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 |
| 4 | | 9/30/2007 | 5 | severe depression with some anxiety | It has changed my life for the better, by far! | F | 68 | 4 years | 9/28/2007 | 3 | Anxiety, Depression | Constipation, Sleeplessness, Vivid Dreams, Dizziness | F | 33 | 2 months | 9/27/2007 | 2 | depression | cant sleep, sweating, feel sick and dizzy, feel like im zoning out all the time inbetween feeling sick and dizzy of course | i think im going to quit and just do it the old fasion way, plus i dont want all those withdrawls im reading about. | M | 26 | 2 days | 9/27/2007 | 4 | Anxiety/mild depression | horrible taste in mouth in mornings, dizziness,nausea, weakness and easily bruised..INSOMNIA at the beginning | 37.5mg Effexor helped me! it has given me my life back within a week...After my firs pill i almost gave up, the side effects were terrible , my mouth felt numb;i didnt want to eat. I lost 10 pounds in a week. Now, im growing more accustomed to it, and it seems to be doing the job. | F | 23 | 10 days | 9/26/2007 | 5 | depression/anxiety | When first beginning medication I experieced tiredness and a "personality-less" persona. This quickly faded as my body became used to the medication. My side effects then included Increased amount of headaches, jaw tension, slight decrease in appetite, and an odd euphoric feeling when yawning. | My parents noticed an extreme change in my behavior as I progressed in college. I was tested for depression and prescribed effexor xr. I had extreme hesitation in taking any drug especailly one that would effect my personality. After reading many sites like this one explaining some pretty horrifying patient reviews I practically scared myself to death and actually made myself sick with the after taking the first dose. With some encouragement I kept up the medication and am actually very happy that I have. If you're like me and trying to research the drug before you take it I hope you understand most viewpoints recorderd are the ones of people who have negative feelings towards this drug. It even took me 4 months to write about my positive experience. I have felt a huge and most importantly positive change in my life and besides a few headaches the side-effects are few. There have even been times I have missed a pill and have not had any problems. Honestly, before you judge from other p | F | 21 | 5 months | 9/25/2007 | 5 | anxiety depression | loss of libido and possible weight gain....or is it just that I have gotten older while taking Effexor for 12 years and my metabolism has slowed, and I am not as diligent as I was about my food intake. Maybe age is also a factor in my decreased libido. I'm pretty sure that Effexor is responsible in large part to the lack of interest in sex. | Yes, I have no sex drive and that is disturbing to say the least, but the fact that I can function without ruminating about my problems all of the time or bursting into tears at the drop of a hat, makes taking Effexor worth while. As far as discontinuing Effexor, I have done this several times in order to try other agents or to test my libido ( as a matter of fact, my libido soared when I DC'ed Effexor, but I was a nervous, miserable wreck, so I went back to it.) the key is to wean yourself off slowly. Open up the capsuls and take half of one if you are taking 75mg or if you are taking 150 mg cut down to 1 capsule or 1 and 1/2. It's really easy and doable and you won't suffer any horrible side effects, which happens if you quit cold turkey. I have weaned off during periods of a few weeks, several times, successfully. | F | 52 | 12 years | 9/23/2007 | 4 | depression | dialated pupils, loss of appetite, memory loss, I ring my hands a lot, sweat more,lack of emotion, I get irritable at night, sores in my mouth, dry mouth, clench my teeth, sore neck/shoulders.... | I used methamphetamines for 2 years. I have been clean for 2 years. I now have all the same side effects of meth. It really kinda of scares me. I have only been taking effexor for about 3 weeks now. I'll finish this bottle and see if things change. | F | 25 | 3 weeks | 9/22/2007 | 5 | Depression | Only if I missed a dosage, head zaps, vertigo and sensitivity to sunlight. | It's a blessing. Much better than Remeron or Paxil. I'm involved with life again and willing to take it for the rest of my life. After my 2nd year I went from 300mg to 150mg. The drug isn't the only thing I do to control my depression: proper diet, exercise and meditation are tightly woven into my daily activities. | 39 | 4 years | 9/21/2007 | 2 | M | | 9/20/2007 | 2 | Depression | None. | Did absolutely nothing, but not one antideppresant has worked on me. | M | 27 | 60 days | 9/20/2007 | 1 | generalized anxiety/mild depression | dizziness, feeling like i took too much nyquil or something, flu-like slight soreness in the body, cloudy thoughts, dry mouth, achy stomach, loss of appetite, couldnt really sleep, and increased anxiety as a result of it all. | i have been recovering from meth and some other drugs for a little over 3 years now (i drink though) and thought i might benefit from this as i have been experiencing anxiety, and depression as a result of the anxiety, since. took my first pill at 5pm yesterday and then started experiencing the side-effects listed. this is not a good feeling. i feel uncomfortably high. i thought i would be sober and eventually feel an enhancement in my mood. within 3 hours of taking it, i was not sober. (plus i only got about 3 hours of half sleep last night) | M | 25 | 1 days | 9/20/2007 | 4 | 1-Depression;2-Post Chemo Fatigue | After 1 yr of surgery, chemo, radiation side effects, anything that Effexor might throw at me is NOTHING by comparison. Its benefits far outweigh anything I've exp. as SideFx & exceeds efficacy of previous Lexapro or zoloft regimens. Once, had a zap. A few times, difficulty going to sleep. Miss a dose, some slight anxiety - but again, nothing like the daily diet of SideFX from chemo, etc. Counteract anything with exercise, yoga, long walk/talk with husband & the Westie. | Far more efficacious than Lexapro &/or Zoloft re: Menopause-enhanced depression & other symptoms. Actually went thru clinical drug trial to determine Zoloft as better alternative to Lexapro. Effexor wasn't offered. Wish it had been. 75 mg day/taken at night. Experienced IMMEDIATE relief with change of med. Like my old, happy energetic self. Where has she been all this time? | M | 53 | 2 months | 9/19/2007 | 1 | MILD depression | wight gain, water retention, vivd dreams/ nightmares, crying, shaking, brain tremors or shocks, ( iseriously do not know how to adequtly describe it but it is debilitating), leg twitching, arm twitching, blurred vision, eye strain, think things hapened that really din not!!!!, believe dreams to be true the next day, crying, memory loss, confusion, my husband has no compassion to my withdrawal symptoms. | DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG EVER EVER EVER EVER. | F | 32 | 2 years | 9/18/2007 | 4 | GAD, depression | Weight gain, loss of libido, some fuzzy thinking and lethargy. | Initially on 37.5mg and now taking 225mg. I don't like the weight gain and loss of libido but I must admit this drug worked wonders for me. To be fair about the weigh gain I have to admit I have always enjoyed good food and drink. So I am back on Weight Watchers and heading back to health club. I sleep better and don't constantly worry about every little thing. Overall I feel much better on this drug than I did before. No plans to get off it yet. Perhaps if I can't control the weight gain I might. Another thing, this drug does not mix well with booze, especially hard stuff. I am okay with a few beers or some wine but if I drink to too much I can't remember what I did or said! Whole chunks of time are erased from my memory! | M | 57 | 18 months | 9/17/2007 | 3 | hot flashes/night sweats | Tenitis, headaches, and wierd visual stuff when I turn my head like the world has to catch up to it or something if I miss a dose. Also I guess you would call it anxiety. | I have taken this for several years for menopausal symptoms, even bragging to others at how effective it has been. In the past few months it seemed to have not worked as well. My gyno. increased my dosage from 75mg to 150 last month. I have been taking 112.50 mg this week and had planned on increasing next week to the 150 mg but I have been having migraines and tenitis constantly this week. I had not had many migraines on this drug (prior to Effexor would have one or two a month). I was told not to take any migraine medication (Maxalt) with Effexor and over the counter drugs do not work. After reading all of these reports, I will call my family dr. Monday and start the withdrawl process as this is too scary!! I know from missing a few doses that this will be hell!!! Also, I recently became sexually active (after 10 years) and noticed my libido, arousal, and such were very low, chalking it up to age, but now......another reason!!! Thank you everyone!! | F | 58 | 8 years | 9/14/2007 | 1 | depression | Horrible headaches, brain "swishes" or "zapping" when I was even a few hours late for a dose, constipation, horrible crying spells when going through withdrawal. Wanted to kill myself several times while on this drug, when I hadn't been suicidal before. This drug should really be banned by the FDA. | HOW TO QUIT THIS DRUG: Buy an over-the-counter sinus headache medicine for the zaps, and take very high doses of Omega-3s. Also, attempt to take a low dose of a drug such as Zoloft if you are able. Going off the drug sucks, but these things made it a lot better. | F | 24 | 4 years | 9/14/2007 | 2 | Mild depression, irritability | Lethargy, low libido, dont want to do anything. | I am very healthy and physically fit. Just started--only 2 37.5 mg. doses into it. Im going back to the Welbutrin which worked perfectly at 75mg a day, really gave me a lift and very little reduction in libido at that dose, which every doctor told me was ineffective. Rediculous--75mg (I break a 100 mg into 4 pieces) a day got me out of the house and energy, confidence. My doctor kept pushing me to try Effexor, but after reading all the terrible stories here Im quitting now. The positive reports here sound like they were written by drug reps. Im going back to Welbutrin, but dont let Dr.s tell you you have to take 300mg a day--that's crazy! | M | 49 | 1 days | 9/13/2007 | 5 | Depression and Anxiety | No side effects -- other than brainzaps if I miss a day. | I was on Paxil and Serzone, neither of which was really effective for me. I've been on Effexor-XR for almost 10 years and it's great. Depression and anxiety is well controlled and no longer a problem and I have a life! I ocassionally get stressed from work -- but then who doesn't. I understand that it can be difficult to get off. The only side effect I notice are the brainzaps when I skip a day. Everyone responds differently, but my life would not be the same without Effexor. | M | 61 | 10 years | 9/11/2007 | 1 | Depression | You name it! Going on the medication brought out intense anxiety (I had never really experienced anxiety before). Felt like I wanted to jump out of my skin; very agitated. When I tried to go off of the medication or if I skipped a dose accidentally, I had brain zaps, diarrhea, nausea, heart palpitations, sweating, blurred vision, and agitation. | I would NEVER recommend this drug to anyone!! I want off of this medication very badly, but am unable to deal w/ the w/drawals. I can get down from 150mgs to 37.5, but after that the agitation is just too much. It is so extreme that I get suicidal. However, on the med, I am fine. I am interested in talking to anyone who has been pregnant on this drug. I would like to start a family but am too afraid of what the drug will do to a baby. PLEASE let me know if you have been pregnant on this drug, the outcome, the dosage you were on, and the length of time on the drug. THANK YOU! | F | 29 | 10 years | 9/11/2007 |