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
 
 5  Anxiety Initially I experienced fatigue, nausea, and dizziness. After a couple of weeks the side effects subsided. Having anxiety, I was terrified to start taking this medication, especially after reading reviews from others. However, I tend to think people review products more when they are unsatisfied, so we are likely missing reviews from people like me who love this medicine. This medicine has made such a difference in my life and I will never stop taking it! F 38 2 months
75mg 1X day
7/24/2020
Email
 2  Depression Brain zap. Was spacey all the time.. difficulty concentrating F 49 0 months
1X day
7/24/2020
 1  Anxiety and depression Completely weirded out. Paranoid shakily. Blurry vision Shortness of breath. I am supposed to increase dose but I cantb 66 0 days
38.5 1X day
7/20/2020
 1  Depression Absolutely worst medication I have ever been on. I thought it was working at first but then around 3 months in I started to notice horrible changes within myself. I was profusely sweating. I would not want to leave my house so I started to miss work. I became extremely paranoid. I became homicidal. I was basically a zombie. It was very scary. I literally feel traumatized from the effects it had on me. F 34 4 months
150mg 1X day
7/20/2020
 5  Anxiety and Depression Night sweats Been on Effexor 75 mg for 30 years. Tried different medication for about 12 months and it nearly destroyed my life. Didn't want to live, lost 20 kilos, couldn't sleep. Doctor put me back on Effexor and doubled it to 150 mg. Saved my life. Hungry again. Back to my happy self. Motivation returned.. F 50 4 months
150 mg 1X day
7/19/2020
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 1  Misdiagnosis Brain zaps, heart palpitations, memory loss, confusion, low libido, depersonalization, severe night terrors, severe anger outbursts, irritability, light and sun sensitivity, night sweats, suicidal thoughts and attempts. I know theres more but I cant think of them all! In the past 18 years of use I have tried extremely hard to get off of Effexor XR three times and I absolutely cannot! The night terrors alone have caused me so much psychological damage that Im afraid to even sleep! 18 years of complete insanity and I will be stuck like this until the day I die! THIS IS A DRUG SENT STRAIGHT FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL!!! STAY AWAY!!! F 35 18 years
150
7/2/2020
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 1  Anxiety and depression Worst heartburn of my life My doctor told me to try to take Prilosec with it but that gives me a dry cough. I tried Pepto and it did nothing. My whole chest was burning. I couldn't even make it through a week. F 40 3 days
37.5 1X day
6/15/2020
 5  Depression Anxiety Amazing drug! Completely healed my anxiety and depression when nothing else worked! I had no side effects other than 30 pounds weight gain and night sweats. I've been 125 pounds my entire life and fit . I exercise regularly and eat healthy but can't lose the weight. I'm also taking Bupropion 100 SR. I tapered myself off the Effexor with no side effects. I hoping my weight will go back to normal. F 41 100 days
150
5/31/2020
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 1  Postpartum depression and anxiety Zaps that feel like you are being electrocuted briefly then immediately followed by vertigo and a sharp headache. Would happen any time I was a little late taking a dose and asked to come off of it and now the zaps occur every 45 seconds and I'm only on the first week of trying to come off. The only thing that helps these symptoms is taking more of this drug. It is not a side effect, it is withdrawal! Never would have started taking it if I knew I would go into withdrawal. This drug did not help with my anxiety. The side effects (aka withdrawal) actually make my anxiety worse because it is a very scary feeling. I literally cannot function trying to come off this medication. F 30 3 months
75mg
5/15/2020
 5  Depression Night sweats Night terrors Decreased libido Increased depression Am a crying mess w/o it F 67 5 years
150mg
4/13/2020
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 1  Anxiety, depression Horrible medicine for me. Switched from lexapro which crapped out after 8 years. Things started out okay on Effexor, felt a little less blunted and apathetic. But as the months have gone on I’ve been getting more and more agitated, restless, and just generally feel like crap all the time. I have suicidal thoughts daily, which I never had on lexapro. I feel tired but wired at the same time. It’s horrible, I can’t wait to get off. M 24 6 months
75mg
2/4/2020
 2  Anxiety and Depression Sweating. Weird dreams. Bad withdrawal symptoms if I miss a dose I am messed up for 24 hours - flu like symptoms, nausea and diarrhea, pain in hands and feet, even weirder dreams and more sweaty-ness. And I am on a pretty low dose. Can't tell if it works or not. Getting off slowly and it sucks. F 46 2 years
50-75
12/31/2019
 1  Anxiety, Depression, PTSD I thought this really helped me at first. Numbing relief to extreme anxiety. I've wanted to stop taking it for nearly two years now but it's never the "right time" according to doctors... I don't think any doctor wants to be responsible for what happens when you try to come off of this drug, even slowly. I don't know what I'm going to do, I just want this drug out of my body but I'm so sensitive to the withdrawal that I'm afraid to do it... Even missing a dose within a few hours I feel so horrible I can't function and feel like I'm going crazy. Please don't let them put you on this... When you ask "so am I going to be on this for the rest of my life?" they don't give a straight answer. I feel like a lab rat they've tested this on F 23 5 years
150 1X day
12/29/2019
 1  Major depression disorder Mood swings, insomnia, depression, irritability, low libido, inability to orgasm, no empathy, suicidal thoughts, severe withdrawal symptoms: tremors, rocking, suicidal thoughts, crying, skin crawling, chronic illness, PTSD It worked to keep depression at bay for 6-9 months then I needed to raise the dose. I got by on 225 for a few years and didn't sleep for 3 days straight when we tried 300mg. Withdrawal was the worst thing I've ever been through, even with 9 months of microtaper and naturopathic support. It triggered trauma to my immune system and I ended up chronically ill. Thankfully a clean diet, mental counseling, and Chinese medicine have me feeling better after 4 years of cleaning up this mess. Quitting is possible; healing is possible; but this drug does severe long-term damage and can trigger other illness to tank your immune system. Do NOT go on this drug; get help if you need to get off. Don't give up. F 33 6 years
225 mg
11/10/2019
 1  Depression anxiety There are tons of doctors prescribing this without any warnings. If you take Effexor and it works for you be prepared to be in it for the rest of your life or to take six months to a year coming off if you have taken it for a long time . I tried to come off since I felt I’m not much better off with it. I went Down to 75 mg a day every other day for a while then I stopped. My symptoms were bad afterwards but the worse thing was I could not sleep !! Every twenty minutes or so I would wake and after a few hours I just would not be able to sleep it was so bad I went back on it. Now I’m trying 37.5 mg every other day (after gradually doing the same reducing every couple months or so the dosage ) and then try every other two days making sure I’m stable before making each reduction for a couple months or so )almost all antidepressants and benzodiazepines are like this so be very careful. Try to research getting on Lmethylfolate(it’s a form of VitaminB6) methylB12(check your vit b12 and D3 levels. ) maybe with St. John worth and 5htp and omega3 supplements And picamilon. These are all over the counters. Exhaust all possibilities before getting on anti depressants. And just use benzodiazepines to get by once in a while without taking continuously .. M 55 3 years
150mg a da
10/17/2019
 5  GAD Only if I miss or am late taking a dose. Unexpected positive side effects, other than giving my life back, controlled the temper and night terrors I had since childhood. Only had some digestive issues the first few months, then they went away. I can tell within a few hours if I've missed a dose. I get irritable, short temper, trouble waking, night terrors, and my libido goes into overdrive. I will never go off this. I'd end up not leaving my house again. F 49 13 years
225 mg
10/3/2019
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 5  Migraine vertigo Weight gain, brain zaps if dose missed I would have killed myself if I hadn't found something to take away 95% of the 24/7 room spins. I lived 22 months with rightward spinning with no relief until I found this drug. F 46 14 years
150 mg
7/4/2019
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 3  Depressed Am taking 150 mg of sertraline.still depressed. M 71 10 years
225
12/29/2018
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 2  Depression and GAD Weight gain, apathy, brain zaps This drug was one of many we have tried to alleviate my GAD and depression. It is a very unpleasant drug to wean/get off of. Even missing a day, I felt the brain zaps coming and they always did. It was a hellish experience coming off that drug. M 34 24 months
60 mg.
12/20/2018
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 2  Gad and depression Weight gain, brain zaps, decreased libido For me, this drug caused brain zaps if even one dose was missed. Coming off of it was a hellish ordeal. I just felt like I couldn’t think well, was enduring brain zaps, and after several months of feeling entirely “off”, the withdrawal symptoms finally started to subside. It works for many but the side effects were ultimately not worth the minimal efficacy (for me as in individual). It did seem to “numb” me emotionally which didn’t help with close relationships. F 34 2 years
60 mg.
12/20/2018
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