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
 
 1  Depression / Anxiety Sweating, headache, sexual disfunction, mania combined with poor judgement (bad combination), weight gain, memory loss... Discontinuation syndrome is vicious - no words in the English language can adequately describe the physical and emotional pain. It's been two years since I finally stopped taking it, and I still get the "shocks" early in the morning. DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG. M 43 9 months
9/1/2006
 1  Depession Horrific side effects when taken even one hour late. Impossible to come off drug. I took the pills apart and reduce the tidy bobbles one by one for 3 months and still had migraines and dizziness. No help from Doctors. On internet discovered the half life is the problem and that taking an anidepressant with a long half life ie prozac, I lost all withdrawal symptoms immediately. Don't take it unless you can guarantee to take it on time every day for life! F 28 9 months
9/1/2006
 5  depression/anxiety none while taking it, though i was warned about the possibility of it affecting the anger portion of your brain and i have become quite a bit more easily agitated. when i have skipped doses for a couple days at a time, i start to feel a little crazy, often like i'm walking around in a dream, probably a bit manic. i've tried paxil, zoloft, celexa, and lexapro. i've been on effexor the longest and it's the one that has made me feel most like myself. i have had to raise my dosage over the time i've been on it, often feeling like i've "plateauted." i capped out at 300mg, but i'm back down to 150mg. i would eventually like to go off of it, but i am terrified of what the withdrawal will be like. F 24 2 years
8/31/2006
 3  depression Initially, I loved it. It boosted my energy. However, eventually I felt normal. Then, I realized I had become forgetful and had difficulty concentrating or reading dense text. M 54 20 days
8/31/2006
 3  depression I started on the starter kit. Initially, I loved it at the 75 mg doze but with a few grains less than the way it comes. I would open it and pour out some of the grains so as to not have too strong of a dosage or to not develop tolerance quickly. It boosted my energy and I felt I didn't need to drink coffee or eat much. However, eventually I felt normal. Then, I realized I had become forgetful and had difficulty concentrating or reading dense text. M 54 20 days
8/31/2006
 5  depression night sweats but TAKE BLACK COHOSH and it completely elminates it. Try it you have nothing to lose. It saved my life! F 41 8 months
8/29/2006
 5  depression when I started I felt extremely tired and yawned like crazy. I felt like I was thirsty the majority of the time and was also getting very vivid dreams(which is cool.)and night sweats. I still get tired, but only when I am not doing anything active. Plus I still get thirsty and am also still getting the vivid dreams and night sweats. I feel like my old self again. I am happier, I don't think negative hardly anymore. Plus I feel more calm. F 27 2 months
8/29/2006
 5  Severe Deppression Upset stomach, clenched jaw, Feeling drunk when I wake during the night, (I take at bedtime) No feelings sad,happy,nothing. I have been on for almost a week and I love this! I went from being deppressed all the time, hating to wake up everyday to being able to do things again! I have 5 kids and have been coming home from work and playing with them when before I felt like doing nothing! Lots of energy, decreased appetite I feel full faster, and Im overweight so thats great, I read about the sex thing, who thinks about sex when their deppressed anyway? So I could care less. I love not feeling sad or happy. My emotions controlled every part of my life and now I can live. I am really scared of the withdrawel stuff if I ever have to come off, but for now this is great. I dont sleep well at all, never have so I dont know if the drug is adding to it or not. I am just glad im not deppressed anymore. My mother committed suicide when I was 15, and I was so scared I may do the same, even worse knowing what it would do to my kids, but so far this is great! I hope it stays like this. I am on 75 mg now and after the 7th F 28 6 days
8/28/2006
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 1  Social Anxiety & Depression Brain tremors, loss of sex drive, SEVERE withdrawl symptoms! I couldnt imagine a prescription drug being much harder to get away from. Missing 1 dose will send you into all kinds of nasty side effects, sometimes with in a few hours of the missed dose. Quitting and getting away from this was a horrible experience. Even when slowly stepping down. And I still sometimes will experience brain temors to this day, and I have been off it for over a year. I was also on a pretty high dose, 375mg daily. The doctor just kept pushing it higher and higher. M 26 1 years
8/26/2006
 1  depression tired, thirsty, wasnt helpful F 44
8/26/2006
 1  depression suicidal/homicidal hopeless thoughts, irrational broke a tooth grinding them incessantly, erratic menstrual periods, intense dreams that I could not tell from reality and could not wake from. Sleepiness and bouts of sleeplessness extreme lethargy developed diabetes type II high blood pressure and was hospitalized twice when trying to ween off of the drug. No one ever told me even as I was seeing my psych and psychologists weekly, and my physician, that what I was experiencing could be from the drug. They just said I was severely mentally ill and needed hospitalized and more and more medication. At my second involuntary hospitalization I refused all psych meds and miracle of all miracles I FINALLY GOT BETTER. 5 months drug free and no more hospitalizations ps both my psychiatrist and my psychologist dropped me during my last hospitalization. Said I was too severely ill for them to help me. NICE! But I've gotten better ever since. F 45 5 months
8/24/2006
 4  Depression "head swooshing" - Not bad. Fatigue and some weight gain. I also take provigil to help me stay up during the day. This has helped to clear up my depression. F 34 10 months
8/23/2006
 2  Anxiety and mild depression My doctor is getting me started with Effexor XR very slowly. She gave me the usual sample pack containing a weeks supply of 37.5mg capsules and a weeks worth of 75mg capsules BUT also gave me 3 more 7 day strips of the 37.5mg. She told me to take 37.5 mg a day for 3 weeks and then move up to the 75. I am currently on week 2 of the 37.5mg. After only a couple of days I noticed jaw clenching, sharp electric pains in my eyes, constipation, problems with thermoregulation, night sweats, vivid dreams, a waning libido, and inability to achieve orgasm. My depression and anxiety are usualy pretty mild, so these side effects are not worth what little good this medication can offer. Also, after very recent blood tests, we discovered that my testosterone and other hormonal levels are low/off, which is more than likely the reason why I was having symptoms of depression, listlessness, and lack of interest in life. My doctor has already mentioned taking me off of Effexor and focusing on the real prob After reading other people's comments about discontinuing the use of Effexor, I have to say that I am a bit scared. I have enough problems without having to go through this as well. I just think that in so many cases Doctors are eager to jump the gun and tell their patients that they are depressed or anxious when there could be other problems going on that they don't even consider. If you are a guy, even a young guy, and suffer from mild to moderate depression, by all means, have your hormones/testosterone checked out. Do some research on testicular hypofunction and or hypothalamus dysfunction. It could be worth it. M 28 2 weeks
8/23/2006
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 1  hot flashes due to menopause I was ok while taking Effexor XR, however, trying to go off it has been horrible. I only took it for 6 months, 37.5 mg. I went off it slowly and now have not had one in over a week. I'm dizzy, can't focus, and feel worse today than I have all week. The headaches have been unbearable at times. I would never take this drug again. F 42 6 months
8/23/2006
 5  postpardom and anxiety at first dizziness..icky feeling...sick feeling..lack of sex drive...but only lasted for a ahort period of time..now sex drive is back Very happy with the results of this drug after I had the baby had severe panic attacks to where i didn't want to leave the house...couldn't sleep i am now on a dosage of 300 mg a day and the panic attacks are gone along with the racing thoughts and i am sleeping peacefully..It takes a while to find the right dosage for you and you have to stick with it but once you find the correct dosage the benifits are GREAT..I have been on effexor for a little over 7 months and when I started out I couldn't get out of bed or stop crying after 8 weeks I was back to living on my own with the baby and now I am feeling great...but miss a dose and you feel the side affects nearly right away... F 31 7 months
8/22/2006
 1  Signs of depression Cognitive impairment, memory loss, inability to concentrate, no motivation, extreme anxiety, sweating buckets, depression, feeling suicidal, slurred speech, tiredness, muscle spasms and shakiness, lightheadedness, collapsing, seizure, visual phenomena, night blindness Withdrawal from this drug is hell M 17 2 years
8/22/2006
 2  emotional balance lack of sexual desire, takes a long time to reach orgasim, increase of anger. I have been on Effexor XR for over 6 months now and I hate it. I have seen some side effects that I dont like. Im going to talk to my doctor today about taking me off of it. I dont have much of a sex drive any more and that really bothers me. I never had that problem before I started taking this medicine. F 45
8/21/2006
 1  Chronic Fatigue Syndrom/Fibromyalgi narrowing of emotional capacity, jaw clenching, loss of orgasms (not desire for them, though), fatigue, loss of appetite. After stopping: dizzyness, headache (centered around sinus/eyes), confusion, inability to form coherent sentences or stay on task, increased pain in neck/shoulder/back area. Tapered on for one week at 37.5/day; stayed on 75/day for 2 weeks; tapered off for one week at 37.5/day. Once off medication, real problems started - dizzyness, pain, brain dysfunction. YIKES! Do NOT take this drug - it's VERY scary. Do as much research as you can and you will find it's not worth the risk. Some people can NEVER stop taking it - others have problems for weeks or months. The only really good thing it did for me was completely wipe out my body pain when nothing else touched it - but I DO NOT recommend it becuase now that I'm off it, the pain is worse than it's ever been before AND I have all the other stuff too. This is the first medication I've ever heard of where there are even more side-effects once you're totally off of it than when you're on it. F 36 4 weeks
8/21/2006
 2  GAD/Panic Disorder Nausea, Heavy Stomach, Vivid Dreams, Loss of Libido, Loss of Appetite, Upset stomach, Vomiting, Pounding Heart, Losing weight, Lack of sleep, Fatigue. I can't give a long-term review of this medication because I'm on my 7th day and I'm about to up my dosage from 37.5 to 75 tomorrow. Ever since I started Effexor, I've been experiencing a dramatic loss in appetite. I wake up in the morning feeling completely fine and then within an hour my heart starts to beat faster and my stomach gets heavy. I have to force myself to eat small bites of food at a time which sometimes makes me vomit. The whole point of me taking this medication is to relieve myself of these symptoms which are put on by anxiety. I now have no reason to continue Effexor if I have to live with these symptoms on a daily bases. I never had depression, but because I feel sick and useless all the time, I now do. I have to admit, however, that I do enjoy the vivid dreams. I woke up yesterday morning with a pretty good idea for a gorey/slasher/cannobolism film. M 22 7 days
8/20/2006
 1  Migraine and backpain chest pain, swollen tongue,nausea,shocks...etc never take this med it can kill you with a heart attack if you take the common maxalt meds avoid all triptans, it should be off the market F 46 1 years
8/20/2006

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