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 |
| 5 | depression / anxiety | I originally started with 75 mg and the sexual side effects hit me hard. I could not orgasm. My dr changed the prescription to 150 mg and that was even worse. I lost interest in sex. Became extremely moody. It was a nightmare. I dropped back down to 75 mg and am now taking 150 mg wellbutrin as well. This seems to have taken away all the sexual side effects. I feel normal again!!! WOW!!!!!!! If you're affected by sexual side effects talk to your dr about adding wellbutrin. It worked perfectly for me. | F | 32 | 3 months | 1/7/2007 | 4 | needed sleep | pain very bad pain on my joints a week know. | F | 35 | 2 days | 1/7/2007 | 5 | Aniexty | none | I have been on Celexa, Buspar, Valium all with Side Effect. Effexor keeps me calm with no effects. I have been on it for a year. | F | 35 | 1 years | 1/5/2007 | 1 | Anxiety and Depression | Early Menopause, dizziness, nausea, shaking | It screwed up my body so bad , coming off of this drug was a nightmare. | F | 44 | 1 years | 1/5/2007 | 5 | clinical depression (suicidal) | alert, overload of thoughts while im trying to talk, seeping breast milk ( im not preggers), loss of appetite, jaw clenching, fidgeting. | i am alive again although i know im addicted to this drug. i am on 300mg. had to keep upping the doses with celapram and lexapro. apart from side effects i feel great. i forgot what laughing felt like. | F | 21 | 1 years | 1/4/2007 | 3 | Severe depression, organic based | The withdrawal is exactly what is described. It is unfortunate, but probably quite true that the brain itself changes to adapt to this drug, which in the case of this particular toxin (all psychoactive medications are, theoretically, poisons -- not mine but a Stanford M.D.'s words) -- I have begun the process of accepting that the changes will have some permanent effect, one of which being the inability to be free from the symptoms withdrawal brings with it should I have to stop taking the drug. | I, too, like a few others have been taking effexor xr since it was initially released. In the decade or more of experience I've had, the dose I take daily is 300mg. I don't suffer from high blood pressure. The organic chemistry of my brain leaves me at a disadvantage for producing the right amounts of neurochemicals. Effexor keeps what I make available longer and that's added consistency and stability to my sleep, appetite, movement, etc.. Effexor xr has been the one medicine that has helped but even it has proved to be limited over time. I would not recommend this or any other drug like it to anyone with a mood disorder or any other condition except perhaps one that is already disabling. I am glad it was available as the best choice at the time, but 10 years ago, the doctors dismissed us when first describing the agony of stopping or missing my prescribed dose. They prescribed more drugs to combat obvious 'anxiety' and paranoia. Fortunately, I knew they were just blowing air from whe | F | 37 | 10 years | 1/4/2007 | 2 | depression | weight gain, dry mouth, decreased libido | Withdrawal is unbearable. Glutathione may help to get off from this drug. You can get sublingual tablets at a health food store. Also, to minimize withdrawal symptoms, you may ask your doctor to switch you to Prozac. Hope this helps, and do some research before taking any drug!!! Good luck to everyone!!! | F | 23 | 12 days | 1/4/2007 | 1 | ANXIETY | started on 37.5 mg for one week, was then increased to 75mg. first started noticing muscle pain (flu-like), and then tremors... really annoying hand and finger twitching. started getting headaches. started getting brain shocks when falling asleep. found myself sleeping a lot longer than usual in the mornings. very dizzy... lightheaded. lack of energy. zombie-like no emotion status. and a severe loss of sensation to my penis and testicles. hard to maintain an erection, and takes forever to reach an orgasm. more frequent urination during the night. joint pain, especially in my hands. | i had none of these side effects before taking effexor. i wasn't able to see my pcp, so a physicians assistant prescribed the effexor to me without warning me of any of the possible side effects. the pharmicist didn't even go over these with me. i have been on effexor for three weeks now and am going to discontinue it's use immediately. i know there are withdrawal symptoms, but hopefully after only three weeks it won't be too bad. i do not recommend this medication and plan on complaining to my pcp about it on my next visit. | M | 45 | 21 days | 1/4/2007 | 5 | Clinical Depression | Strange electrical shock sensation in my head. I'm suprised no one else had reported this - it's very prominant and occurs every hour or so during the day. Night sweats. Increase in blood pressure. Slight hand tremmors. Lack of inhibition leading to high risk financial decisions and over-confidence in work setting. | I had to go off of Effexor when I lost my health insurace after taking 300mg a day for three years. I loved being on the medication and was cured of life long clinical depression. When I went off I became more depressed than ever before, I think because I now know how it feels to be happy. I am going back on Effexor this week after 1.5 years without. I am cautious because although Effexor made me feel confident and uninhibited it eliminated any self doubt, a small amount of which I now realize serves an important funtion in life. I will closly monitor my ability to self evaluate and make reaonable decisions this time. When I was last on this drug, allot of risky financial mistakes and overconficence at work led to becomming unemployed and broke. I was so overconfident at work people started plotting to take me down; scarey but true. Decision making is difficult for the clinically depressed because of debilitating self doubt, however Effexor does not instantly make you a good dec | F | 46 | 3 years | 1/3/2007 | 1 | insomnia and anxiety | Intense agitation. A feeling of being disconnected from myself. Worsened insomnia. | After months of anxiety and insomnia, the doctor prescribed Effexor. In the brief period I took it, it seemed to help anxiety, but only because I stopped caring about anything. I felt completely disconnected. Also, it made my insomnia worse - I was not able to sleep at at all. The worst effect was the constant feeling of agitation. Perhaps some of these side effects would have eventually resolved, but they were so bad that I could not continue long enough to find out. Effexor is definitely not for me. | M | 43 | 5 days | 1/3/2007 | 1 | depression | lethargy, "tinglies," weight gain, horrible withdrawals | This drug is awful and should be taken off the market. Initially, it helped with my depression, but trying to stop taking it (following my family physician's advice) was HELL! After 3 years and two unsuccessful attempts to come off of this drug, I had to see a psychiatrist who prescribed a 10-day, low dose of Prozac to be taken in conjunction with 75 mg. of Effexor. This is the only way to make this transition work! Apparently, very few doctors know this "trick." | F | 35 | 3 years | 1/2/2007 | 3 | Depression / anxiety | Sexual side effects, drowsiness. Tired all the time and sleeping long hours. Migraines. | I was taking 75mg and my dr then upped the dose to 150mg. I've been on 150mg for almost 3 weeks..I was feeling like I didn't like it at all. I had a lot of headaches. Sexual side effects were worse. I was spacey and just felt out of it all the time. I'm now taking 75 mg again along with 150mg of Wellbutrin and I think that I'm starting to feel better. Less spacey but still tired. Has anyone else here taken effexor and wellbutrin together? Did it help at all. | F | 32 | 3 months | 12/31/2006 | 1 | depression | tired all the time, no sex drive, unable to reach orgasm, didn't care about a thing. | And, if you think the side effects are hell, just wait until you try and go off it. OMG, the nightmares, the insane DIZZINESS, the brain "SHOCKS" .. I wanted to die. Took me over a month to get rid of the withdrawal. I WOULD NEVER TAKE THIS EVIL DRUG AGAIN. The depression wasn't as bad as the drug !! | F | 50 | 1 years | 12/29/2006 | 5 | depression | No noticeable side effects | Effexor is a miracle drug! Before it was prescribed to me, I was crying and staying in bed almost the whole day. The Effexor made me feel like my old self again. And crying is actually difficult. I wouldn't recommend it to actors who have scenes requiring tears. Just kidding, but I'm serious. I still have emotions, but they're under control. I don't find Effexor to be habit-forming at all. I can't rave enough about this medication. It allowed me to regain respect from my friends, boss and coworkers. | F | 61 | 4 months | 12/28/2006 | 4 | Chronic / Severe Depression | Nausea, night sweats, dizziness, weight loss, vivid dreams, Insomnia, bruised easily, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, fatigue. Sexual function didn't change at all. The severity of these symptoms increased as I went from 75mg to 300mg over the years. Also the effectiveness dissolved over time, which is why the dose was increased. | If not taken at the same time every day, severe nausea and brain shocks. | F | 21 | 6 years | 12/25/2006 | 5 | panic attacks,muscle pain ,anxiety | the first month was bad, extreme nausea, loss of appitite, headaches, scary dreams, awake every 2 hours at night, suicidal thoughts till on right dose. | I stuck throught the side effects at first and now I am so grateful.I feel like a new person, no panic attacks , so social axiety, very relaxed and balanced feeling. I love how this drug makes me feel I am on 300mg. But recently with no diet change have gained 15lbs | F | 27 | 5 days | 12/24/2006 | 3 | 150 mg Effexor XR | I started out on 75 mg. I've been taking 150 mg for almost 2 weeks now. I've noticed an intense craving for chocolate, anything sweet. I haven't noticed a lot of weight gain but it does concern me because it seems like all I can think about is eating chocolate, cake, cookies etc. I've had the will power to resist so far. Has anyone else experienced these cravings? I'm also tired most of the time. Definite decrese in energy. | F | 32 | 2 months | 12/24/2006 | 1 | What I thought was Depression | When I went to 75mg I slept for 20 hours the second day. People said I looked disoriented. I decided to take it before bed. Vivid dreams, HUGE weight gain, I couldn't eat enough chocolate. | I quit taking it after about a month (cold turkey) - 3 days of living hell. Headaches, dizziness, out-of-body-ness, Vivid serial Nightmares, one in which my mother & I were kidnapped, they all seemed to include murder, mayhem and being chased!! I was afraid to go to sleep. It did help with anxiety though, but not worth it!! | F | 35 | 1 months | 12/23/2006 | 1 | psychotic depression/ maybe bipolar | none | This medicine was comparable to taking placebo; no lift of depression, energy increase, motivation, nothing. | M | 19 | 69 days | 12/21/2006 | 4 | Depression and anxiety | Extreme dry mouth, unable to reach orgasm. However, my sex drive is still Ok. No notable weight gain, as I have pushed myself to work out still. Felt a bit sluggish, but after a month or so on the 150mg dose, have overcome that side effect. The one and ONLY complaint is this horrible taste in my mouth- tastes metallic, and bitter, a secretion under my toungue. I hope it goes away- I'm brushing my teeth about 5 times a day! Lol. | Keep a VERY close eye on your side effects with this drug. For a week, I had horrible suicidal thoughts and mood swings, which eventually went away. Have a support system- family, friends- to help you when you are down. It gets better. If you have high blood pressure, do NOT quit cold turkey, as this is a very BAD way to do with any of these types of drugs. contact your Dr, and if that doesn't help, get another opinion. There's help out there, and millions of people like us who know what we're all going through. :) | F | 24 | 3 months | 12/20/2006 |