User Reviews for Venlafaxine (Effexor)

I experienced increased anxiety,blurred vision,"vagueness" ,inability to process quickly-couldn't sleep,couldn't eat....Felt restless yet unable to actually accomplish anything...Not the drug for me !

it has eased my anxiety and i dont seem to get upset as easy as i did before i started on effexor two months ago

not effective with change of life symptoms. Wanted to discontinue med but find it difficult to stop. Get very bad headaches when trying to stop

I have more energy, but the vision problems are annoying.

effexor xr worked great for me for first 6 months then i tryed cutting down on it and had massive panic attacks so went back up on it and it started having the reverse effect on me it made my panic attacks, anxiety and depression much, much worse. getting off it to try something else was one of the hardest things in my life,, i finally did it and have just started cymbalta, god i hope its nothing like effexor.

I tried several types of anti depressant, prescribed by my psychiatrist but this is the one that worked best for me with no apparent side effects.

Effexor has worked well for me.It helped me lose weight when I first started takingit but that effect has worn off now.

loss ofbalance

I have been on effexor for 9 months, though I didnt feel a noticable difference my wife could tell if I had missed a dose> (150mg a day) I have gained almost 65lbs and I cant take the weight off.. I exercise 5 times a week for 1-2 hours a day. decided to go off medication and I am having horrible feelings. brain feels like every few minutes someone shakes you violently, eyes have a hard time focusing. also feel as if I am slower mentally then those around me. over whelming feeling that I am not clicking on all levels. hope that this feeling will go away in about 7 more days. bad issues: weight gain, loss of sexual desire, and the effects of going off med, I would strongly recommend trying another drug that does not have these side effects. I dont know what is worse the anxiety/depression or the feeling i have when I missed 1 dose/and stopping taking the meds. I think Dr (psych) prescribed this med all too fast for me.Read More Read Less

I have been on this medication for more then 7 years now and it is definitly a drug that takes time. I have had a lot of ups and down with this medication but over all it has truley helped me with my depression and anxiety.

just started and i am still severely depressed and cannnot seem to get any energy upp to move. one part of me wants to die and the pill is two weeks in my system.

Too many side affects

I continued to have insurance issues with Effexor XR, switched to Celexa. Withdrawals were horible first 3 days. Had all the terrible withdrawals and basically stayed in bed. I believe the switch to Celexa instead of going off Effexor cold turkey saved me weeks of agony. I am sorry for so many that have to completley go off Effexor due to losing their insurance, etc. I would not go back on Effexor or recommend it unless you are going to be on it for life! I chose Celexa because it is less expensive therefore, insurance is willing to pay without the hassels I had with Effexor. Also, after researching Celexa, supposedly the side effects are not as severe if I choose to stop it later.Read More Read Less

I took Effexor for several years. At first, I thought it was a miracle cure...my depression was cured and I lost a lot of weight!!! As time went by it was less and less effective. When the decison was made to change meds I could not get off of it! I went thru the proper procedure to wean myself off and, of course, i was doing so per my doctor's instructions, but the withdrawals were unbearable! It was like my brain was scrambled! I couldnt make ANY decisions! If someone asked me if I wanted coke or pepsi I was not capable of deciding. After much agony I finally got thru it and was put on Lexapro. Lexapro is not nearly as helpful as Effexor was, but I can go for several days without Lexapro and still function normally. I'm not sure what the deal with Effexor is, but it's a real shame because it was very effective for a long while. Read More Read Less

I was put on way too high a dose for my small frame...150mg Effexor XR in addition to sleeping tabs and Xyprexa...once off the sleeping tabs and Xyprexa it became painfully obvious that I was still extremely over-medicated!! Effexor was slowly poisoning me...I had extreme asthenia(fatigue, weakness of body, lack of strength and energy). To top it off my psychiatrist would not listen to me or take my complaints seriously!! Eventually I had the courage to see just a GP. I now take 10mg of Cipralex and I have my life back!! I almost lost everything - my life, my husband and my children. Effexor can be a dangerous drug...be very careful of it!!Read More Read Less

took for anger 75mg might as well forget sex even with cialis -sweating- itching-nervousness-outbursts-prostate problems-vision prob the worst 10 yrs on it -sucks

This medicine was impossible to get off of. It took months for me to get off it and i still felt like crap. Terrible.

Combined with Trazodone, Effexor has made a significant difference in my ability to cope.