EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR XR 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 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 | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR XR | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 2 | Bipolar Disorder | vertigo, brain zaps, tingly fingers, crying, irritability, very strange dreams, twitches, acne, felt like i could have a seizure at any time, cannot concentrate, weight gain - raging appetite. | DO NOT MISS A DOSE!! TAKE THIS MEDICATION AT THE SAME TIME EACH DAY! I had to go on this because my dose of prozac was at the max and it stopped working. I loooovvved prozac, HATED effexor. I'm scared as hell to go off from it, yet hate being on it. My bf and kids get the blunt end of my irritability. I'd be fine if I didn't have to work and lived in a cave all alone! I'm a happy, go getter but not on this stuff. I pray that God doesn't let me wake up in the morning. I'm anxiously waiting from a call from my doctor to tell me what to do. I'm miserable and am afraid I'm going to destroy my job/family/relationships with the uncontrollable side effects I've been experiencing. DO NOT GO ON THIS MEDICATION. | F | 28 | 4 months | 6/11/2009 | 3 | GAD & derealization | no sexual interest, weight gain, fatigue, cant get off of it | Works OK for my anxiety but not really for depression. I rate it 3 out of 5 | M | 30 | 2 years | 6/5/2009 | 5 | severe depression | night sweats, vivid dreams, talking/yelling in sleep, insomnia, headache, nervousness | I have suffered, and I mean suffered from depression my entire life. I am now 46 and happy to report I have not been depressed for about two years. I have tried prozac, wellbutrin, paxil and serzone. I tried Effexor (not XR) 18 years ago and felt wonderful after the first week. Couldn't continue due to severe constipation. After many years of trying other meds finally found out about Effexor XR. It has been the drug I have been searching for. Even though I have insomnia (so I take it in the morning and take trazadone for sleeping), nightmare when I miss a dose (my family always knows when I miss a day for I am sure to talk and occasionally scream in my sleep), I also feel very shaky and unable to concentrate and will cry for no reason the day after missing a dose, but I feel better than I have ever felt in my life. I have been taking it for 8 years now and would put up with almost anything to keep this desire to wake up and live! There was a time I would have rather been dead. For me XR is more effective with way less side effects. Don't care what long term effects may be. At least I enjoyed life while on it. Glory to God! | F | 46 | 8 years | 6/3/2009 | 1 | Depression | Anxiety! VERY VERY difficult to get off of--had to read on-line advise and reduce by several granuals each day. | F | 36 | 1 months | 6/3/2009 | 1 | lot going on causing stress | just about flipped out on my family thank-goodness they stayed with me,they knew something wasnt right with their mom | It is the most terrifying time in my life getting through one day at a time ill find my way back to me | F | 48 | 8 months | 6/3/2009 | 5 | Depression, anxiety | Night sweats, weight gain, drowsiness | I took Effexor XR (75 mg) for a little over a year, and decided that the all-day drowsiness was not worth it. I changed to Wellbutrin, and that was a BIG mistake. I instantly reverted back to my depressive state, and was completely unhappy. I went back on XR, and was relieved almost instantaneously. My husband and I are wanting to get pregnant, so my doctor recommended I get on Zoloft. It worked better than the Wellbutrin, but I felt fuzzy-headed and not myself. I went back on the XR, because it worked so well and determined that the benefits to me were worth the risk. It is the only drug that works for me. I now take it at night, and that has helped me sleep and has lessened the drowsiness during the day. | F | 29 | 2 years | 5/29/2009 | 4 | Depression | Blurry vision Decreased sexual sensitivity | M | 48 | 4 months | 5/22/2009 | 5 | bad mood and short fuse | couldn't tell due to the multiple meds for other medical problems | i was depressed from the death of two of my family members but, when i stopped taking it after about six months i noticed my old agressive behavior and impatience with the world return. i started effexor again and became the kinder and gentler person i liked. if i miss a dose i notice within a day. i have abruptly stopped it and became a miserable bast-ard. i guess i am resigned to take this indefinately. i used to work in a field that required somewhat agressive negotiations; i wonder how i would have behaved if i was taking effexor. | M | 60 | 5 years | 5/21/2009 | 1 | Depression | While on the medication I would experience painful shocks through out my body when I would miss a dose even by an hour. These shocks radiated from my forehead, to my teeth, and then the rest of the way down my body. They were so bad I would involuntarily turn my head. My depression never got better while on this. I experienced weight gain and loss of sex drive. | When I finally went to the doctor and demanded to be taken off of Effexor she started to slowly decrease the dose. Even cutting the dose in half caused me to have SEVERE shocks all day long. When I went down to taking none the withdrawl effects were so bad. During the first week I could not be around my 4 year old son because of extreme anger!! For the first two weeks I could not drive and could barely leave my bed. I constantly felt like the room was spinning. After about six weeks the withdrawl effects decreased. I have been off of Effexor for about nine months and I still experience withdrawl effects atleast once a week. I swear these shock effects never go away!! I would never recommend this medication to anyone. It nearly ruined my life. Please use serious caution with this medication. Feel free to email me, I have been through it all with Effexor. (Also, I am now on Elavil and it has helped me more than anything my doctor's have ever tried.) | F | 27 | 2 years | 5/17/2009 | 4 | depression/anxiety | sweating, vivid dreams, dizzy, sleepy | F | 26 | 120 days | 5/15/2009 | 3 | depression/anxiety | night sweats, headaches, loss of appetite, severely decreased sex drive | I started taking Effexor XR (75 mg) about three years ago. Recently the side effects were getting too severe, so I cut my dose down to 37.5 mg. No adverse reactions were noticed upon decreasing my dosage however, my side effects were unchanged. Last month I decided to take myself off of Effexor and was shocked... I immediately gained a huge appetite, my sex drive was out of control, haven't had a headache since, and night sweats are gone. I however was very lethargic. I gained apx ten pounds in the past month and social situations give me the chills. I want to try something, but Effexor is just not for me... I've tried many other anti-depressants in the past with no luck. Now I'm looking into holistic/natural ideas...does anyone have any advise??? | F | 29 | 3 days | 5/13/2009 | 4 | depression | difficult withdrawal as well as "shocks" if I miss a dose. | Did not notice any weight gain, fatigue, lower sex drive. Better than prozac, paxil, wellbutrin and serzone for me. | F | 37 | 6 years | 5/10/2009 | 4 | depression, addiction | gradual weight gain, lower sex drive,break into sweat so easy, always hot. | years of depression and self medicating with pot, alcohol and cocaine finally came crashing down, got clean but struggled with the depression, went on effexor and once it kicked in the world got brighter, after a year i stopped taking it( gradually) went into a deep depression, relapsed on drugs and wanted to die.got clean, am taking 300mg in the morning daily, and doing great, sometimes I think about long term effects, but just for today this is working, I am happy, positive and productive, married 15 years and two kids.Alive thanks to recovery and treatment of my medical depression, so I am staying with it. | M | 39 | 8 years | 5/8/2009 | 3 | Depression, Anxiety | The withdraws of this medicine are terrible. Complete lethargic feeling, violent mood swings, anger, and sleepiness. During withdraws it felt like I was completely wasted on alcohol and I was scared to drive a car. This drug really did nothing for me. It made me feel exactly the same as I did before, even after doubling the dosage. I had some mild mood swings, I cried a lot, and had very little motivation to do anything at all. I had a loss of appetite on the drug (some days I would not even think about eating until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. | The one positive of this drug was that I lost 25 lbs in 8 weeks, but I do not know if that had to do with the med or if it was a change in my diet. I also found that at first I had trouble having an orgasm, but after a few weeks, orgasms were really intense and amazing. These were really the only positives. | M | 22 | 2 years | 5/6/2009 | 5 | anxiety & depression | none that I recall. XR is best. | I love this medication! My social anxiety and life-long depression no longer hold me back from life :) It also really helped my bladder's constant pain & spasming. | F | 47 | 10 years | 5/3/2009 | 3 | Anixety | constapation, low sex drive, weight gain, never cried | I took effexor xr 75mg for a year and a half. It made me feel more in control of myself and emotions. I did gain 30 pounds but I may eat alittle more now too. I would recommand this drug. I have read about the side effects of withdrawl, this is my 1st time getting off an antidepressant and my doctor told me to take 37.5 mg for two weeks and then 37.5 for 10 days every other day. I do not have any side effects yet other then a headache but i am still taking a half a dose. I do know in the past if I went a couple of days with out it by the third day, I was crying and irritable. When I did finally take it, I would feel sick to my stomach most of the day. | F | 26 | 1.5 years | 4/28/2009 | 3 | depression | withdrawal symptoms SEVERE when dose was only 2-3 hours late. I can tell within 1-2 hours that I must have missed a dose, stange feelings in my head, like electrical shocks, as others have reported. Take 150mg 1X day. | Done NOTHING for my anxiety. I am a RN, I know everyone responds differently to medication. I'm glad this drug has been a "life saver" for some of you. But, any drug that gives you such terrible withdrawal symptoms, for example, when you are only 2-3 hours late on the next dose, well that is NOT a drug I want to be on. I see my doctor tomorrow to discuss weaning off Effexor XR, 150mg daily, SLOWLY. I need something, but don't know what to ask my doctor for. Many primary care doctors just don't know what to prescribe. Please - what have you found helpful to ease withdrawal? I can not go through withdrawal and take care of my children. I physicaly will not be able. Please responed ASAP with any help, suggestions you might have. And I agree, WHY doesn't the doctor educate their patient about side effects-withdrawal BEFORE the patient takes the first pill? I've worked in the healthcare field for over 15 years, I just don't get it. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WILL MAKE A GOOD SWITCH WITH EFFEXOR XR???? Thank you!! | F | 48 | 3 days | 4/26/2009 | 5 | severe anxiety | Initially severe constipation and decreased appetite. | My anxiety was so severe I developed severe gastritis and spent 8 months vomiting everyday. This drug has changed my life and saved my stomach. I suffered for years and I feel like a whole new person. The side effects lasted a short time and I have not had any problems with it since. I highly recommend this to anyone who is suffering like I was. It's a life saver. | F | 3 years | 4/24/2009 | 5 | depression/gad | sleepy/headaches,DO NOT MISS A DOSE or brain zaps. Nausea when first started it/feeling like im on some wacky drug that dialtes my pupils. Sometimes i feel a bit angry for no reason | This drug basically saved my sanity. Have had eating disorder for 6 years/ moderate depression/sever anxiety. Depression disappeared after about 2 weeks. I came off this drug after a year and after 3 months anxiety came back with flying colors depression after 5 months of being off it.So im back on it again feeling great. I also was taking 10 mg of ambien.Since being back on effexor i was able to switch to 5mg since it has calmed me down. I love effexor and never want ot be off it again | F | 25 | 2 years | 4/19/2009 | 4 | anxiety, ocd | well, side effect wise, not all that bad. Sweating, high blood pressure, and somewhat agitated. also shaking bad after alchohol, for days that is. When i withdrawled the first time i cold turkyed it. it wasnt that bad, brain zaps mostly, but you people need to realize, NOT everyone gets the withdrawls, most people that come off it fine dont get on here to post how there withdrawl was ok, only people that complain do. | Well, for all the ad's ive taken, i think this one has helped the most. i enjoy the decrease of anxiety that effexor has, compared to say zoloft, which zombied me, or generally just not giving a damn about anything. Im currently in the airforce so i have to deal with alot of things, and effexor has helped with that, so im generally really happy ^^. really i dont have much to say,sorry for all the people that have bad withdrawal symptoms, but it worked for me ^^ email me if you have any questions. | M | 21 | 9 months | 4/17/2009 |