User Reviews for Effexor oral

This medicine did not help my bipolar disorder at all. It set off my mania and I hard trouble in my daily life because of it

I got on Effexor while going through a divorce. I had been suffering with anxiety, without truly understanding what it was for years and when I was going through a divorce, it heightened pretty severely. I first tried Zoloft but it caused stomach pain, so the doctor put me on Effexor. I felt results pretty quickly which was great. I only ended up needing 37.5 mg/day. It's now 6 1/2 years later and I'm weaning off it because I want to get pregnant and you aren't supposed to take Effexor while pregnant. Getting off Effexor is tough! I get dizzy waves, and it's taken 4 months to get off the very small dose, so just be patient and be in regular touch with your doctor if you go off of it. My doctor said it isn't dangerous to have the dizziness but it's just really uncomfortable and doesn't feel good.Read More Read Less

I am 62 y.o. and suffered from anxiety and depression most of my life. I've been taking a anti depressant for 18 years. Lexapro for 9 years, switched to Celexa, was better but stopped working after 7 years. My anxiety physical symptoms can be acute; I switched to Effexor 18 mos. ago and am very pleased. My anxiety issues have come down several notches and depression is much less frequent and usually manageable. No side effects but dont skip a dose, withdrawl symptons come on quick. I am extremely glad for this medicine.Read More Read Less

This medication is a somewhat difficult medication to be on. I have been taking it for many years, the side affects are really bad sometimes. If I miss one dose I start to vomit, shake, pass out, hallucinate, get chills, and I get an electric shock feeling in my brain. It also messes with my vision so I can't drive at night as I get blinded by the lights around me. This works really well as a mood stabilizer for me, I do have to take 300 milligrams in the winter and 150 in the summer. When I go back down to the 150 I can get sick so I have to do it slowly. Read More Read Less

I came off 2 meds to this one medicine and I have never felt so good. When I first got it the ratings scared me so bad but after 30 days I feel amazing.

Donâ??t take this medication!! Iâ??ve been on/ off antidepressants for 15 years mostly on and I can tell you that this is the worst medicine to get off of. Iâ??m currently on week 3 of no meds and Iâ??m going through hell, no appetite, crying spurts, insomnia and the damn zapping feeling is the worst! The migraines are daily but Iâ??m determined to stop it. Research the meds they prescribe before you take it!!

Back fusion, shoulder smashed and rebuilt, hip needing replacement. I have permanent nerve damage and foot drop in my right leg from spinal nerve damage. From the back surgery there has been all kinds of pain, I can manage to walk about 100 yards and I'm done for the day. All this after a very healthy and active life style naturally brought on depression as well. 75mg in AM and PM has done wonders. I feel alive, the acute and zapping pain is better/tolerable. For me, a positive all around experience...Read More Read Less

I came off of my medications Prozac 20mg and Wellbutrin 150xr per day because of a serious heath issue that had me in a coma for about a week and a half. After recovery my doctor tried Effexor as a replacement. The medicine was so bad, I was seriously considering suicide daily and found myself actually looking for trees along the highway which would do the job. I was an avid duck hunter and one day across a pond was a tree. The tree began to move and come toward me across the pond. I immediately went to my doctor who weaned me off of the med. it took approximately 10-11 months to get off the medicine and get the suicidal thoughts out of my head. I was abusive to my family, which led to a divorce. My career was horribly affected and I lost many friends because of my ups and downs trying to get off of it. It was the worst experience of my life. I’ve heard nothing but horror stories about this medication. Please research it before you try it .Read More Read Less

This medication will make you violently ill. It will mess with your head Search deeper! There are better alternatives out there.

At 50, I had a heart attack, bypass surgery and immediately found out I was also in the throes of menopause. I had been on the birth control pill up to the day of my heart attack and that had kept most of the hot flashes away. As soon as I went off the birth control pill, hot flashes hit. Very bad and about 15 per day. Doctor suggested Effexor 37.5mg once a day since I can not take hormones because of heart disease. It took a while (6 weeks) to start working but once it did it was a sure fix for me. Hot flashes happen about 3 times a week now! Decided to come off of it after about 6 months and hot flashes have returned. :( The worst part however is the withdrawal symptoms. Even at that low dose, coming off has given me a week's worth of dizziness when I move my head. My eyes don't seem to be processing what they see in real time and that makes me dizzy. Also have something I will just reference as the "brain zaps" mentioned by others just because I can not describe it. But helping with the hot flashes and mood swings was definitely worth going through the withdrawal ! Read More Read Less

I took Effexor for 6 months and it changed my personality. The longer I was on Effexor the worse the side effects got. On Effexor I started having insomnia that became so bad that I was lucky to get 2 hours of sleep a night. I became so irritable and impatient that I started having almost uncontrollable fits of anger and cussing when I was alone in my car. I also started cussing when I made a minor mistake. Before I started taking Effexor I DIDN�¢����T cuss. On Effexor I also became significantly more anxious and started experiencing compulsive behaviors that I had NEVER experienced prior to taking Effexor. I stopped taking Effexor a year ago, and I am still experiencing all of these negative changes in my personality except insomnia, Once again, I want to emphasize that I NEVER had any of these issues before I took Effexor.Read More Read Less

I have been taking this medication since Nov 2015. Im taking 300mg. 2 x 150mg tablets in the morning. I take both together as when I use to take one in the morning and one at night I had terrible trouble sleeping. Taking them both in the morning worked for me. However, I am now finding by 3pm in the afternoon I am getting withdrawal like symptoms. The brain zapping and dizziness. I havenâ??t spoken to my doctor yet as I donâ??t want to increase them any more. I would love to try and come off them. But I am so frightened of the withdrawal symptoms and feeling so bad the depression returns. When you have come off them how did they advise you to decrease? I will go to see my doctor and take his advice but to know someone that has done and techniques on how to cope with the withdrawal would be good. I feel like locking myself away for sometime and coming off them so I am alone and canâ??t take the feelings out on anyone else. Or could the doctor just put me in a induced coma and take me off the drugs? I could wake up and itâ??s all gone out of my system! I am joking on the last bit I donâ??t any doctor would do that. Cheers Sue in the ð??¬ð??§ Read More Read Less

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