User Reviews for Venlafaxine (Effexor)

I am currently on this medication and it is working great. Iâ??m 18 and have had anxiety/depression for most of my life. I have tried Paxil, Lexapro, and Zoloft but this one has worked the best. The only thing I donâ??t like about it is that if you miss a pill or are trying to get off of the drug, the side effects are horrible. When I miss a pill, the next day I am super sad, confused, dizzy, I canâ??t concentrate on anything, Iâ??m super tired, and very loopy. If you are wanting to take this medication, just know that the side effects of withdrawal are very hard, but the pill works very good in my case. I didnâ??t have any side effects getting on the pill so that was also a plus. Read reviews, but donâ??t expect to have the same circumstance as everyone who takes it because it reacts differently with everyone. Read More Read Less

USE THIS MEDICATION AS A LAST RESORT ONLY!!! Effexor worked for my anxiety, although it took away a sense of "urgency" related to task importance, and sex drive disappeared. I weaned off under my doctor's supervision, replacing the Effexor with Cipralex gradually. I am experiencing paralyzing brain malfunction, confusion, randomly losing where I am and where I'm going while driving. Getting lost travelling routes that I'm familiar with. I am unable to focus properly in conversation, managing tasks in their order is ridiculously challenging. I'm nearly a year out. Hoping my brain isn't permanently scrambled.Read More Read Less

Prescribed by my ObGyn for cancer radiation treatment related hot flashes/night sweats. I took my first dosage 4 hours ago from writing this. An hour after taking it, I started feeling off, and enough time to look up the symptoms before rushing to the bathroom for vomiting. I also had lightheadedness, dizziness, and nausea. Took about four hours to wear off enough that I don't need to lay down, but still a bit of nausea/vomiting.

Survivor of repeated abuse. Dx.:PTSD,Panic attacks, Depression, social phobia,also OA with JRA, Chronic pain post surgical, neck (abuse related) and back. Stumbled onto Effexor after many years on other meds. VERY NICE SURPRISE! I'm waking up pain free for the first time in 15 years. The pain comes in later, but it's so very nice that it's not what wakes me anymore.Ive just begun treatment w Effexor and I can only hope this 'side effect' is lasting. I'm taking 37.5 mg. For the first time in decades I have hope. And, yes, it completely handled my depression symptoms, too. I get a black wave of depression every few days, but am no longer a jug of tears. So far, it's great.Read More Read Less

Suffer from major depression and have tried everything from A to Z. My Dr. put me on Effexor with no warnings about side effects. Took 150mgs for about a year along with Zoloft and I began to feel like my old self again, before depression. You know that person you wish you could be again. And my only complaint is the horrible sweating. But it's worth it to me. Just be careful when coming off because I didnt know if it was the drug or me Just feeling better so I stopped taking it overnight and it threw me through a loop. My depression came back full force and I started crying to myself and thinking I was crazy and better off dead. Still, I stayed off of it for 2 or 3 months untill it got oit of my system. I didn't sweat nearly as much but now I am realizing that I was better off on the effexor than off and have recently started to take it again. I just hope I have the same good effects as the first time around.Read More Read Less

By far my least favorite antidepressant. A very rushed dr in psych prescribed me Effexor. I knew right away this medication and I werenâ??t going to get along, but everyone encouraged us to try and work it out. Played with dosage, but I only lasted a little over a month on it. Ya know in drug commercials where they list all the possible side effects? That was our relationship. This medication may cause â??dry moth, constipation, headaches..â?. Perfect for anyone that loves having anxiety attacks in coffee shops and feeling out of bodyRead More Read Less

First few days (37.5mg) the side effects for me included loss of appetite, dry mouth, nausea every 2 weeks my GP increased the dose and I'm now on 262mg extended release daily. The only side effects I have now remains the dry mouth, waking up at 2am,3am,4am etc until I have to get up, unable to orgasm (I'm female) and I'm unable to cry physically even if I feel sad. I think you need to have expectations of this drug it's not going to make you "happy" and "energetic" it's going to make you function normally. I can make decisions at work again, communicate better with others, I don't excessively worry about things in fact it makes you literally not care. It blunts your emotions which is a good thing and a bad thing. But it has definetly helped to balance things out for me and improved my quality of life. The side effects are worth it. You know its working when you nearly forget to take it in the morning. It's like having a sore throat, you're very aware of the pain so you take a paracetamol, once this drug starts working you feel so normal again youre not aware of the pain that was once there all the time. Read More Read Less

I have been battling seasonal depression and this year I couldnâ??t stand it so this is my first encounter with an anti-depressant medication. Was suppose to taper up to 150mg but took 1 pill of 37mg in the evening. The next morning I woke up feeling STRUNG OUT. Ended up in the hospital. HORRIBLE feeling. Vomiting, sweating, hear racing, whole body shivers and twitching. AWFUL.

with every increase in medication, my depression worsens, not desire to eat or do anything, don't want to go out, feel anti-social - I will be seeing my doc soon and plan to have her wean me off this, I'm more anxious and depressed on it, horrible nightmares, insomnia to name a few bad side effects....I do not recommend this at all

Only on a low dose but this drug has helped make me human again. I sleep well, have lost weight and the only side effect has been minor constipation if I don't eat well. Otherwise it has made me capable of having a conversation with other people again and I have regained my functionality at work.

I know this sounds dumb BUT I never ever, EVER had WARTS, but while i was on Effexor Warts started to pop up on my hands, I was just taking Effexor, nothing else. I thought it coudn't be Effexor, but that was the only thing I was doing different, so I stoped it and with-in 2 to 3 weeks they where ALL-GONE, I couldn't beleve it, (I have a witness). I will never take it again, if it caused the warts out-side what did it do in-side? All I know now is that it has been 12 years since then, an now I have M.S. :(Read More Read Less

I have been a "highly funtioning" depressed person for many years: life of the party, witty, intelligent, charming, intelligent conversationalist, highly successful at the top of the food chain in my field, ...until I got home. Work was an escape from myself for me. If I had no weekend functions to attend I would be catatonic, only getting out of bed to use the bathroom. I had always felt like an outsider, looking in on life, trying to imitate what everyone else was doing, but never getting it quite right and others sensing that I was a fake. No not suicidal-many years ago I came to the realization that I can only live once for a limited amount of time, but death is forever. Also, as long as I was alive, I always had a choice, but once I was dead, there was no coming back. About 6 years ago, it was so bad that I stopped sleeping and could not eat, dropping 40 pounds in a matter of weeks. My thoughts were chasing around in my head so much, that I thought I would jump out of the window any second just to make it stop. Decided to get help. Diagnosed with menopause related depression. Put on Effexor, 75mg. Took about 2 weeks to get used to it. Yes, head in a fog. Eventually things normalized and dosage did not have to be increased. I was supposed to be on it for about a year, to allow my body time to get used to the changes. After having left the med at work over a long holiday weekend in October, I suffered extreme withdrawal symptoms and decided to stop taking it right then and there. I also found out that it made my cholesterol go from 180 to 260. Which still has not normalized. I was able to get it down in the 230s adding phytosterols, nuts, healthy oils and seaweed. Apparently I am in the 8% percent that this happens to when taking Effexor. Unfortunately, this was not in the patient information leaflet. I always read those completely. But the prescribing physician should have seen that in the desk reference and monitored for it. Good thing: was only on it 6 mos.Read More Read Less

I have been taking Effexor for depression for four years and have found it to be very effective.

I took this medicine for about 7 years with great results, and quit taking it 9 years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter. Recently I was put back on it and had terrible side effects. My eyes dilated and swelled. They became very red after only 2 doses. I was extremely jittery. I felt nothing at all. My family said I was a zombie. I couldn't think or function.

I have taken this for 3 months at 150 mg (started on 75 mg and worked up). I have felt a tiny bit better mood wise but the side effects are horrible and not worth it. I wake up 3-4 times a night absolutely drenched in sweat, my bedding is soaked, but I am freezing cold. I feel like I only get about 2 hours sleep with all the waking up and uncomfortableness of sweating. When I do sleep I have terrible nightmares. This is getting worse not better. I have trouble with body temperature during the day too - I get really hot and feel like I will pass out. Or really cold and just can't get warm for several hours. I also have terrible nausea that is getting worse, some days it's pretty much constant. Other side effects include constipation, headaches, blurred vision and loss of appetite. At the start I also bruised really easily and was pretty much covered in bruises for a few weeks. Side effects are so awful I am trying to get off this drug, and even after only 3 months, it is proving difficult. I am back down to 75 mg but the side effects are getting worse. I am living on anti-nausea pills!Read More Read Less

Need exercise. No energy on Lexapro and Wellbutrin. Switched Wellbutrin to Effexor. Started at one 37.5 mg cap and now taking 3 caps. I see doc in two weeks. I have some trouble sleeping, but still more awake during day and getting stuff done. Blood pressure was a little higher than normal a few days ago. Constipated for past 2 months so won't know if Effexor contributes to it. Increased exercise should take care of it and help me lose weight and I'm getting my energy back to do that.

I was on this drug for less than 25 days at 75mg.I was doing just ok. It wasn't really doing anything for my depression, except I turned into a raving crazy person. I am a teacher, never yelled at my kids until I took this drug! Told my doctor, she doubled the dose! Also, my blood pressure has been consistently high since I started this medication ( 175/89 to over 210/99). Needless to say I stopped taking it 6 days ago and I feel much better, except for my blood pressure. Now I'm worried about having a stroke.Read More Read Less

There's a reason this doctors refer to this drug as "side effexor." My Dr. didn't advise me of the significant side effects, including flu-like symptoms if you miss as little as one or two doses. You can feel seriously ill. I took it for years, and experienced this pretty much every time I forgot a dose. When I went to a doctor (a different one than the one who prescribed it, since I lost trust in her due to her failure to inform me about the downsides of Effexor) to get off this Rx, I asked her what the worse case scenario would be if I was traveling in a remote area and the Rx was lost/stolen, as I was planning a trip in Africa. She said I'd be hospitalized. It took SIX WEEKS to slowly reduce the dosage and gradually get off this Rx. I needed the doctor's supervision to do it safely. I would caution anyone considering taking it to research it thoroughly in advance. If there are other effective options, I would certainly recommend those instead of Effexor, and consider it a drug of last resort. Read More Read Less