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 |
| 4 | Depression | Occational "brain zaps" that startle me awake at night, low libido, sweating, slow urinating in the morning, 30lbs weight gain, tired at higher doses. | I've been taking Effexor for about 7 years now. The highest dosage was in the 300's, now I take 75mg every other day for maintainance because my depression returns if I try and go off 100%. I'd go off completely if it wasn't helping me. | 44 | 7 years | 12/17/2007 | 2 | depression | felt like a zombie, increased appetite | Not for me. I felt like a zombie; couldn't feel happiness or sadness. Felt like I was living in a giant cotton ball. When I went off of it, the side effects were terrible: brain "zaps", flu symptoms. | F | 34 | 1 years | 12/17/2007 | 1 | depression | Negative and violent dreams/nightmares all night/morning long. Basically any time I slept (if you can call it sleeping). Suicidal thoughts also occurred. | Did NOT help in any way. As a matter of fact, got much worse than I had been over my 49 years. Even ended feeling thoughts of suicide which I had never felt before. Beware of this medication! | M | 49 | 5 months | 12/16/2007 | 3 | depression & GAD | night sweats, night terrors, vivid dreams, nightmares, electric-shock sensations, nausea | I have been taking three 37.5mg tablets twice daily for approx 5 years now. The side effects have been constant throughout but are reasonably manageable. I generally wake around 4am absolutely freezing following a massive night sweat - my bedclothes and hair are soaked. I've found that if I dont get up and take my first 3 pills at around 8am then I get nightmares. Beyond 10 and I get "stuck" in nightmares, where I'm desperately trying to wake up but cant. I've slept through to 5pm until something has finally woken me - really frightening and upsetting. The electric shock head gets much worse as my second dose is due - I think it's just withdrawal. I've noticed that these symptoms are FAR worse if I'm dehydrated. Apart from these side effects, the drug has worked to improve my long-term depression when other drug treatments have failed. I think it's worth persevering with slightly unpleasant side-effects if your overall quality of life improves, even a little. | F | 31 | 5 years | 12/15/2007 | 3 | Anxiety | dry mouth, trouble staying asleep, feeling groggy during the day | this medication seems much stronger than zoloft | F | 30 | 4 days | 12/14/2007 | 1 | Severe depression | Anger (well, fury, really), weight gain, depersonalisation, nausea | I've been lowering my dosage of this over the past six months, in 75mg increments from 225mg. Each time I stepped down, I had to spend 2 days in bed because of the withdrawal. Took my final 75mg pill one week ago exactly, and have moved to St John's Wort, omega 3 and 5-HTP. The withdrawal symptoms are almost unbearable. Although I got through the insane bursts of rage followed by uncontrollable weeping, the severe hot and cold sweats and the nausea after two or three days, I can't shake the vertigo, aching limbs and most importantly the light aversion and things floating in front of my eyes. I have a strong family history of glaucoma, and was never told that this medicine can cause glaucoma. I am now just hoping that the eye problems are withdrawal and I haven't ended up really damaging my eyes through the fact that no one bothered to monitor my eyes during the 10 years I was on the bloody stuff. Take this if it's an absolute last resort, but if there's anything else you can try, go fo | F | 28 | 10 years | 12/11/2007 | 3 | Depression | Extreme constipation, dry mouth, bad breath, weight gain, fatigue, headaches, patterns of not sleeping enough or too much, shakes, loss of libido and difficulty achieving orgasm, brain flutters and some short term memory loss | Seemed to improve my depression initially. Felt neutral like I was not really experiencing any emotion. Started getting the shakes before taking my pills. Waking up after sleeping for a few hours and eating something sweet and hardly remember doing it. I felt like I was an addict looking for heroin except it was sugar. I am tapering off now going from 150mg/day to zero in a months time. I am on the 137.5mg/day now and feeling foggy and irritable. This was ok for me in the short time but it is time to get off. I had extreme withdrawl from Paxil 10 years ago so I know what to expect. No more meds for me again. | F | 47 | 4 months | 12/9/2007 | 4 | anxiety | some days i feel very wired and the other days i feel really tired. if i dont take i have nightmares were i cant wake my self up at all like im stuck and wake up freaky out. my blood pressure is sometimes high, i have to watch what others i take because my blood will get really high. I found that i have to take it at night. i feel like a new person and i feel relax throughout the day. some nights i just cant sleep but if i sleep 2 tp three hours i feel like slept 6 hrs. i can also focus better and im nicer lol. | i like it. i have tried some many and found this work the best. | F | 28 | 1.5 years | 12/6/2007 | 4 | anxiety, depression, bulimia | lack of menstruation, decreased sex drive, night sweats, grinding of teeth, acne, irritability (after 1 month) | Have taken for 1 month - took Paxil for 9 years before that, but changed for more anxiety coverage. Has helped lift my depression, lost 5 lbs - lack of interest in food. Have begun feeling nervous, excitable, anxious. Worried about no menstruation and NO interest in sex. Have felt better overall emotionally. | F | 35 | 1 months | 12/3/2007 | 4 | Depression (maybe Dysthymia) | Vivid dreams - all night long! It's like watching a continuous stream of movies on an aeroplane when all you want is a moment blissful/unconscious sleep. Dry mouth. Initial feeling of weight loss during first 2 weeks (was not bothered by hunger, didn't feel like I wanted to eat). Now quite occupied with food, eating, feeding my sweet-tooth, etc, even when I'm very full. Like premenstral food-cravings, but it doesn't let up. Night sweats. Early waking (~5am), but can get back to dreaming. Most of the time, I am able to get out of bed at a reasonable time. A little bit sweaty during the day (but no different to Prozac). Not sure about decreased libido, because I didn't have one before starting Effexor! Increased pulse rate, but perfect blood pressure. Sometimes, I have a subtle feeling of expectation, like something is going to happen (something exciting, but you have to wait to find out what it is). It's quite a nice change to the depression. | I'm taking 37.5 mg three times a day now (am increasing dose slowly). Am a bit worried about weight gain, given my latest food-obsession. Have taken Prozac over the years (starting at 21, for prolonged periods, but on and off). Found that Prozac has stopped working. Quickly weaned off Prozac (over a couple of days) and started Effexor. Effexor makes me feel like I have a reason to get up (most mornings, at least). While it's early days, I at least have hope that my depression will lift with this med. Not bothered about the withdrawl symptoms when coming off it, because (a), that will be a while away yet, and (b), I seriously need something now, and quite frankly a couple weeks of shit down the line is better than endless months/years now without taking an antidepressant. | F | 27 | 3 weeks | 11/20/2007 | 4 | Anxiety and Depression. | Loss of sex drive, weight gain, feeling 'out of it', other common mild side effects. | Effexor actually worked incredibly well for me. I was in a very bad way before taking the drug and it was fantastic in getting me on my feet again - I really couldn't have asked for much more and it probably saved my life. However, after being on the drug for four years and getting to a point where I felt I manage without the drug, I decided to come off it about 3 months ago. I knew this would be difficult from reading other patients experiences as well as some withdrawal symptoms I'd had after missing a day or so, but nothing could have prepared me for the awful time I had. The 'electric shocks', diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, severe depression along with many other wonderful things. These problems lasted for a week or two, but now, three months on I'm still having some issues with anxiety. Hoping that's just a drawn out withdrawal symptom and not an old friend... | F | 22 | 4 years | 11/13/2007 | 1 | anxiety,panic attacks,depression | First week extreme energy,insommia,nausea,weight loss | I've been on effexor for about 6 months now. I HATE this med!! It should be pulled off the market! I have expirence extreme hostility,angry,and rage! To the point of wanting to commit murder! Also sudical thoughts. There were times I had to stop myself from taking a bottle of xanax to kill myself. I am now weaning off this horrible drug and that in its self sucks. Do yourself a big favor and dont start this drug!!BTW you CANNOT drink alcohol on this med. When I did I got extremly mean and the next day I was sick with flu-like symtoms. | F | 26 | 6 days | 11/11/2007 | 2 | GAD | MAJOR sexual dysfunction in ONLY 2 DAYS of taking Effexor. Serotonin "buzz" on lowest possible dosage. Sleepy, groggy feeling. | I refuse to take any more anti-depressants for my GAD. Klonopin works fine by itself, and Paxil and Zoloft are TEN TIMES WORSE than Effexor. For depression, ask your doctor about Wellbutrin, which I've never taken, but I believe works more on dopamine than serotonin. For GAD, I think you're stuck with the benzos. Use them responsibly and resist the urge to "just keep popping" and they'll work fine. Moderation is the key. | M | 24 | 2 days | 11/7/2007 | 1 | Deprsession | Icreased dreams, night sweats, loss of sexual interest. Coming off was not good. I had vertigo and then "swooshing" noises with eye movement. | F | 35 | 21 days | 11/7/2007 | 1 | Depression | Bad side effects were tollerable, but the worst part was the withdrawl caused when trying to get off the med. It was horrible!!! | M | 39 | 6 months | 11/5/2007 | 5 | The only negative side effect is that about 36 hours after a 150 mg dose (i.e. if I miss one), I begin to experience some dizziness and slight nausea. On the positive side, though it has a slight anorgasmic effect, delaying onset of orgasm and ejaculation, once it happens it's knee-buckling, copious and lasts 4 times as long as it used to. Any effect on libido seems to be positive. | I will continue to use this medication until I discover that I don't need it. While it is essentially addictive, the net result for me is a liveable life instead of a constant wresting match with my mood. My mood disorder was a disabling handicap making it impossible to take pleasure in my life. Effexor has changed that. Instead of feeling terrible about life 20 days or more per month, despite having a productive and interesting life, it only happens once or twice if at all, allowing me to be my best. | M | 46 | 9 months | 10/31/2007 | 4 | Depression | When starting effexor and with each increase in dose, my body temperature felt extremely hot and my brain was in a fog. I would have to schedule a day with nothing to do to prepare for the increase in dose because I did not feel that I could function in the outside world. The only side effect I am experiencing now that my body is used to the medication is restless legs syndrome and anorgasmia. | This is my 2nd time taking effexor,1st time was for around 1.5 yrs.The withdrawal effects u read about are no joke.When withdrawing from effexor,I thought I was losing my mind.I was sick to my stomach.I always had to be w/my family/friends because I would constantly search my house in fear that someone was inside.I am a nurse and come across many pts w/schizophrenia and looking back,the symptoms I was experiencing could definitely compare to that of a schizophrenic.Then there was the uncontrollable crying and extreme suicidal thoughts,along w/the brain zaps in which it feels as if someone literally zapped ur brain and it takes a moment to regain ur train of thought.It sounds crazy that after going through this I would ever take effexor again but after being off of it for around 6 months I once again sank into a major depression,my 4th ever and I have tried nearly every other medication available.I have great results w/ effexor and feel alive again.I do not recommend this medication for | F | 25 | 2 months | 10/28/2007 | 4 | Depression, anxiety | Blurred vision, cold hands, heart palpitations, diziness, nausea, lethargy, loss of appetite, teeth grinding | I originally took Effexor for two years, and weaned myself off on my doctor's instructions over a year and a half ago. It was a great drug to be on, and I felt stable and myself while I was taking it. Weaning off was fine, as I followed my doctor's instruction, and it took approx. 2 months if I remember correctly, and involved taking Prozac also. It's really important to wean yourself off very slowly, and with the assistance of Prozac. Similarly, if I didn't take my pill at the same time everyday, I would also get shocks. I've just started back on Effexor for hopefully a short period, but unlike previously, I'm feeling all the side effects I listed. Hopefully this will calm down soon enough. | F | 26 | 2 days | 10/27/2007 | 5 | MDD (depression), GAD (anxiety) | I experienced delayed ejaculation (from the first dose), vivid dreams, dry mouth (first two weeks), urinary retention (first two weeks), constipation (first two weeks), irritability (first two weeks), increased depression (first two weeks), increased anxiety (first two weeks), fatigue (first two weeks), NO significantly increased blood pressure (but I haven't gone above 150mg/day). | Of the thirteen antidepressants (as well as several mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics/neuroleptics) I have tried, Effexor is the only one that helped significantly with my depression or my anxiety, and it helped with both, and it helped quite a lot. I was very hesitant about starting Effexor because SSRIs (Effexor is an SNRI, similar) always agitate me so badly I cannot take them, and also because Effexor supposedly increases blood pressure (I have mild, controlled hypertension), and also because withdrawing is reputedly so difficult. But after two weeks on Effexor I was thrilled with the results, and it got better as time went on and my dosage increased to 150mg/day, where I will stay. Overall, I am very pleasantly surprised by the minimal side effects, the significant benefits, and the very low cost - I take generic venlafaxine hydrochloride. | M | 57 | 3 months | 10/21/2007 | 5 | Chronic depression | vivid dreams, tingling and numbness in outside of left hand, night sweats, lost 10 pounds (which is great!), twitching (mostly when falling asleep), blurred vision | I take 450 mg per day which is maximum you can take. It really helped me get out of my funk. I almost feel normal. This is the third time I have taken it in the past 10 years. Other times were for about 1.5 years and about 9 months. I have tried Wellbutrin and Lexapro but they did not do anything for me. I can live with the side effects of Effexor because the upside is worth it. | F | 41 | 3 months | 10/21/2007 |