EFFEXOR XR Reviews (VENLAFAXINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (2225 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EFFEXOR XR with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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More on EFFEXOR XR: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR EFFEXOR XR | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 2 | Depression & anxiety | Nausea, Headaches, Dry mouth, Dizziness, Vivid/weird/disturbing dreams, Constipation, Very groggy during the day, "Flat" emotionally, Strange feelings in brain/head | I took Effexor for almost 2 years for chronic depression and anxiety. When going on the drug, I was sick/nauseous/dizzy for about 2 weeks straight. Once I was used to the drug, I felt okay, but everytime I got the dosage bumped up I went through the same thing. Seemed to help with depression for about a year, but I noticed that my "lows" were MUCH lower. My doctor bumped up my dosage a few times, but I started getting dizzy spells a lot and these very strange "zaps" in my brain - like electricity going through and slowing everything down. It was very weird, and rather disturbing when you're driving. Also, as my dosage went up, I was groggy ALL the time - had a lot of problems concentrating at work cause all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap. My doctor forgot to call in my prescription over a three-day weekend, so I went through severe withdrawal symptoms and decided that I'd had enough. Took about 4 weeks to stop feeling all the withdrawal symptoms... and st | F | 34 | 2 years | 10/16/2005 | 1 | Major Depressive Disorder | Low blood pressure when standing, which caused me to faint several times a week, no libido | Helped with depression, but it was just too dangerous to be fainting all the time | F | 21 | 2 years | 10/15/2005 | 2 | depression | sweating,couging,insomnia,heavy headed,extreme hunger I think due to the strange feeling mostly in my mouth. | F | 42 | 7 days | 10/14/2005 | 4 | Fibromyalgia | First week was terrible. I should not have even driven a car. But the doctor said to stay with it for a week. After that I was fine. | Within 3 days the pain from the fibromyalgia was almost totally gone. | F | 56 | 8 years | 10/7/2005 | 1 | depression and anxiety | Initially not a lot. Sexual dysfunction was about the most noticeable. However I felt drugged on and off theoughout the treatment...a bit like the old tricyclics. | I believe that this medication should be withdrawn. Over time it's effects tapered off and getting off it was just awful, tapering down over a month from the normal dose still produced another month of the dreaded seratonin electric head, headaches and sense of unreality. If I hadn't understood what was happening and why I think I would have been totally deranged. Getting off it was far harder than getting off the two tricyclics I had been on in the last 20 years and miles harder than getting off Zoloft. FWIW I would be looking for a different drug next time I need an antideppressant. | M | 55 | 12 months | 10/5/2005 | 1 | Depression | Weight gain, insomnia, heart pains, dizziness, suicidalness, zero sex drive, numbness | Worst drug i've ever had the misfortune to have prescribed to me. Have been on it for over 6 years now, and have been trying to come off it for the last 6 months, and even with cutting back very gradually on the dose for months, it has caused dreadful side effects, feeling dizzy and like i am going to vomit all the time, feel spaced out, feel absolutely dreadful. Have had absolutely no sex drive whatsoever, am completely dead from the waist down, feel like it has ruined my sex drive for life, as even now i have not had it for 5 days, i still feel nothing whatsoever. This is the worst drug ever, i'm sure i'd be better off if I'd taken cocaine or something, as it has completely ruined my life and made it worse than ever. Avoid at all costs, even if your quack might want to ruin your life with it. | F | 23 | 6 years | 10/2/2005 | 5 | anxiety, psychosomatic problems | None. But then, I have taken several other SSRIs in the past, and have never had any side effects. No side effects when reducing dosage from 150 ER to 75 ER. I have now reduced to 37.5 ER (by halving dosage) and I think I am beginning to experience some problems, but it's kind of too early to tell yet - it might be coincidence. | It definitely helped with my panic attacks, anxiety, heart flutters, psychosomatic heart pain, breathlesness,etc. which are now GONE. I have reduced the amount of alcohol, and lost a lot of weight. Of course, as with all the drugs of this type, you don't really know whether you might not have to some extent gotten better on your won. | F | 35 | 1 years | 9/27/2005 | 4 | Despression | At first the dry mouth, tremors, headaches and the night sweats were terrible, especially week before mensturation - increase in appetite constantly (binging) while no one looking ..... unless the appetite was just an excuse? | I have been on Effexor XR for about 12 months now and taking 450mg in the morning. Though my moods do feel much better ...I dont have that darkness surrounding me constantely, I am very tired and the weight gain is bringing me down. I combine this with Valpro and now take 1000mg morning and night. I am also taking every weight-loss diet pill or diet, starving myself or whatever and then binging ....? as I said not sure if its just me making excuses or the medication. | F | 34 | 12 months | 9/24/2005 | 5 | bi-polar disorder | I haven't experienced any side effects what-so-ever. | This drug changed my life! I suffered from extreme depression for 3 years and nothing worked. After being on Effexor XR for only 4 weeks I noticed a drastic change in mood. | M | 31 | 3 months | 9/23/2005 | 2 | depression, anxiety | Extreme hypotension and tachycardia (fast pulse). I had to be pulled of the medicine quickly b/c the cardiac symptoms were becomming dangerous -- and withdrawal was terrible. I could not have survived it outside of a hospital because I had to "taper" so quickly (I essentially stopped cold turkey). Also, there was some thought that it was inducing hypomania. | This medication REALLY helped my anxiety. A lot. It did not do much for my mood, but I was also severely anorexic at the time I was on this. Withdrawal was pure HELL. | F | 20 | 2 months | 9/21/2005 | 4 | depression, anxiety, OCD | Wired with a dry mouth... I feel a little apathetic right now because this is the first time that i have felt good in a while and feel like sitting around and enjoying it... i bet this passes and then i get some motivation | No one talked about what happened during the first couple of days and i bet people are wondering. By day two I felt better, I had a little too much energy even (probably because i am used to having none). I haven't felt like eating at all except when i realized that I had forgotten a meal so i ate to keep my energy up. I thought this was supposed to take weeks to work and I felt great day 2. I didn't even realize that I had felt that awful until I felt good. I don't ever want to feel like I did again. Effexor saved not just my life but my quality of life :) | F | 22 | 5 days | 9/19/2005 | 5 | Depression & Anxiety | 150mg/day - inability to sleep more than 4-5 hours at a time, headaches (usually mild), constantly sleepy. Decreased appetite. 75mg/day - no side effects/none severe enough to notice. | No weight gain like everything else I've tried. Seemed to take less time to build up in my system and therefore, I got relief from the depression and anxiety much sooner. | F | 40 | 1 years | 9/15/2005 | 1 | depression | Severe adverse reaction. tremors (whole body), complete loss of libedo, difficulty concentrating, extremely high strung, agressive and hostile behavior. 25 pound weight loss. | it should be taken off the market. | F | 38 | 7 months | 9/13/2005 | 5 | ocd obsessive thoughts | no side effects lost 50 lbs on it that i gained from luvox,sleep 10x better, excellent drug, obsessive thoughts leave my head much faster now(tried anafranil,prozac,luvox,trazadone,zoloft, with no results at all) | M | 29 | 4 years | 9/12/2005 | 5 | depression,mood swings | tight jaw,elevated blood pressure(went away),electric shocks in head on higher doseof 225mg,twitching in my sleep,hard to cry,need more sexual stimulation to orgasm,blurry vision | Tried alot of other meds.This has been the best. Weaned off over a period of 2 months. Went into a horrible depression shortly after stopping completely. Very happy to be on it again.Take 150mg in the am. | F | 48 | 3 years | 9/10/2005 | 1 | Mental illness | Very dizzy, next day could not get out of bed. Problems breathing. | I will never take this medication again. | F | 32 | 2 days | 9/6/2005 | 3 | for mild depression/regular highs | weight gain mostly and i think my dose is too high, when i was first put on it it was just 75mg and i have gradually increased it to 300mg sometimes - now i think this high dose has caused me to have an excessive appetitte | i am worried about trying to cut down gradually as i read so much scary stuff about going off it | F | 60 | 5 days | 9/5/2005 | 5 | depression, surgical menopause | Heavy bruising and bruising too easily; extended bleed time. Unable to sleep through the night. Unable to get into a deep sleep. Bouts of repeated yawning, which left me breathless. Bouts of drowsiness, lightheadedness and being unable to focus my eyes, like I just had to go to sleep (used caffeine to fight it). Constant tinnitus, ringing in my ears, buzzing & wooshing noises, as if I could hear the blood rushing through my veins. Increase in blood pressure. Headaches. | Immediately had a problem with bruising too easily. Some of the bruises were very large and filled with blood. Over the next 8 months, 4 doctors insisted it wasn't the Effexor, but they were wrong. The insert from the pharmacy said it was a serious side effect. When I finally got them to listen to me, and after my physical and blood work all tested normal, they started switching me to Lexapro. The Effexor caused bouts of yawning and lightheadedness, which were exhausting and annoying; had to drink coffee to counteract this. Sometimes the coffee didn't work. I ended up taking an energy pill with the Effexor (Syn-er-gy from Ameriden) so that I could cope and work. During the first couple of months, the tinnitus was so loud, it made it difficult to hear the tv or radio, and made it hard to fall asleep. It gradually tapered off, but if I took the Effexor at night, the tinnitus was very loud as I tried to fall asleep. Found that if I took the Effexxor at noon, I was able to sleep b | F | 45 | 8 months | 8/27/2005 | 5 | Mild depression / anxiety | Yes it has reduced by libido, but I think the brightening of my mood makes up for this side effect. | M | 50 | 10 years | 8/24/2005 | 1 | Anxiety, pms... | Headaches, odd feelings when off the drug (vertigo, headaches, fuzzy feelings, irrational thinking) | I would reccomend that NO ONE Take this drug unless it is a last resort | F | 42 | 8 months | 8/20/2005 |