EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)

Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)

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 ANTIDEPRESSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

EFFEXOR XR  (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE):  Venlafaxine is used to treat depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and social anxiety disorder (social phobia). It may improve your mood and energy level and may help restore your interest in daily living. It may also decrease fear, anxiety, unwanted thoughts, and the number of panic attacks. Venlafaxine is known as a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). It works by helping to restore the balance of certain natural substances (serotonin and norepinephrine) in the brain.   FDA Approval Date: 1997-10-20 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

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Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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More on EFFEXOR XR: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR XRCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 4  Clinical Depression Loss of motivation. F 62 7 years
150mg
9/14/2013
 4  menopausal symptoms reduction in number of hot flashes. I was begging for return of my hormone therapy and doc suggested this. It works. My problem is that after a hospitalization I had "depression" listed on my problem list because why else would someone take an anti-depressant? Oh well, it works. F 62 9 months
75 1X day
9/5/2013
 3  Depression/Anxiety Anyone experience odd side effects where this completely 100% wipes out *ALL* types of "Anxiety"---meaning "Even the good type anxiety" (you know "Good type" meaning that you're properly rushing to make it to an appointment, etc. My friend years ago, his side effects were so severe (He moved homes/states--which is "depressing" for him anyway. However, on 300mcg of effexor. ended up having his car repossessed and this is a very "High Functioning" individual (ie. not abusive with Finances,etc.) He just completely 100% lost motivation. (there was a mix up in mail, thus 2-payments-1 not mae at move-another not forwarded. Anyway, I am now having the same side effects. Laughing, I even tell my friend I've lost motivation to even go to the bathroom. When I feel I need to go, I'll be like "Eh, I'll get to it in a few hours". Anyone else? LORD! Cymbalta was even *WORSE* Effexor I can at least go walk the dog when he wants out. Cymbalta, I lost *ALL* 100% *ALL* motivation. Let be be clear, this was *NOT* depression (I've had varying degrees my adult life, so I know that feeling and I Know "Anxiety". also know there is "Proper" Anxiety as well . Again, makeing sure you "hustle" to make an appointment on time,etc.etc. (Anxiety wrong word but "Motivation"). Anyway, curious if others have this "Issue". One could argue well, the drugs working. Yeah, but if I take 1/2 my dose, does not work at all. Anyway, looking for similar experiences. What you did to overcome. M 40 5 years
150mg 2X day
9/2/2013
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 1  Anxiety and Depression Started off feeling great, a few months later- terrible! Totally numb, couldn't summon any feelings, even toward my partner. Put on a huge amount of weight. Constantly constipated. Not motivation. Exhaustion that was so bad I couldn't get out of bed. Panic attacks came back. Am now tapering off and it's hell. Wish I never started F 25 5 years
150mg
9/1/2013
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 1  agoraphobia, panic, and depression Severe diarrhea, dizziness, nausea, dehydration, unconsciousness. I only took one dose of Effexor. It made me sick within 6 hours of taking the pill. I spent the entire night in the bathroom, and my sister found me on the floor the next morning. I remember thinking I should call 911 at one point, but I didn't have the strength to get to the phone. And then I decided I didn't want to go to the hospital anyway; I was fine with dying on the floor (it definitely altered my mood in a bad way). I was in bed for a week afterwards. It was the first antidepressant I had ever taken, and the experience was so horrible and frightening it took over a year for my doctor to convince me to try something else. F 34 1 days
75 mg 1X day
7/3/2013
 3  depression anxiety lowered sex drive, could have been better for anxiety. Ok for dealing with a full blown depression. M 45 6 years
75-150mg 1X day
7/2/2013
 5  Social anxiety disorder Dizziness the first 2 days and feeling yucky in the evening, vivid dreams, yawning, dilated pupils, night sweats for a few days. Moved from paxil to effexor. I immediately stopped the paxil and started the effexor -- no paxil withdrawals. Paxil had made me a sleepy hungry slob who could not have an orgasm (It took about an hour to ejaculate, therefore getting off sexually was tiring, frustrating, and not practical). Effexor has been excellent. Much more effective for me than the paxil was, and without the horrendous side effects. I hear some people find effexor too activating to be used for anxiety. In my case, I disagree with that very much. This med has blasted SSRI's out of the water with regards to side effects and symptomatic control of anxiety in social settings. I am not emotionally flat nor zombie-like on this med. Keep a few caps stashed away somewhere. You have to be responsible while taking this med. Keep to the routine. It's like the insulin of psych meds, you do not want to be caught without it on short notice. The withdrawals can and will be a nightmare if you are not careful with this med. M 22 1.5 months
150 mg 1X day
6/27/2013
 1  Depression My blurb here is based on 2 experiences - the first was when I forgot my medication at home while travelling on business. The other is when I discontinued the medication. This medication is terrible. My new psychiatrist said that this stuff was a "killer." A killer.... can you beat that with a stick. When I forgot my meds at home on a business trip I felt like I was going to DIE. I was anxious and paranoid, felt like my skin was peeling off...pretty much the worst plane ride home EVER. After experiencing that I decided to discontinue the med shortly after. The next 3 weeks was TRAUMATIC. I experienced paranoid hallucinations (which I never had before), terrible anxiety BUT the worst thing were the "brain shocks" that would zap through my skull every 30-45 seconds. NO JOKE. It felt like someone stuck a car battery charger against my head then turned it on. I don't recommend this medication at all. Pls look for an alternative. M 35 2 months
175 1X day
6/26/2013
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 3  Depression & Social Anxiety Initially: Erectile Dysfunction, Decreased Cognitive Ability, Memory Issues, Sudden Weight Gain, Horrific Withdrawal Symptoms (vertigo, spinning room, nausea, light and movement sensitivity... lasted 2 weeks, was bed ridden) This medication is an effective anti-depressant. You can expect to have a 2-3 month lead in with annoying side effects. Every dose increase will bring those side effects back. Once my body had adjusted, all the side effects left me, and my mood was balanced and lifted. My social anxiety did not improve, but I believe I have a dopamine deficiency. Expect to be off work if you are coming off this medication. DO NOT miss a dose, DO NOT discontinue without speaking to your doctor and reducing doses slowly. You will regret it if you don't. Make sure this is something you want to take long term, as it is something you do not want to start and stop. M 26 12 months
150 mg 1X day
5/16/2013
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 1  Depression & anxiety Erectile dysfunction, disturbed sleep, less muscle tone, blood pressure problems, trouble concentrating and with fine motor movement, anger, violence, bad dreams, Took this after switching from lexapro because it caused ED. Doctor prescribed this, made it worse, much worse. Permanent ED. No morning erections. Feel very bad about life now and very alone. M 27 2 years
75mg 1X day
5/12/2013
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 4  Anxiety/depression Tiredness lethargy loss of libido but it did work wonders for my depression. M 67 1 years
150mg
4/30/2013
 5  Depression, GAD, social anxiety Increased sweating I am a psychiatry resident, and I just want to say that all ratings from people who have taken any SSRI (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa, Luvox) or SNRI (Effexor, Cymbalta, Pristiq) for less than one month should be completely disregarded. In fact, this site should probably remove them. These meds take at least 3-4 weeks to work like they are supposed to. And yes, people get GI side effects and headaches (since serotonin is mostly in the nervous and GI systems), but these are typically worst on days 3-7 from starting or with a dosage increase, and they do get better. Increased sweating has been my biggest problem with Effexor XR. I have tried switching to Prozac twice (currently I'm on 40 mg of Prozac). The sweating is better for the most part, but I think Effexor was really helping to control my irritable bowel symptoms because it's kind of out of control at the moment (it makes sense due to Effexor's norepinephrine reuptake inhibition, which is the mechanism of the older tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline that is often used for IBS and other chronic pain syndromes). I've been on varying dosages of Effexor (150, 225, 300 mg). I was doing really well on 150 mg for the past year but again I wanted to sweat less. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go back on Effexor despite the sweating. There are really no magic pills; generally patients need to weigh the benefits and the side effects (which generally improve or disappear). M 27 2.5 years
150 mg 1X day
4/25/2013
 5  I was taking Effexor for anxiety I have dreams quite frequently. I sweat a lot and can be moody at times. All in all I think Effexor has changed my life for the better. People should give it more time to work. It takes 6 weeks for anything to feel any better. Everything has negative side effects you just have to weigh the pros and cons. I think Effexor is wonderful and I won't be stopping anytime soon. F 27 10 years
75 MG
4/24/2013
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 4  Depression/Anxiety Increased blood pressure, jittery, loss of libido, racing heart, irregular heart beat, consipation ... after about five months, horrible rash, hives and itching. I have tried several different meds in the past for my anxiety/depression. I seem to be very sensative to side effects. Effexor really seemed to help level me out and make me feel happy again and not worry so much. But almost immediately, my blood pressure went up and I became very constipated. Then I started experiencing a racing heart and occasionally would feel 1-3 'hard' heart beats every 5-10 minutes. After about 5 months, I suddenly broke out in a rash and hives on my chest, shoulders and neck. My face would become red, flushed and itchy and I'd itch from head to toe. Guess I need to try and get off this stuff and try something else. M 45 5 months
150 mg 1X day
4/8/2013
 5  Sleep dis, menopause, mood swings None, maybe some weight gain I have tried other anti-depressants and could not tolerate Paxil, Prozac, and a few others. This one worked like a miracle. After a week I felt completely normal again. I was sleeping and I felt like my old self. I don't remember the exact dose I was on, but it was a low-moderate dose. After about 6 months I tapered off for another couple of months. F 48 9 months
50 1X day
2/27/2013
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 4  Major depression Weight gain Never ever try to come off cold turkey!! In the process of weaning off by the doctors orders. Tingling in feet, and that is it so far. I can't wait to be off of hs drug! It helped for 6 years, but the weight gain is really getting to me! F 40 6 years
150mg 1X day
2/16/2013
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 2  Depression, generalized anxiety Weight gain. Reduced mental clarity. Heightened emotions. Suicidal thoughts. Withdrawal is a btch. I was on 225 mg for a long time and then tapered down to 37.5 mg. Reason I'm writing this review today is that I was without medicine for 2.5 days and I'm in a dark and uncomfortable place. I ended up in ER twice because of Effexor withdrawal in the past. It may work short term but doctors need to be more careful in the cost-benefit analysis of this medicine. Also, in the event of misdiagnosis (as it was in my case), if you write this drug for a patient who is actually bi-polar, you'll intensify the manias (when most of the suicides etc. occur). M 31 3 years
37.5 1X day
2/14/2013
 4  Depression/anxiety decreased appetite, sexual dysfunction, lightheadedness/dizziness (relatively mild). Most of these have improved but are still present. I started out at 75, then bumped up to 150, 225, and now 300 mg. I feel like 300 mg is a lot but I have had treatment-resistant depression and have been on SSRI's for a couple years so it's not bad. With SSRI's, withdrawals are not bad as long as you taper down. If you are on a high dosage and you cease taking it immediately that's very dangerous. Effexor is not "addicting" in the sense that a narcotic medication like Xanax is, but it does cause chemical changes in the brain (that's how it works) and the readjustment period if you stop taking the medication is considered "withdrawal". As somebody with a substance abuse history, SSRI withdrawals are a joke compared to alcohol or any other narcotic. You can't die from Effexor withdrawal lol. So far the medication has worked fairly well for me. I am finally able to get back to work and I have motivation to do things again. I have no major complaints other than the short half-life of Effexor (make sure you take this med at the same time every day, because withdrawals can kick in just from missing or being late with a single dose).' I also take Trazodone 150 mg to help me sleep and Buspirone 15 mg to help with sexual side effects. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about your experience with the med. 99% of side effects (except sexual) get better within the first couple weeks. Hang in there! M 22 3 months
300 1X day
2/13/2013
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 5  Panic Disorder with agoraphobia At first nausea, but that subsided. Also, a small increase in anxiety when starting the med. The only antidepressant that has helped me. I take it with Valium and propranolol, and got my life back! Best of all, I experienced no sexual side effects from this drug, as opposed to the others I've tried. M 26 7 years
150 mg 1X day
1/25/2013
 5  anxiety/depression Lower sex drive This med saved me and my family. Debilitating anxiety, terrible insomnia brought me to the point of ending my life. Effexor XR worked practically instantly improving my ability to fall asleep. As my night sleep got better, anxiety went away. My Dr. telling me to stay on my medication, and I do not have a problem with that because I never want to go back to depression. May be I am just lucky, but I practically have no side effects. F 56 3.5 years
150 1X day
1/21/2013
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