SERZONE Reviews (NEFAZODONE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.5 (164 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare SERZONE with similar:
Type: Brand name discontinued; available as generic
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on SERZONE: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR SERZONE | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | anxiety | Some dry mouth, a bit of constipation, tiredness at first | I have been using this for about ten years, and it keeps me functioning. Severe stress made me up the dose from 300 to 400. Doctor said body can get good at processing it and make it less effective. I tried to change over when I heard it was going out of production, but had a horrible experience with the other drug. I am interested in hearing from other long time users. I am more forgetful, but I am also older, and have survived some truly horrible times. Stress takes its toll on memory. My eyesight is getting worse, but it often does when one ages. Meanwhile, it feels good to be myself, able to handle the incredible things that life throws at me without a breakdown. I have found that few doctors seem to know much about it. One doctor explained that if there are liver issues, they tend to happen in the early times of usage. I feel very safe. | F | 56 | 10 years | 12/7/2009 | 5 | Anxiety, couldn't drive nor travel | I only experienced needing to drink a lot of liquid do to dry mouth, but I needed to increase my fluid intake anyway. | I have been on every anti-depressant there is and Serzone is the only one that made me feel like a content, relaxed,human being,who was happy and could keep on track, who for the first time looked forward to traveling with my husband, who started driving all over by myself.Then.... My doc took me off when the black box warning came out..little did he realize that they all should have black box warnings on them for one reason or the other! I want to get back on it right now..I have been on 4 in the last 8 months and getting off and on them is horrendous!Those shooting electrical charges in my head from getting off those pills have fried my hair!I am eagerly looking for a Psychiatrist who will give me Serzone again, who wants to help his patients, not make them more afraid then they already are. | F | 60 | 3 years | 11/11/2009 | 5 | Panic/anxiety; Mod. Depression | At higher doses visual "trails" especially when getting up an night to urinate, but they are sort of neat actually. Mild anorgasmia (inability to orgasm)and mild emotional "deadening." | About the liver problem: Estimates indicate about 1 in 250,000 patient years will develop liver problems. If your urine turns brown, your stool (poop) starts to turn white or the whites of your eyes start to turn yellow, seek medical help. Get liver profile before and while taking especially in the beginning. It appears that the people that died may have had liver issues even before the Serzone made it worse. I cannot take SSRI's because my Cytochrome liver enzyme systems do not clear them causing a rapid toxic level. Serzone uses a different Cytochrome system which seems intact for me so it works well. Its effects are a bit subtle, but I get a good balance of relief and I find that I can drop to 200mg/day when my life has little stress, and increase to 600mg/day at high stress times like December with Christmas and reduced daylight. Unlike other meds one can drop dosage or increase dosage quite rapidly. I find that I can take a "drug holiday" and go for several days on half the dose, and then resume. This mediates any anorgasmia. I also like Nefazodone because it is a sleep moderator and I sleep better with it. When I take 300mg/day I take 200 before bedtime and 100 in the morning. If I need to take 400 I'll do 200 at night, 100 in the morning and 100 at lunch, otherwise I'll get mild lightheartedness. About 50 people have had liver problems over a decade and about 20 have died, I'll bet far more people have died from car accidents while using Nefazodone. | M | 56 | 10 years | 11/4/2009 | 1 | Panic Disorder | Hot flashes, chills, disoriented, loss of balance, could not walk in a straight line, worst panic attack of my life. | I have been on Wellbutrin SR 300 mg for two months. The Wellbutrin was not helping for my panic disorder so my Phychiatrist suggested adding Serzone. I took 50 mg before bed around 9:00 pm. Around 11:00 pm I started feeling unusually panicky. Shortly after the rest of the horrible side effects began. I have become very good at diffusing panic attacks when they occur, but this one was so severe I was not able to diffuse it at all. I read on the internet that the stuff takes between 11-24 hours to clear out of your system. I did not feel normal again until 5 pm the following day. Beware if you decide to try the Serzone/Wellbutrin combination. | F | 30 | 1 days | 10/22/2009 | 5 | acute OCD/anxiety | love this medication; saved my life. Just wondering now if it is starting to cause memory loss and memory recall difficulties(after 6 years of use) or if my dose is too high. Psychiatrist is sending me to a neurologist to confirm. | Been on the medication for 6-7 years now after living a debilitated life of constant anxiety, stiff neck, headaches, chronic physical/ verbal and emotional anger , acute OCD, and some paranoia. Finally allowed myself to take medication but refused to go on SSRIs as I did not want weight gain and/or sexual dysfunction. Nefazadone (the generic) after a month was the first time in my life that I could take a deep breath, literally. Small things did not send my mind spinning and I was finally calm enough to be silly and fun. People did not know who I was and I started to get invited to social events again. Wanted however to see if my problems with memory recall and trying to get things off "the tip of my tongue" were starting to result from the many years of use. Addtionally, wanted to see if the weight gain was due in part to the medication as well. Currently at 400mg (close to max) and was wondering if anyone else was experiencing the same. | F | 38 | 7 years | 9/16/2009 | 1 | Major Depression | I was a zombie | I felt absolutely no feelings at all--no depression and no happiness. Everything was a blur. I feel like I have chunks of time missing from that period in my life. | F | 30 | 3 months | 9/8/2009 | 5 | Anxiety/Depression | So far none that I can see, excfepyt it's a little harder gettinf to sleep at night | I took this drug back in 95 for 6 monmths and it worked well. Began taking it again a few months back doc has me on 50 mg x2 day and sees no need to up the dose. Took the edge off my anxiety and depression almost overnight. A low dose seems to work for me, liver functions before starting and recent;y are perfectly normal, but my doctor wil check them every 3 months The reason I asked for nefazodone is that I caould not tolerate any of the SSRI side effects | M | 62 | 3 months | 7/8/2009 | 1 | Depression | Didn't work. Made me fee worse. | F | 16 | 7 days | 6/14/2009 | 5 | anx/dep suicide ideation | None; anx. disappeared o'nite ( with the help of a little Xanax-only briefly- the "X" magnifies the Serzone, as far as anx. is concerned. I was very, very slightly buzzed for two weeks; then marvelous release of the mental torture / obsessions and hateful feelings. Prosac had no effect WSE. Great Psych. from Pakistan really saved my life ! Been on Serzone for 12 years now. My Mom and her brother (Uncle) had the same mental prob in the 40's(inherited). Uncle comm. suicide. Mom started on Valium in mid-50's - some help but needed shock-treatments once a year. This mental-disease cannot be understood by the "normal" community. They are very sympathetic, but always say, " Pull yourself by you're bootstaps. Breathe the roses. Drive your Rolls-Royce more. Drive those motorcycles !!" New shoes might help. They don't understand it's ( in my casa ) a "S" reuptake-problem ! Brain chemistry a little gone wrong. A new Phantom VII will not cure the p | God bless Merck. For people worrying about Serzone being discontinued - don't. Merck, which designed the drug has ceased production. However, generic labs still produce it very cheaply. They can't be sued for negligence because they didn't design the compound. | M | 68 | 12 years | 4/18/2009 | 5 | depression/anxiety/irritability | Visual trails occasionally in the AM (worse when mixed with a benzo or lack of sleep). Nausea when tapering up | I have been on and off a number of psychiatric meds for the past 12 years. I've never felt more balanced or regulated as I do now. The side effects are minimally obtrusive at best and completely worth the positive effect it has had on my mood. Among the ssris, benzos, and other meds I've tried (about 15 all together), Serzone has had the most drastic effect on my mood with such minor side effects. | M | 27 | 8 weeks | 2/28/2009 | 4 | Depression | Difficulty ejaculating. Inability to get words in mind out of mouth. Visual trails behind motion first thing in the morning. Adding Bethanacol to the mix helped with the abiltiy to get words out of mind to mouth, and a little bit with the ability to ejaculate. Ejaculation was possible but took longer than either party wanted. | This did an instant job of lifting me from very deep depression. I felt better the morning after I took it. I had some relapses in depression in the first few weeks but nothing major. It worked as advertised. | M | 40 | 2 years | 1/13/2009 | 5 | Bipolar Disorder | When starting medication experienced headaches for just a couple of days. If I miss multiple days of meds, get headache when starting back. No other side effects. | I have been taking serzone for 18 years with just a 1 year lapse as other antidepresents were tried. Doctor has tried many other medications for me and there is some disinct properties of the medication which allows it to work best for me. This is the ONLY antidepresent that has been effective for me. I too worry that it will be taken off the market. Doctor indicates there is no equivelant meds. | F | 45 | 18 years | 1/7/2009 | 2 | GAD and sexual side effects | None. I had no side effects, but no effects | I was taking in addition to 5 mg Lexapro to try to assist with mood enhancing, anxiety, and most of all, to decrease sexual side effects associated with SSRI use. It did not work. Did not cause any side effects, but was not effective at all. Went all the way up to 400mg daily, but still nothing | F | 32 | 4 months | 11/1/2008 | 4 | Generalized anxiety | Slight sexual dysfunction - I can get erect but have a tough time ejaculating few about 10 or so hours after I take it (200 mg 3 times daily). I am able to ejaculate if I skip a dose, which I find acceptable given the anxiety relief I get (and that is better than the other SSSI/Tri's drugs I took). | I tried many other SSSI/Tri's - Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil, Tofrinal, and others I don't even remember its been so long since I've been on this one. I have been very satisfied with Serzone. I often worry it will be pulled from the market. Paxil worked ok, but had higher sexual dysfunction for me, which research supports. I no longer get panic attacks at all - many many many years. I still get some generalized anxiety, but it is quite manageable. My doctor sometimes suggests I get off this and try something new (now Cymbalta, a few years ago Remeron). But I just recall how difficult it is to move from one drug to another, with the potential side/withdrawal effects and have no desire given Serzone is working well. This is no way I can function without out - I would have severe anxiety if not panic and this removes it. Results shows that while some individuals have experienced liver failure, that likelihoods very small, say 1 in 10,000. I'll take those odds, given the challenges a | M | 38 | 9 years | 10/26/2008 | 1 | Anxiety, Depression. | extreme nausea, vomiting, auditory and visual hallucinations, uncontrolled movements, severe head ache, terrible anxiety/paranoia, very tingly feeling all over body, insomnia. | My "doctor" told me that he hadn't prescribed this drug in six years. Obviously not using his logic, he went ahead and prescribed it. I took it at 7:00 Wednesday night, it's now Thursday at 5:00, and I feel effing terrible. Read what other people have posted, I guarantee it's not an exaggeration. Adverse effects are very very severe. I took it at 300 mg. It's comparable to having serotonin syndrome--it sucks, but it better be temporary | M | 21 | 1 days | 9/25/2008 | 4 | Anxiety, Depression | Some lightheadedness. Difficulty waking up. Calm, unmotivated feeling. Headaches during the first week. | Serzone (Nefazodone) was prescribed by my psychiatrist as an adjunct to 20 mg daily Prozac. The Prozac had made sleep difficult and took away my libido. My Serzone dosage is 100 mg, twice daily. I can say that the Nefazodone has helped a lot. I'm much less anxious than I was before. Now I sleep much better, too. Libido has improved quite a bit (my wife would agree with that statement). The downside is that getting up in the morning can be difficult. I'll often feel a bit sleepy and unmotivated. This is a tradeoff I'm willing to make. Lastly, I have my liver enzymes monitored every 3 months. | M | 38 | 10 months | 8/21/2008 | 5 | anxiety depression anger bipolar | None. I was taking zoloft and had lots of side effects with that - runs no sex drive etc. I switched and stopped getting them. I do have a slight but very bearable headache - I just satrted Chantix to quit smoking though and think it is from that. | I take serxone as a combination with 150mg of Lamictal. I started about 9 months ago. I can not tell you what wonders these two medications have done for me. I am not a new person or clouded or sleepy or anything - I am me. And I am happy!!!! Happier than I ever thought possible, I am still me though I dont laugh everything off but I am no longer extreme and I my anxiety is gone! I wish I had gotten help sooner - I just never believed in taking medication. Family and friends saw the changes and I finally admitted to taking these meds. they too were shocked and so happy it made me healthy again! | F | 33 | 8 months | 8/15/2008 | 2 | bipolar/anxiety | Took at bedtime, went to sleep, woke up with MAJOR anxiety, panic attack, saw giant pink spiders (spider phobia) crawling up my walls, crying uncontrollably, shaking and rocking | I took this for a very short time, VERY...Now I list it as one that I'm allergic too. | F | 28 | | 6/26/2008 | 5 | Anxiety / Depression | Feel sleepy which is good since I take it at night. | This drug has worked wonders for me. It restores my REM sleep and I don't have any sexual side effects. I highly recommend it. | M | 34 | 8 weeks | 6/25/2008 | 3 | --- | --- | M | 88 | 0 days | 6/23/2008 |