EFFEXOR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (925 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
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 | Yup, I did type 17 YEARS! I was perscribed this medicine when I was 22 because of severe depression and anxiety especiialy around my period. I started out on 75 mgs extended relief and I think it gave me some relief but honestly I dont really remember because over the years I have tried to stop taking it but PHYSICALLY my body couldnt take it :( I even poured out the little beads inside and counted to try to step down one time. The way I finally got to 37.5 mgs pills was due to pregnancy. In my 3rd trimester I just said "enough" and this is the lowest dose I have been on and been able to maintain-2 years now. I am now working with my doctor to completely break free from this awful medication.... | JUST DONT TAKE IT...EVER. | F | 39 | 17 years 37.5 1X day | 7/21/2012 | 5 | anxiety, agitation, depression | Dry mouth weight gain | F | 36 | 1 months 150mg | 6/28/2012 | 2 | emotional breakdown | complete numbing of clitoris and reduced sensitivity in entire vaginal area during intercourse. About a quarter of my physical sensation during sex has returned after a few months. this has destroyed my partner's confidence and causing huge problems in our relationship. | i believe at this dosage, effexor worked to treat my suicidal thinking and massive depression. However, i have to get off it before i lose the love of my life. i will go back to zoloft which had no serious negative side effects for me. | F | 41 | 6 months 150 1X day | 5/24/2012 | 1 | chronic pain | Intense anxiety-like symptoms. Racy heartbeat, strange feeling in chest, clammy hands. Felt sort of like being on a roller coaster, even when I wasn't. | Normally I give meds a longer time to work, but after a week I just said "what the heck am I doing to myself?" and stopped taking it. | F | 38 | 7 days 37.5 1X day | 4/2/2012 | 1 | Mild Anxiety/depression | I went from a slightly anxious but normal person to a paranoid psychotic in about a week after taking effexor. I would not wish this drug on my worst enemy. Within a week of taking it I was contemplating suicide (took a bottle of pills to work just in case I couldn't bear it) and was so paranoid that I was convinced that my wife would turn into a deamon and kill me. I was hospitalized four times. Once I got off of all the anti-depression medicines (I now take a mild dose of ativan) I was fine. It's four years later and I'm fit as a fiddle, but my effexor experience was awful. | I hesitate to say that nobody should take effexor because I'm not a doctor, but I do think that the risks are so high, that it would have to be for someone who is suffering horribly and nothing else is working. I would never take it again under any circumstance. | M | 53 | 10 days not sure 2X day | 3/29/2012 | 4 | Anxiety/Depression | After 16 months on this med, the only side effect is the typical sweating at night. If you truly need antidepressants, that is nothing to complain about. At 300 mg for the last 3 months, libido is greatly increased, the the satisfaction sure is. | The time it has taken for this med to work for me has been gradual over the 16 months I have taken it. But with increasing the dose gradually, which I wasn't sure I wanted to do in the beginning ( kind of sensitive to it at first), This is the best antidepressant I have taken. It is very good at handling my intense anxiety much of the time. I still use Seroquel at times, but exercising each day makes all the difference in that. Further time will yield more info. I will post then. | M | 53 | 16 months 150 bid. 2X day | 2/26/2012 | 2 | hot flashes | F | 43 | 6 months 30 | 2/24/2012 | 2 | Depression | Unpleasant dreams about the past. At least Celexa gave me very detailed and imaginative dreams. | Supposed to help hot flashes....they are worse! | F | 56 | 3 months 225 mg 1X day | 2/18/2012 | 4 | bipolar disorder/major depression | At first I had nausea but in a dew days it was gone. I don't know if my memory/poor concentration is due to other meds I take. I have no side effects otherwise to remark about. | I have been very resistant to psych meds but in the hospital I had a great response to Effexor so I'm trying it again. I have severe, incapacitating pain from degenerative disks and no thyroid since birth so I have a lot to deal with. But its now day 14 and (holding my breath) For a week I haven't been dwelling on sad/negative thoughts and today my pain level is reduced; I mean a real difference. I feel very hopeful & positive about this medication & my future. Also it doesn't interfere with my thyroid medicine. Effexor also helped my son a lot during a depressive phase last year. I give it a big thumbs up so far. | F | 55 | 2 weeks 150 mg 2X day | 2/2/2012 | 3 | Anxiety | mild nausea, stomach pain at first then it went away, vivid dreams and nightmares, shakiness, dry mouth - but mild. | I took 1/4 tablet of 25 mg Effexor, which I know is extremely small, but I have a sensitive metabolism (& always take tiny doses at first). I then increased to 1/2 a tab after one week - VERY slowly. I think it's important to mention this as so many people do not need to be taking such high "standard" doses - especially at first. Doctors overprescribe dose and then have to spend months undoing side effects - it's SO much better to start low and work your way up. What do you have to lose? Drugs are never one size fits all, and lower doses often work best for some. Some people only need 1 motrin for a headache, some people are drunk after one beer. Start small and work your way up - this might be a solution for you. at 12 mg my anxiety was helped somewhat. | F | 40 | 10 days 12.5 mg 1X day | 1/30/2012 | 3 | depression | Dry Mouth, nasty taste on my tongue, other than that...nothing yet. | 35 | 1 days 37.5 1X day | 1/26/2012 | 3 | depression and anxiety | flushing, hot flashes, sweating, dry mouth, horrible heartburn, constipation. sleeplessness for the first month but sleeping fine now. irritable for the first couple weeks but better now. Brain snaps, but I had those on Prozac too. Already gained weight taking Prozac for 7 years, hope I don't gain more. One interesting development since quitting Prozac is that my migraines are much better. I don't know if this was from going off Prozac or starting Effexor, but it is a bonus! | My depression seems better and my anxiety has improved as well. The side effects are a little irritating and I hope eventually they will go away. I already had heartburn, but now it is worse and prilosec barely touches it. I stopped taking HRT this past summer so not sure if the flushing and hot flashes are a combination of both hormones and Effexor or just the Effexor. They seemed to be much worse when I started the drug. I am going to give it a little longer because it does seem to be helping my depression and the side effects are mostly just an annoyance. | F | 53 | 2.5 months 150 1X day | 1/23/2012 | 2 | deppression,anxiety | Energy levels raised, irritability | F | 20 | 3 months 150 | 1/17/2012 | 2 | depression | 1--very dry mouth. My tongue looked unhealthy. 2--extremely bitter and metallic taste in mouth. I did not want to talk to anyone at work because I thought my breath had to smell horrible, too 3--only wanted to eat things that masked the taste, and this turned out to be sugar/sweets 4--retaining fluids. I noticed it in my breasts first, as they became huge | I have been on Prozac for many years with no noticeable side effects. It matches my chemistry. I am the type of patient for whom it was developed. I am also on low Buspar. I was not interested in replacing Prozac with Effexor, as I was doing just fine...depression managed for over many years. But, I recently developed severe sciatica, and I have arthritis in one hip. I am very active and fit at age 61 . The pain was somewhat managed with physical therapy and yoga, but my doctor said that Effexor had a positive side effect in pain management. I decided the taste alone was more than I could tolerate. I stopped 6 days ago, and went back on Prozac instead. Yesterday, I no longer had that horrible taste in my mouth for the first time, but it still feels dry. Dropping fluids like crazy and back to normal there. And, I am back to my normally healthful eating patterns. The worst parts of eliminating Effexor are the depression and nightmares…and I mean nightmares. Nearly non-stop when I sleep. Action-packed and exhausting. I do not recall having these nightmares until I cut out the Effexor. I am accepting of the depression. I know it will go away as I am able to get the Prozac back into my system. I believe I gave the Effexor a fair trial, but it simply does not match my chemistry. | F | 61 | 3 weeks 150 1X day | 1/1/2012 | 2 | adjunct to Wellbutrin | Dizziness, nausea, gas, diarrhea, thought of eating absolutely repulsive | Nothing other than side effects. I needed an addition to the Wellbutrin for my treatment-resistant depression. I realize it's really too soon to really evaluate anything, but do these side effects go away? I don't really need to be constantly be farting at the office, thank you very much. Eating has also turned out to be absolutely disgusting. Even a half-box of Pop-Tarts doesn't do anything for me. I have a full order of fettecine alfredo I ordered and couldn't eat. Wasted my money unless I can eat it tomorrow. Did nothing for panic/anxiety so far, had to take one benzo per day. Like I said, I'm not really giving this a fully fair rating but I want to know if these side effects go away. I'm supposed to increase my dose to 75mg in a few days so I wouldn't mind knowing. | F | 48 | 4 days 37.5 1X day | 12/31/2011 | 1 | major depressive disorder | i took this drug a few yrs ago and it didnt work so my dumb doctor put me on prestiq that didnt work so now im back on effexor and this time i got the craziest side effects, no thrive to do anything at all, vivid nightmares, insomnia horribly, chews lips/cheeks/grinds teeth constantly, i went from no libido to now it wont stop running , horrible ezcema ,ear aches ,jaw pain ,irratable,major depression, the list can go on,,, | this medication is useless i feel worse on this then on anything else | F | 29 | 4 years 150 1X day | 12/23/2011 | 4 | Anxiety/panic attacks | At the begining: night sweats, increased appetite; on-going: weight gain, acne | For me, Effexor was great. My life had become very small and I was barely functioning when I went on Effexor. For the first time in years, I felt "normal" - I could live my life without being scared of something happening. After two years, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on things. I was sick of the weight that I'd gained and the acne problems I was having. I have been tepering off Effexor for just over 11 months. I have experienced side effects, but nothing overly major. After each reduction in my dose the side effects would be on and off for two weeks at the most then go away. Once I was comfortable at the new dose level, I'd decrease it again. Once I got to the 37.5 mg a day, the side effects at each reduction have been worse (to reduce 37.5mg, you need to open the pill and count out the little white balls to create your own dose - a pain in the butt, but worth it). Once I was down to about 20mg a day, I have steadily decreased the dose every day by less than 1mg a day. The withdrawal effects are pretty brutal, but nothing I can't handle and not nearly as bad as what I read online. I'm happy to have taken Effexor to stop the vicious cycle I was in. It's been a bit of a rough road to get off it, but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel and I'm looking forward to getting there. | F | 27 | 3 years 150mg 1X day | 12/22/2011 | 1 | Counteract effects of wellbutrin | Extreme weight gain. Now have been diagnosed with fatty liver disease. Doctor says both of these are caused by this drug. Now am going through trying to get off of this after 10 years. Recommend having serious discussion with your doctor before starting this med to discuss side effects. | F | 42 | 10 days | 12/18/2011 | 4 | Dry Mouth and Decreased Libido for first 2 weeks..then nothing but teeth grinding occasionally. This drug rocks! Took away all my anxiety and most of my depression. | Feel kinda dazed a lot and emotionless...I don't care as much good or bad as I used to. But I'd rather not feel anything, than have severe anxiety. | M | 32 | 5 months 150 1X day | 12/9/2011 | 2 | anxiety, panic disorder, depression | Nausea, bad vivid dreams, NO libido, no interest in social activities, loss of appetite, MAYBE stronger panic attacks but not sure | F | 25 | 1 years 225 mg | 12/2/2011 |