EFFEXOR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (925 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. 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 |
More on EFFEXOR: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, PANIC ATTACK | THIS IS THE WORST DRUG TO GET OFF, THE FIRST TIME I WENT OFF FAST AND HAD CRAZY THOUGHTS,BRAIN DIZZY, STOMACH PAINS,SICK,WENT CRAZY AFTER 3 WEEKS..SO MY DOCTOR MADE ME GO BACK ON IT FOR ANOTHER 2 YEARS.. THE PAST 3 MONTHS I HAVE BEEN SLOWLY GOING OFF IT WITH THE HELP OF SEREQUAL AND VALIUM. THE ONLY HORRIBLE WITHDRAW NOW IS SWEATING ALL THE TIME.. AT NIGHT IS THE WORST AND EARLY MORNING.. ALSO WEIRD VIVID DREAMS.. IAM DOWN TO 75MG AND CANNOT WAIT TO GET OFF THIS HORRIBLE DRUG FOR GOOD AND LOSE THE WEIGHT IS ALSO MADE ME GAIN 25KG.. | WORST DRUG EVER... DO NOT EVER GO ON IT... | F | 33 | 3 days | 2/5/2008 | 2 | heavy depression, social fobia | heavy nausea (sometimes i had to crawl up on the floor not being able to move and want to die), insomnia, fever | been on 37.5 75, and now 150mg been on and off it over a year, cause i just cant stand the side effects which make me sick as hell, it seemed to work better at the start now its just f-ed up and i feel i gotta get on it to make myself feel anything other then what i feel without effexor, i wouldnt recommend this drug to anyone | F | 20 | 1 years | 2/4/2008 | 5 | Depression | At first, nausea and weight loss. After a month though the only side effect I have are occasional night sweats. | Wonderful! After years of limited success with SSRIs, my depression is severely reduced, if not eliminated. I have not had a major depressive episode in months. The first month was the worse with the nausea and dizzyness, but now the worst thing I get are night sweats, which is a fine trade off for me. | F | 19 | 3 months | 1/29/2008 | 5 | mild depression | It is harder to get myself out of bed in the morning. I start work at 7 am every morning and after taking the 75mg for two months I find that I'm hitting the snooze button and getting my clothes ready the night before so I'm not late. One nice thing is that I'm not depressed any more so I don't really care that much if I am late. ;) I also completely lost my appitite. I probably self medicated my depression with food over the last 20 years and I dropped 10 pounds in the first two months on this drug. Sex drive is down, but when the opportunity presents itself I don't think that I dissappoint. | I've suffered from mild depression for 20+ years and never did anything about it. I saw it as a sign of weakness. Finally my wife asked me to talk to someone about it. So my Doc gave me Effexor. 37.5 mg for the first week and 75mg once a day after that. I had "NO" idea life could be this wonderful. | M | 37 | 2 months | 1/28/2008 | 5 | Bipolar, anxiety, panic attacks | The only thing I can directly attribute to Effexor is mild myoclonus (twitching) which usually only occurs when I am tired and I think the tradeoff is absolutely worth it. | I see a lot of negative stuff here, but I have to say Effexor has been a Godsend for me. I've been anxious and depressed since early childhood. The mania came later in life. I was often suicidal and would be so depressed I couldn't even get out of bed and shower for months at a time. Then I'd suddenly be bouncing off the walls, mind racing, going 3 or 4 days without sleep. It got to the point I couldn't hold a job. I noticed a marked improvement within 1 week of beginning Effexor. I also take some other meds in combination to augment my control of my disease. I may wobble down the road a little, but at least now I don't fall off. Do I have depression, anxiety or mania sometimes? Yes, but now it's manageable. It may last 2 days as opposed to 2 months. I never expected Effexor to make my life perfect, just livable. I have occasionally missed a dose, or even 2, with no ill effect. Yeah, I've gained some weight, but I'd rather be a little heavy than a lot crazy. Do I have trouble focusi | F | 50 | 5 years | 1/23/2008 | 5 | depression | tremor, headache, loss of libido | F | 40 | 4 years | 1/19/2008 | 4 | anxiety - depression | I don't remember quite how it was when I started but for now and for a long time I’ve had dry mouth, hot & cold flashes, constipation, brain fog, lack of memory, jittery, more shortness of breathe lately. I've always had lots of dreaming so I can't really say I’ve had any more than usual but sometimes it feels as if you dream all night that when you wake up you feel like you've never slept. I never had night sweats until I’ve taken this drug and it so annoying. I've also had weight gain, really weird blurry vision and fogginess sometimes and dehydration. If you miss a day when you take it again the symptoms are really crappy. It's like a kick in the pants for missing your dose. You get nauseous and dizzy and just feel completely out of it for about 5 hours or so and your body feels really agitated. | As of right now I would really like to go off of the medication even though I'm really scared of the withdrawal symptoms which I heard that effexor is one of the worst ones. I do feel though when I decided to first start taking it and until recently it has in general helped me, definitely with my anxiety and heart palpitations. With the depression maybe somewhat, it’s really hard to say because it’s so emotional too. You definitely can’t just depend on the medication to make you feel better you have to go the whole 9 yards and do therapy and different self help groups with really does make it easier to learn how to deal with your emotions. As of now I think I’m ready to go off of it because the symptoms seem to be more in the way. I don’t think it’s a long term drug, like more than 5 years. Otherwise you might just go crazy with the side effects. | F | 26 | 4.5 years | 1/19/2008 | 3 | Bipolar | Occasional fluttering sensation in ears, heart palpitations, brain zaps. | So far, the side effects haven't been hardly enough to make me want to get off of this medicine. Pretty good with stabilizing moods. | F | 18 | 4 months | 1/17/2008 | 1 | depression and anxiety | One hour after my first dose of 100mg,my very first day. I experienced SEVERE nausea, sweating, fainting feeling and vomiting. Never taking it again!!!! | F | 42 | | 1/15/2008 | 4 | panic attacks | crazy nightly vivid dreams, nauseated most days, dizziness, fatigue | I will continue on this drug because I have to. I can live with most of the symptoms I described, but...the crazy daily dreams are to a point that they are nightly, and I feel I am watching movies or I am living a double life. I cannot even take a nap without having a dream! Annoying, bothersome and affects my energy levels during the day. Scary dreams at times, but not classed as nightmares | F | 49 | | 1/13/2008 | 3 | depression, anger mgt, ADD, anxiety | grinding teeth/sore jaw, lack of appetite 1st couple weeks then overeating to the point of nausea, groggy, tremors, muscle twitches and jerks, headaches, nausea after taking pill, runny and itchy nose, muscle weakness, high blood pressure | When I first started Effexor XR, I felt foggy for about 2 weeks then felt good for 2 weeks, then leveled off. At 6 weeks, I needed to up the dose because it seemed to stop working. Same thing happened again 6 weeks after the increase and I am faced with the choice of going up again or stopping and going on something else. I have decided to go off it. I am a jeweler and I cannot deal with the tremors, my hands cannot hold my tools, and the muscle jerks I get in my arms, legs, and jaw are absolutely maddening! The jerks usually come at the end of the day and beginning of day, probably when the medication is wearing off. Have gained 10 pounds in 4 months because I seem to have lost the instinct or brain message to stop eating when I'm full. I become an eating machine, stopping only when my jaw starts to ache and i get heartburn. My anger was maintained for awhile but I am back to screaming, I just don't think this medication is worth the side effects, plain and simple. | F | 41 | 4 months | 1/13/2008 | 3 | hot flashes | tried to stop taking it, but felt very strange sexual dysfunction | F | 53 | 18 months | 1/11/2008 | 4 | depression, anxiety | Low doseage of 37.5 worked well. Dr. increased to 100 and now am having side effect of extreme tiredness, not sleeping. | I have taken myself back to 50mg and will get a new prescription for 37.5. I had suffered from extreme depression and anxiety attacks for over 13 years (didn't leave the house for 2 years). I simply didn't want to be alive, but was not suicidal. After starting the effexor I was able to fly for the first time in years with no fear. Just before I started taking this drug I had lost 2 family members and 5 friends in just over a year and was having a very difficult time with nearly continuous migraines. I still have headaches often but have only had one serious migraine since I began effexor 15 months ago. I will continue on but at the lowest doseage which seems to work fine for me. | F | 63 | 15 months | 1/10/2008 | 4 | Depression | severe erectile dysfunction (ED). i'm searching for herbal alternatives to viagra since i get dangerous side effects with viagra (chest palpitations, severe flushing). | Effexor: effective, severe ED, difficult withdrawal. Lexapro: effective, mild ED. Paxil: effective, severe ED, pupil dilation, some cotton mouth, difficult withdrawal. Others taken briefly-- Zoloft: bad cotton mouth, etc. Wellbutrin: change in taste and smell, vertigo. Trazodone: flushing, mild Viagra. | M | 37 | 6 months | 1/10/2008 | 1 | Anxiety (GAD) | Zoning out-feel blank,drowsy,numb,no appetite,dry mouth. | This is my first time taking meds for anxiety, 37.5mg. It's my second day. Yesturday I was groggy, today I feel blank. I've gone from having racing thoughts to not having any at all. This is the opposite of what I expected. I just feel numb. | F | 27 | 2 days | 1/9/2008 | 1 | major depression | Terrible withdrawal symptoms which little measurable difference while taking the drug. Flu-like symptoms. | I really believe this drug shoulde not be used lightly as it is very difficult to come off of. Employers do not understand how drug withdrawal effects patients in their daily lives. | F | 45 | 4 years | 1/7/2008 | 4 | depression | less sexual interest | great drug | M | 35 | 3 years | 1/1/2008 | 4 | Depression | Loss of sexual desire, always hungry (gained 20lbs), cholesterol has shot up significantly. | Tried to quit med but SEVERE depression ensued. Wild, vivid dreams when I miss a dose. I am taking 37.5mg once a day. | M | 44 | 3 years | 12/29/2007 | 3 | DEPRESSION/ SOCIAL ANXIETY | Brain in a Fog, loss of motivation, "feeling zoned out", vivid dreams, not giving a F*** feeling. | I have been on SSRI's for 9 years (most recently Zoloft) and switched cold turkey to Effexor. Less motivatied and feel foggy in the brain. It did help my anxiety though. Not anxious at all. BUT depression is worse then SSRI's and I feel like I am in my own world. I could give a hoot when I take this stuff! | M | 29 | 20 days | 12/28/2007 | 3 | Anxiety | I have been on anxiety medicine for 4 years. It has helped some but has not taken care of the problem completely, just lessened the imopact. | F | 26 | 3 days | 12/28/2007 |