slightly blurred vision. Minor constipation. Dizziness. All these resolve within two weeks. HOWEVER: you must taper off this med very slowly. Cut the tablets in smaller and smaller dose. It takes me at least a month to come off this. Know this going in and you'll be fine. | As a depressive, this med is a very powerful weapon in the toolbox. I use it to halt downward spirals that tend to end in clinical depression. I have abuse issues from my childhood that can trigger serious feelings of pain and abandonment. Once that gets going long enough I get depressed as well (there is a difference between emotional pain and actual depression). Now I just start up the Effexor and go to just 75 mg. Within exactly 11 days I pull out of the emotional slide and I'm fine. After that I stay with it for a few months and taper off SLOWLY. Essentially I'm off meds about 75% of the time and this tool has eliminated any fear of future depression. I am very fortunate to find something that works so well, so fast and at such a low does. I take 20 mg of Prozak in the winter for SAD because Effexor is just to strong, taking away my feelings. However, in a pinch, Effexor kicks in faster than the SSRIs. It's the most effective and powerful med I've ever used. Everyone is differen | M | 57 | 5 times | 12/5/2007 | 5 | Depression and GAD | delayed orgasm, less sexual sensation, sweating, increased blood pressure | It is an extremely helpful drug for me. I was having severe suicidal thoughts prior to starting the drug, and Effexor XR has made my life enjoyable again. Have taken Wellbutrin, Celexa, and Paxil in the past and had to stop for one reason or another. Effexor XR made it possible for me to discontinue monthly ECT Maintenance Treatments. I am also not experiencing any anxiety. In all, this has been very good. | M | 39 | 3 months | 11/13/2007 | 5 | M | 57 | 1 years | 11/4/2007 | 5 | major depression | excessive sweating when active, extreme night sweats, inability to reach orgasm | EXR has been totally effective for me. Eliminated all signs of the depression including suicidal thoughts. started at 37.5 and worked up to 150 mg over the first month. Been on 150 mg since. I take the pill after supper. No problems with sleeping. If I miss taking, wake up the next day with a headache but it goes away as soon as I take the pill. No problem achieving or maintaining an erection (reported by others) but do not ejaculate from intercourse. Considering what I was like before I started taking EXR, I can live with the sweating and sexual side effects. | M | 60 | 6 months | 11/2/2007 | 4 | depression | occasional sleeplessness; @ 225 mg/day - very difficult to orgasm, not as bad @ lower doses. Withdrawal symptoms are horrible - as noted by others. | Withdrawal is an awful experience - I've tried (and made it) several times, but within 2 months the darkness just settles on me again and I have to start taking it again. I haven't even tried quitting in about 3 years. Taking 225 mg for the past year and it doesn't work as well as it used to; previously 150 mg kept me very even and I was well-pleased. Increased stress in my life for the past year and effexor xr hasn't been able to keep up. Not sure which way to go now. | M | 47 | 8 years | 11/5/2007 | 4 | Severe Depression, Panic Attacks | Sexual Libido is gone, Yawning, Dry Mouth, Eyes dialated all the time, Shortness of breath, Sometimes I have what feels like minor electrical shocks going down my arms, Vivid nightmares, Occasional night sweats, Muscle tremors off and on, Really tired most of the time, Elevated High blood pressure, VERY VERY VERY SEVERE WITHDRAWL SYMPTOMS. | Effexor was prescribed to me by the VA in Aug 04. They started with 75mg and it has progressed to 225mg daily. I developed severe clinical depression with frequent panic attacks while in the military. They first prescribed me Prozac, which made me mean and agitated. Then I was given Zoloft, which made me lightheaded and just "high" feeling. Then came Effexor. I first thought it was a Godsend. I woke up after the first night and felt like I had been reborn. I know that sounds stupid but the trees were greener, the sky was brighter, everything was just better. At first the only symptoms were shiny and dialated pupils, and sexual dysfunction. Both of these are common side effects. About 6 months down the road is when the serious side effects really began to surface. As many already know, at this point it's too late. 6 months on this medication is like a decade on prozac. I dropped prozac and zoloft with no pro | M | 29 | 3 years | 11/27/2007 | 4 | Dysthymia, anxiety. | Developed night sweats a few months into treatment, but this stopped soon after. Perspire heavily after light exertion during waking hours. Gained weight but not certain it was a side effect. | I am much less anxious and irritable. Sleep patterns have improved a great deal. Much less negative self-talk. Also undergoing cognitive group therapy which is likely related to improvement. Hope to come off Effexor withing the next 6 months | M | 49 | 1 years | 12/5/2007 | 4 | Still taking Effexor for depression | Sleepyness, Yawning, Dry mouth, sexual dysfunction (unable to achieve orgasm--sometimes), Electrical shock feeling (tingling to single shocks behind the eyes). All of the sideeffects have lessened substantially and experience all of the above only 10% of the time. | Substantial difference pre to post medicated state. Felt like I finally woke up after sleeping for 20yrs and experiencing a bad nightmare. Past two years have been fantastic compared to the prior 20!!! I do fear the withdrawls that I have heard about and experienced to a certain degree. If I forget to take a pill...I will be feeling it within 8 to 12 hours after the time I should have taken it. Experience bad headaches and significant irritability. I think it is much like a true addiction where you body "needs" the substance once you start taking it. | M | 37 | 2 years | 12/13/2007 | 4 | Mild Depression/Anxiety | Increased perspiration/Real lack of sexual desire/Tinnitus/Weight gain/Minor joint soreness/Shortness of breath/Some excessive yawning/Constipation/Dry eyes towards end of 24 hour cycle | Has been helpful for the most part. You really have to figure out what the right time of day is to take it. I found that if I took it in the morning, I would get very tired after about 6 to 8 hours. Switched to taking it right before bed so will sleep through the tired phase. Am taking 225 mg. Still occassional anxiety but much better. Coping and attitude have improved. After reading some of these posts I am not looking forward to getting off, which doctor has suggested I do in about 6 weeks. | M | 42 | 2 months | 12/13/2007 | 4 | Depression with anxiety attacks | The worst thing I've had is the nightmares/vivid dreams, almost every night. Very difficult to wake up from them and banish their craziness from my mind. After a while, it becomes very wearing, since the dreams for the most part are so intensely frustrating and repetitious. Totally unlike normal dreams. | Other than the dreams, effexor works for me, especially in eliminating the anxiety attacks, which bother me more than being depressed. I've never taken more than 75 mgs a day, and have had no trouble tapering off, which I do when I have reason to hope that life is going well enough that the depression may be over. When I start back, I notice results in a couple of days for the anxiety attacks, but the depression takes longer to improve. Unfortunately, the dreams are such a problem that I don't want to keep taking this drug indefinitely, so I keep hoping I can get off it and continue to feel well. Maybe someday that will happen. | M | 62 | 6 times | 12/26/2007 | 4 | Depression | Vivid dreams/nightmares, possibly some tiredness. Some mild effects on discontinuation but nothing too severe, although I did come off it slowly over two or three months. | Greatly improved my depression in a month or so after fluoxetine only gave a slight improvement. Effectiveness seemed to level off after a while and further improvement was slower - another six months until I could start working effectively again. | M | 25 | 9 months | 12/29/2007 | 4 | severe depression | Slept for about 3 month straight. All i did was sleep. i started taking it later at night, to help with this. Orgasm was either severely delayed or didn't happen at all... if i could get over the lack of sex-drive. Initially lost 5 lbs, gained it back in double. | been on effexor xr 150 mg for a little over a year. feel significantly better than without it. no more pressing depression or sadness. it made me extremely tired, initially, and i slept constantly... which was okay, since i was suffering from insomnia and lack of concentration before i started taking it. Orgasm eventually came back... thank god... though, my girlfriend wasn't complaining. I recently built a tolerance to the 150mg, so says my Dr., and i've been upped to 300mg... which isn't helping with my concentration and has made the insomnia return. | M | 26 | 1 years | 2/14/2008 | 4 | Depression and anxiety | Initially I had dizziness and some naseau. I found taking it at breakfast reduced nausea. I have found I sweat more on Effexor. No massive weight gain yet. Most annoying side effect is delayed orgasm and sex drive reduction. While the mind is still interested the body does not have the tingling all over like it used to before sex. | Often get restless legs syndrome with Effexor. Appetite has improved but not to the point were I am emptying the pantry like their is no tomorrow. That is good! Some antidepressants make you so hungry. I just wish Effexor didn't stuff around with the sex drive. | M | 41 | 6 days | 1/29/2008 | 4 | Anxiety, minor unipolar Depression | Side effects include euphoric feeling in the morning, jaw clenching, feeling of tiredness about 6 hrs after each dose but this is mild. I do not have withdraw symptoms if I miss a dose. I did however have a craving for sweats when I first started the drug but I just resisted the urge to eat them which seemed to break the cycle of compulsions. Libido is fine, but in some instances climax takes longer, o well. Also I should say that I had trouble focusing when I started taking Venlafaxin in higher doses this persisted for a very long time, and at times I felt as if I had ADD. This however isn’t the case but I did feel as if I had to concentrate harder to both remember information and focus on completing complex comprehension task. Basically it made it hard to study psychology until I learned how to concentrate very hard on what I was doing. | First off I’ve been studying psychology for about 5 years now. I’m far from a doctor but I know more than the average Joe. I started taking Venlafaxin after trying to come off Tramadol often called Ultram. Ultram gave me horrible withdraw symptoms which I had trouble getting over and this caused me a lot of anxiety, it should be noted I started taking tramadol due to a lower back injury in my L4 L5. After starting Venlafaxin it took about a month to really start working for me, Im a 175 pound healthy male. I dosed up to 225 mg over the course of 3 months. After about 5 months I noticed the efficacy of the drug was starting to fade although I didn’t need the drug as much as I normally don’t have major bouts with anxiety. The drug did “level me out” meaning I was able to think more objectively about situations before responding to them. The drug also made me flat at times but not so much that it was impeding my life. Ive been taki | M | 23 | 8 months | 1/31/2008 | 4 | GAD | dizziness on the first week, slight headache and nervousness | it works | M | 7 days | 1/14/2008 | 4 | Mild Depression | Initially insomnia, what felt like increased blood pressure. Incompatibility with alcohol usage, even very low amounts of alcohol. | I was probably self-medicating myself with very consistent, wine drinking each night. Not a lot, maybe two or three glasses each night. Effexor worked to lift my depression, and to ease up on my alcohol usage. I'm not thrilled about using it long-term. The cost of it, outside of my health insurance, is almost 6 times the cost I pay now ($20 per 30) at Costco. I've also been seeing some insomnia lately, which I wonder if Effexor isn't responsible. I'm using 75mg of Effexor per day. I have successfully tapered and gone off the med, but it's not the easiest experience to go through. | M | 46 | 3.5 years | 1/20/2008 | 4 | depression/anxity | non | amizing helped a great deal with depression and horrible anxity keeps me very happy wont ever think to quit it | M | 23 | 1 years | 8/26/2007 | 4 | major depression | No libido, delayed orgasm, loss of inhibition, sleepiness, flatulence, | I started looking at porn once in awhile to help libido which worked but made my wife mad as hell. Since taking I found markedly less inhibitions toward other women. I never used to be this way. Just got fired for kissing a woman's hand. No problems missing a dose. At 375 mg per day and will have to cut back. Effexor worked dramatically for me relieving severe depression, and restoring some semblance of "normality." I think I may be taking too much. Tried Wellbutrin, Paxil, Zoloft with no success. | M | 60 | 4 years | 8/11/2007 |