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
 
 3  Depression; Anxiety Short term memory loss--If I get off task for 1 minute, then I often forget what I'm working on; loss of drive needed to be an effective attorney--in part due to the short term memory loss, in part due to not having that "driving desire," in part due to (dang, I can't remember what I was going to say); apathy towards completing tasks I've committed to complete; COMPLETE incompatibility with alcohol--I started getting somewhat back to normal, after stopping recently, although the first week I would just go through the motions of the workday--10 days later I was better, it is a gradual process--but, if I drink, I'm screwed for at least 7 days; I'm quite introverted to start with, and moreso on Effexor, & my decrease in an already fragile self confidence makes business development very problematic; Ear pressure in front of left ear; major trouble focusing, following up, having burning ambition I need to practice law. Brain zaps if I miss a dose, or if I drink alcohol, or I am scared beyond description about the withdral symptoms many face. I started taking this because I hit the wall with Zoloft about 9 months ago--after taking it for about 10 years. Until I started searching the Internet in the past few weeks, I thought I was alone. Now, I realize this is a big problem for a lot of people. M 48 9 months
3/28/2007
 2  depression rapid weight gain, excessive bloating, constipation, night sweats I was at 150mg and still experienced these side effects. somewhat helpful with depression until the weight gain and that compounded my depression F 44 5 days
3/28/2007
 1  severe depression,anxiety headaches,skin felt like bugs were crawling all over me,twiching,sweating during the night,couldnt sleep.the worst side effects ever My doctor put me on 75mg/day.the first day was hell,so then he told me to take 37.5mg,which i've been taking for 4 days now and i feel so terrible.feel like dying,no energy,the anxiety is higher then ever before,really weird dreams.I will see if i can switch over to Lexapro.i cant take this anymore I know you're supposed to give it 6 weeks,but i cant handle it F 27 5 days
3/27/2007
 1  Major Depression Sexual side effects. Not being able to achieve orgasm. No problem with achieving or maintaining erection. Lethargy, drowsiness, inability to focus or concentrate on school work. However withdrawal from this "drug" is horrible. I have now been off for 3 days after tapering off the dosage from 150mg alternating with 75mg for 10days, then 75mg alternated with 37.5mg, then 37.5mg for 5 days then one every other day. Til now I am off completely. I am having uncontrollable brain "zaps" or "shocks". These are horrible and concentration is nonexistent. I am sweating profusely and having cold chills then will get really hot and flushed in the face. Headaches are also really bad. I would advise anyone considering this to evaulate all options and the weigh pros and cons of this medicine. If I had known of the withdrawal symptoms I would have never started this drug. M 23 3 months
3/27/2007
Email
 1  Anxiety Extreme weight gain, dizziness, unable to focus eyes, fatigue, IBS, loss of menstrual cycle, increased blood pressure While the drug itself did help my depression - the side effects are horendous. I have gained about 50# after being on the drug for almost two years. I cannot seem to get off it as the withdrawal symptoms almost kill me. F 27 2 years
3/27/2007
Email
 4  generalized anxiety I have been on this medication for 5 years and it has helped extremely well with my anxiety levels. However, it has decreased my libido and I am not able to orgasm while on it. I have to miss a dose a couple of times a week in order to have a good sexual relationship with my spouse. I am also extremely tired all the time... need to take daily naps... F 46 5 years
3/26/2007
 4  Major Depression & anxiety no major effects noticed whilst taking attributed to effexor except my pupils are constantly dilated a little more and maybe a little weight gain. although withdrawl is horrible as i am on 300mg a day, if i miss a dose for one day my heart hurts and i get dizzy and headaches. if its more then that 1 day, i have fits of crying and shaking and rage, heart pulpitations, dizzyness, confusion, motion sickness, etc has stabalized me immensley, so far only one to take the edge off. F 20 6 years
3/26/2007
Email
 4  Major Depression Normally, this drug helps a lot -- if taken every day at the same time, it makes it possible to be alive without crying like an emo baby all the time. It really relieved my depression symptoms almost the first day I started. The only side effect I can think of while taking it correctly is what I can only describe as "eye twitches" -- instead of focusing, my eyes want to move from side to side or around in circles -- and a slight dizziness if I move my eyes too fast. Other than that, I have really cool dreams now, almost lucid, and I always remember every detail. Libido is, if anything, more irascible than before, because I don't feel like curling into a hole and dying for having the audacity to be alive. Still feel tired, but not defeated all the time. Unfortunately, I don't have the best memory in the world, so about thirty hours after I forget to take it, the worst, most horrible side effects seem to happen all at once: the eye twitching becomes almost uncontrollable, it feels like electric shocks traveling through my brain and into my arms, and I want to start rocking to and fro. The first few times I felt the twitching, electric side effects I thought I was REALLY going mental -- I was too scared to tell anyone about it, the implications that I was "feeling twitchy" were too scary to talk about. Also, suddenly, ridiculously, I would feel like I should commit suicide, and all the depression symptoms rush back almost stronger than before. This always takes me by surprise -- I could be minding my own business, reading the newspaper and BAM -- "I'm a horrible human being and I need to die right now." This is usually such a terribly segued thought that it immediately clues me in to, "Oh, I forgot to take my me F 20 6 months
3/25/2007
Email
 1  Major Depression Nausea, Horrible Metallic Taste in my Mouth, loss of appetite, agitation, hallucinations, nightmares. I only took 2 75 mg of Effxor and I thought I'd die on this poison. This is one wicked drug. 52 2 days
3/25/2007
 5  depression I started with 37.5 mg. then up to 75 then up to 150 ,trouble relatiing to certain words,names & places, Sleeplessness, Memory Loss, tremors - Restless Legs, Weight problem about 20 lbs sex drive - i feel horny all the time- getting it up is the problem since i have being on EXR, I wake up around 2-3 AM for an hour almost every night sleeping pills do not help, keep forgeting to take all my pills M 39 8 months
3/24/2007
Email
 2  fatigue, body tensions,anxiete killing libido I had really bad withdrawal effects, than went back to normal dose (150 g) and started taking off 10 grains of drug every day. I had to open it every day and count the grains. No withdrawal effect any more with this method. Sorry for my English M 41 3 days
3/24/2007
 5  severe clinical depression the usual sexual side effects. this medication was so effective that I'll be happy to endure any drawbacks. M 52 12 years
3/22/2007
 5  chronic depression and anxiety not much-some heart palp's as we increased dosage but that didn't last long. sometimes have very vivid dreams My depression started at age 12. Finally got treatment in 2001 at age 40. What a difference my life is now!! I am happy, calm, interested in life and doing things. I will be on this indefinitly. F 46 6 years
3/22/2007
 4  mild depression night sweats, dreams, possibly increased appetite I seem to be quite fortunate. I started out taking 300 mg of Effexor and am now down to 150 mg. At 300, I had very bothersome night sweats. This was greatly improved by dropping the dose to 225. With my doctor's permission, I've recently dropped the dose to 150 mg. I was wondering if the drug was increasing my appetite and if a lower dose might make a difference. But, I'm still about 10 pounds heavier than I'd like and at this point, I don't think I can blame it on Effexor. I suffered no major side effects when lowering the drug - just some light headedness that lasted a couple of days. M 38 7 years
3/22/2007
 4  deppression/anxiety tired, no sex drive. Effexor helped with my depression after loosing my beloved dog of 15 years. Just wanted something to get me over the hump & it did work within days. I only took it for 8 weeks and going off it was a nightmare. My doctor said going off would be fine, I reduced my dosage from 75mg to 37.5 for a few weeks but it was still hell. I had flu like symptoms & insomnia for a week. I would never take it again. I would recommend getting off any perscription anti-depressant(unless your bi-polar)and taking St. Johns wort or SAM-e which are natural products with little side effects. The doctors shy away from these products because they don't make any $$$$$ from them and it's all about money, sad but true. also taking Ginko Biloba helped me with the dizziness when I went off it along with Ginger tablets for stomach upset. Golden Seal will flush the drug out of your system quicker too. good luck, there is a light at the end of the tunnel but wean off slowly and don't trust everything your d F 48 2 months
3/21/2007
 2  depression weird dreams, anger, "brain shivers", carb cravings, salt cravings, exhaustion, teeth grinding, jaw clenching, headaches, physical expressions of outrage At first, the Effexor XR really seemed to help. I got through my grandmother's week long coma and eventual death pretty well. But, it's been 7 months since she died and now I find myself crying over it like it just happened. I have dreams about having sex with people besides my husband, being back in high school, getting fired, living on the moon, my daughter getting kidnapped....And uncontrollable anger!!! If I don't do something physically to express it, I feel like it will eat me up. Sometimes, even my 5 yr. old's laughter is enough to send me over the edge. I scream at her. I go outside and throw things. It's all I can do to keep myself from breaking things. Grind my teeth 24/7. Migraines about once a week. Exhaustion to the point that I can barely move. Trying to lose weight, but it's so hard when all I want to eat are carbs and salt. I'm a legal assistant--hard to work when my brain tries shutting down. Thinking about going back to DR. to have it changed. Also takin F 26 9 months
3/21/2007
Email
 1  Depression/Anxiety weight gain, feel tired all the time, ringing in the ears. If your doctor prescribes this, ask for another med. I took Zoloft 10 years ago, which worked fine. I cannot get off this medication because the side effects are so severe. I am down to 37.5mg, but I can't stop taking it. The withdrawl symtoms do not stop after a few days, they intensify and are severe. The longest I've been able to go without any effexor is a week. The withdrawl symtoms include numbness and tingling in the face and lips and extreme dizzyness and anxiety spells. I've tried cutting down gradually, but the longest I can go is two days without the dizzyness starting. I've tried describing the side effects to my doctor. I may as well be hooked on heroin. M 38 3 years
3/21/2007
 4  bipolar/depression dry mouth, sweating and dreams in the begining, they faded but I put on 30 pounds, that I am having a hard time losing. I took effexor xr 150mg for 2 years, it worked wonders for me, better than any other drug I've been on in the past, but the depression was still there. Went cold turkey to get off, it's been two weeks now, and it isn't pretty. F 36 2 years
3/20/2007
 3  mild depression weight gain, night sweats, dehydration, and fever. At first the medication seem to help, after being on it awhile the above side effects seem to get worse. After a week of weaning off the effoxor xr, still suffering with the withdrawls but I was told this was normal. For some reason my body does not respond well to anti-depressant drugs. F 25 12 months
3/20/2007
 1  Depression Severe addiction, cannot discontinue. Nightmarish withdrawl symptoms - inability to move or speak, suicidal thinking, nausea...too many side effects to name here. Impossible to get off this drug - withdrawl is far, far worse than anything I experienced before staring it. Heroin withdrawl is not this bad. M 33 7 years
3/20/2007

Previous Page       Next Page

BACK TO TOP