EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)

Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)

Filter Results

Compare EFFEXOR XR with similar:
 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)

  

Results are sorted by Date added.

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

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 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112


More on EFFEXOR XR: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR XRCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 4  Anxiety Disorder First 2 weeks: Nausea, drowsiness, loss of appetite, weight loss, night sweats, heart palpitations. These actually go away after awhile. After a few months: brusing, increased risk of bleeding, decreased clotting time, bleeding gums, decreased sexual interest, breakthrough menstral bleeding. Was on 150mg at one point, but wasn't able to have emotions (never really happy & could not cry when appropriate) so dose reduced to 75mg. Do not skip doses, or stop taking "cold turkey" or will get withdrawal effects: feeling of electric shock or zapping through nerves, sweating, heart palpitaions, crying spells, difficulty sleeping. Works well for anxiety & preventing panic attacks... but takes a few week to get full benefits of medication Go up slowing on dose to reduce side effects and go back down in dose slowly when going off to prevent withdrawal. If your emotions are too flat (never happy or sad when appropriate) your dose is too high. Take with food to reduce nausea. I don't take anymore b/c I don't need right now, but would consider it during times of stress. F 29 6 years
75mg 1X day
11/15/2010
 1  anxiety slight depresstion social a After a few hours of taking effexr xr generic form became very disoreinted cconfused dizzy swimmy headed. Felt like I was not in my head very odd strange undesciable feeling. By next morning was having seizures had never had seizures prior to this. Could not walk on my own and it was a blessing that I was at home and not out in public alone somewhere. Single mother of 4 teenage kids scared my kids to death. I took effexor a few yrs back but didn't remember how it effected me untill my ex husband reminded me that it done the same thing last time. I don't recommend anyone try this medication, after only one dose I experienced what could have been life threating effects. I'm on day 2 of not taking it and am still loopy feeling. Seizures have slowed down. Extreme hot flashes then cold chills. My brain is still swimmy and my dr says that this can continue for an unkown amount of time even though I only took one dose.everybodys body reacts differently to this med and it stays in some peoples system longer than others. I am now being ordered by my dr to be under "watch" by family or friends untill this passes or go into the hospital. It scares me to think how bad this could have turned out if I had continued to take this medication one day longer. It may work for some but make sure you do your research before taking. More bad effects with this medicine than good. F 35 1 days
75mg 1X day
11/11/2010
 2  Major Depressive Disorder I have MDD and have had depression for over 20 years. I have also had severe anxiety and agoraphobia in the past. I have had Effexor a few years ago and remembered that I had a terrible time coming off it. But this time around because I've had one of my worst meltdowns ever my doctor has prescribed it again even though I expressed concerns about the effects of the eventual withdrawal. I have beern on it for four days so far this time around and I feel very strange, like the world around me is unfamiliar and strange and frightening. I got in the car to go to work this morning and ended up having a panick attack. I drive around the block a few times and in the end came back home and called in sick. I work in a high pressure where I need to constantly think outside the box and I'm worried that I'll start freaking out and failing. I also cannot reach orgasm on this med. I really hope I can overcome these feelings of strangeness and unfamiliarity of my suroundings and my fear of going back to work. This is my fifth day off sick and this drug is giving me a haunting fear of going back. F 36
75 1X day
11/7/2010
Email
 5  Depression, Anxiety At first, nausea and headaches similar to what I experienced with Zoloft and Celexa in the past. After a couple weeks, nothing. This drug made a huge difference for me. I gradually have worked up to 225 mg (37.5 mg for 6 days, 75 mg for about a month, 150 mg for a couple weeks, and now 225 mg the last three weeks). People complain a lot about withdrawal on this med, but a lot of them don't taper like they should. A lot of family practice docs don't have enough experience with antidepressants to know exactly how quickly to taper the dose. At first this was a concern for me too, but my psychiatrist assured me that by tapering correctly, most people avoid major withdrawal symptoms. I'm a second year medical student, so I think I a reasonable amount of knowledge to know that he isn't just trying to make me feel better for the time being. Anxiety ruled my life before Effexor, and my latest episode of depression was the worst of many. I was having almost constant GI problems, which have been attributed to my mental health struggles. I came closer than ever to killing myself. THANKS TO EFFEXOR I feel like I have my life back again. M 24 3 months
225 mg 1X day
11/3/2010
 2  Mild Anxiety Profuse sweating, which was unbearable at times. It is very hard to discontinue this drug, even if weaning slowly off. Nausea, head feels funny, bad overall feeling. I will not go on antidepressants again. F 50 3 months
37.5 - 75 1X day
10/28/2010
 2  anxiety panic attacks agoraphobia irritability, severe weight gain, insomnia, really bad withdrawal symptoms from missed doses I wanted to tell other people that I think there is a way to get off this drug. I'll tell you what I am doing that seems to lessen the withdrawal effect. First get a notepad because you are going to want to write everything down because you will be decreasing your dosages. Your effexor XR capsule will have little white beads inside of it. Depending on your dosage, that is how many beads are in it. My dose is 75 mg, so I have 75 little white beads in it. Step 2 is to get a small dark colored bowl and a pencil. Next wiggle "cap" off the capsule. This is the shorter end of the capsule. Once you have it off then set it to the side. Now you will see that there are the tiny little white beads inside. Do not dump the entire content of beads into the dark colored bowl! (I use the dark colored bowl since it's easier to spot and count the beads). Now while holding the capsule, tip it slightly to loosen the beads up and grab your pencil. With the pencil tip, easily scrape the beads out one at a time if you can. Always check your bowl and COUNT the white beads because you need to be exact. EVERY DAY YOU WILL REDUCE YOUR DOSAGE BY 5 WHITE BEADS! DON'T REDUCE BY ANYMORE THAN THAT OR YOU WILL DEFINITELY EXPERIENCE WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS! Once you remove 5 beads from the capsule, screw the top "cap" on snug. You will have to wiggle it back on. Discard the beads preferably in an old medicine bottle with a child-proof cap. Take the capsule with at least a bottle of water to wa F 31 10 years
75 mg 1X day
10/26/2010
Email
 5  Psychosis No side effects at all. Lifesaver drug. M 23 2 weeks
150mg 1X day
10/24/2010
Email
 3  depression, bullimia crazy dreams, sweating, weight loss I can trully say it worked when I was on it. Actually went out and had fun, looked good and felt ok. It was the getting off that is scary. Tried once and was hospitalized for dehydration. Second day with no pills vomiting, diareah, had dreams of dying, sweating buckets, dizzy as hell. Second time around I was prepaired, loaths of white bread and gatorade withsome ignatia for 4 days. Stayed in bed for 3 days sweating and dizzy...But got off it! F 27 2 years
150 1X day
10/20/2010
Email
 3  Anxiety, Depression Weight gain (12kgs), Constipation, Fatigue, Hair Loss (permanent), Bleeding (nose). Side effects became noticeable after 2 years and worsened after 4 years. Worked perfect on anxiety. Also noticed personality "change" (more outgoing, calm etc.). I quit after 4 years due to the side effects. After 10 months without any medication, anxiety and mild depression is back. M 37 4 years
150mg 1X day
10/20/2010
 5  depression Reduced sex drive, insomnia, Saved my life after 20 years on Prozac; went to generic Prosac didn't work, tried lexapro, very depressed. Tried Effexor XR and depression gone (only normal ups and downs). Needed some more help Doctor added Wellbutrin last year. Now very normal. F 66 10 years
300 1X day
10/14/2010
Email
 4  depression extreme constipation, dry mouth Effexor XR has been extremely good at treating my depression, and I will be eternally grateful for that. I would not be alive without it. F 54 5 years
150 mg 1X day
10/13/2010
 1  Hot Flashes heart attack,Random high BP spikes, brain zaps as they are called when I was due for a dose, loss of orgasm, feeling of addiction when due for a dose I believe this med gave me a heart attack at 50. Starting taking this as off-label treatment for hot flashes during menopause. Thought it was a God send- it worked so well. But then started needing more & more to keep the hot flashes at bay. Started feeling addicted & needing it when it was time for a dose. Lost ability to orgasm & started feeling just weird. Randomly took my BP several times at drugstores & it was sky high (my BP had alwyas been low), but couldn't get the same results at my doc's office- thought the BP machines were broken. Mainly due to the orgasm problem decided to withdraw slowly- had read the w/draw horror stories online. Felt w/draw symptoms but figured I'd hang in there & deal with it. That's when I had the heart attack. No fam history of heart disease,don't have high chol/lipids, not overweight, casual smoker. Had a thrombus, no hardening of the arteries, etc. i believe the Effexor caused some kind of BP spike which created a spasm or vascular constriction or something resulting in a thrombus. The docs say it was because I smoked. Supposedly smoking 1 cigarette can give you a heart attack. I don't buy it. The effexor did it. F 51 1 years
75- 150mg 2X day
10/12/2010
Email
 1   WEIGHT GAIN. I am 30 and have been the same size since I was 18, I gained 20 pounds when I started Effexor. SEVERE WITHDRAWAL- I tapered down from 275 mg but when I go below 75 I get extremely disoriented. Please use this as a last resort. The withdrawal is not worth it. F 30 6 months
275 1X day
9/21/2010
 4  Depression Decreased libido/hard to orgasm. If I forgot to take it, I would get sluggish, foggy-minded, strange 'brain zap' sensations, happiness felt 'fake'. Coming off if it was extremely difficult, but it did get me back to normal and able to get in charge of life again. F 24 3 years
1X day
9/15/2010
 2  PTSD/Depression Felt less in despair, but felt disconnected. Had trouble sleeping on med and had to take a sleeping aid. F 30 9 months
? 1X day
9/13/2010
 4  anxiety disorder Dry mouth, extreme thirst, and increased sex drive. If you miss a dose: migraine-like symptoms, nausea I've been taking different amounts of effexor for about 3yrs. It has really helped my anxiety. Before I took it I couldn't even leave the house! Now, I can function quite normally. F 20 3 years
225mg 1X day
9/12/2010
 2   Awful Drug! Helped for a while however only caused more problems I cant control_ Weight Gain, Brain Shivers, Anxitey, Extreme Fatigue F 21 1 years
150 1X day
9/12/2010
 2  depression, anxiety headaches, profuse sweating, dehydration, exhaustion, irritability, apathy, inability to concentrate, memory problems, stiffness, apathy. When I first started taking this drug, I felt relief after having been on Pristiq for several months, which was causing hair loss-balding, nausea, insonmia, balance problems, and blurred vision. Two weeks later, I began experiencing extreme headaches like never before. I knew that sweating was a side effect of Effexor, so I attributed the headaches to dehydration, caused by the sweating; drinking more and more water helped only minimally. Next came the extreme fatigue. Though I have experienced problems with energy that came with the depression, this is something else. I find it difficult to get out of bed and necessary to nap for two or more hours during the day and all day on the weekends. I can still sleep through the night; in fact I think I could sleep all day and all night if I were allowed to. I am struggling to make it through an 8 hour work day because of this fatigue. I feel foggy in my mind, apathetic, am experiencing stiffness in my muscles and joints and recently have become very irritable. All in all, I would say these things are worse than the depression I was experiencing before I ever went on medications two years ago. Between Lexapro (didn't help), Pristiq (miserable side effects, depression returned) and Effexor - I can't seem to get it right. I am not looking forward to the horrible withdrawl symptoms I have seen described. :( F 29 3 months
150mg 1X day
9/8/2010
 4  depression Irritability This is a great drug with minimal side effects. I am able to socialize with people without any anxiety. I am less self-conscious to the point where I could care less and am comfortable in any social environment. As for the depression, it is gone and i'm able to function as a happy human being. Only problem is this med makes me slightly irritable to sounds, sudden talking or disturbances ever so slight as they may be while I'm trying to work. There's a little bit more lack of concentration on my part which can be mistaken for short attention span because this drug puts me in a state of La La land and it's hard to snap out of it bc it's such a nice place. M 26 3 years
75 and 32 1X day
9/6/2010
 3  MDD. Dilated pupils, loss of appetite, weight loss, foggy memory, confusion, fast heart rate, night sweats, jitters. Sure Effexor xr did help with my depression, within a few months or so I wasn't depressed at all, but I stayed on it for so long because I was scared of the withdrawls and was trying to finish school before I had to go through all of that. Now I'm tapering off 37.5 every 2-4 weeks. So far I've had side effects like fever, nausea, dizzy, fatigue, feeling cold and stomach aches. There is also some good side effects too though, I'm more hungry and I can concentrate a bit better. It definitely cured what I was going through at the time, but getting off it is worse then I was in the first place...and is for most people too. F 18 2 years
225mg 1X day
9/4/2010

Previous Page       Next Page

BACK TO TOP