I have been on Effexor for about 7 weeks now, l started real slow, l have been on 150 mg for about 2 weeks and have just started to notice a difference, how long does it take for this stuff to work and will l have to bump up the dose to get the full affect, l dont feel 100% l would say l am about 60%, how do l get the extra 40 is it just time?

Thanks:

VAN

Hi, Most doctors say anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks, but it can take longer. there alot of posts that can possibly help you find out more about Effexor on this site. I wish I had more information, because this drug didn't do anything for me, but make my situation worse. I don't and never have suffered from depression, Effexor enhanced my anxiety levels and brought on depression, my doctor took me off ASAP. I really hope it works for you, but if you read some other posts, you will see what I am talking about.

I am not a doc, so taking advice from me, would not be smart..:) I didn't care for it, and would not recommend it, solely for the fact, you have been on it for quite some time, and it seems it is not doing it's thing. But that sometimes happens when you increase your dosage, seems like you have to start all over again on the time frame.

Good luck and hang in there, posting helps!

Ariom :wave:

Ariom

What worked for you and your anxiety, what drug finally helped you?

Thanks:

VAN

Hi, it took me a while, and was eventually bumped up which is just the right amount for me.
Mim

Hey Van, What worked for me? Well let's see after trying Celexa, Zoloft, paxil, Lexapro..non of those worked. they just made me depressed is all. As I mentioned before, I have no signs of depression. Mine was more panic attacks, and freaking out for nothing , like driving long distances, and being in huge crowds. My heart would just start pounding , felt like I was going to faint at any given moment. So back to the doctors, like I said it's all trial and error. my doctor finally just gave me Xanax and that seems to do the trick, when I need it. 1mg a dy, half in the morning and the other at night. I know it may not be for long term use..but been on it for 3 yrs and I am fine. I don't have FULL-BLOWN panic attacks anymore...I can do just about anything and live a normal life. by that I mean I don't let the panic/anxiety control me, I control it. Many people may tell you benzo's are no good and addictive, but what isn't?? SSRI's are the same. You become dependent on them as well. My mom for years was on Klonopin and many others, let me just say this, she ended up in the hospital. Seriously depressed. I don't think I ever remember being happy growing up. So what I am saying you are going to get some good feedback on Xanax or valium, and you are going to get negative feedback. I have noticed the majority of negative feedback I get from benzo's are people who can't get it from there doctors. Yeah they are addictive, but if something is going to work for me, and allow me to enjoy the things in life I have always done without thinking twice, why not? I AM GOING TO TAKE IT!

Hope this helps...remember..we are not all the same, different meds help different people. Good luck on finding the right med for you. keep posting and let me know.

Ariom :wave:

I have tried benzos and they all made my anxiety work, l have talked with many people who sy that effexor saved there lives and they love it. Everybody l guess is different l just am having a tough time being patient, any others with thoughts about effexor or other drugs that have helped with anxiety?

Thanks:

VAN

For me it took about 3 weeks.

When people say they noticed a difference after 3 weeks or 6 weeks or whatever the time what does that mean. Does it mean you started feeling better but still were suffereing or does it mean that you were better and able to move on with your life. I ask because l have noticed that l feel a little better but l am nowhere near better, so does that mean more time is needed or l need to up the drug or l need to find a new drug?

Thanks:

VAN

I hate to be vague, but it can be any of the above. From my own experience, effexor is the only med that has subtantially helped with almost no lasting side effects, so changing drugs isn't my first choice option, even though I'm not where I want to be either. I may eventually raise the dose. In your case, you've been on the 150 mg only a short while, so if it is helping, I'd see how you feel in another couple of weeks or so before making changes.

i used to take effexor xr years ago so i don't remember exactly how long it took to start working...
i was on a REALLY high dose though, when i finally started weening off it several years ago...

the contribution i wanted to make was my experience regarding meds in general...
i've never really felt a dramatic difference after taking any particular meds for my anxiety...
(the list over the years has included wellbutrin, zoloft, paxil, effexor xr, and ativan)
the way it usually felt for me was that i'd kind of notice that my anxiety / depression wasn't as bad as i remembered it being...
much more subtle reaction but you kind of just realize that you're not necessarily feeling all better or all fixed, but that you're not feeling as bad as you once were...
i think it's important to ask yourself if you're feeling better... enough so to no longer be non-functional, and if you're able to lead a healthier life now as a result...

another thing that i'm sure everyone and their brother will probably agree with is that meds always seem to work better in combination with some kind of therapy / counseling...

just my $0.02... :-)

Exactly! 808 Lion describes precisely how I feel. Nothing dramatic, but I have a life now, where I didn't before, and I'm immensely grateful. I did have more dramatic quick results with anxiety on lexapro, but I was a complete zombie. See how far effexor will take you. Ask yourself the questions Lion poses, and remember, if you're feeling well enough, don't underestimate the capacity of your mind to mend itself further with the help perhaps of a good therapist.

Thanks for your replies its much appreciated, so l saw my doctor today and he bumped my dose from 150 mg to 300 mg a day. He wants to see me back in 4 weeks, he also suggested that the effexor doesnt fix me we can try prozac, which l have tried once and got real bad nausea but he says the stuff really works good for most people, so l guess time will tell. Has anybody tried 300 mg or higher on effexor and if so what happened?

Thanks:

VAN

towards the end when i was taking effexor, before i started weening off, i was on 650mg / day...
i don't remember having any particularly bad side effects or anything, but everyone's different...

It took about 6 months or so til I was bumped up, but I was also put on Klonopin at night to help with anxiety. The higher Efexxor dose plus the Klonopin make me actually feel like a relatively "normal" person 90% of the time. Hope this helps! PS (I was taking xanax as needed, but they felt the constant stream of klonopin was better since it stays in the system much longer.
Mim

So l bumped my dose up to 300 mg the past few days and l feel like l am going to die, l feel like l am going crazy, its almost like my anxiety has gotten worse, is this sapposed to happen?
Do l need to just fight through this hopping that it will kick in and all go away or do l need to stop this stuff and try something else, if anybody has any thoughts it would be appreciated. Also if l need to stop what other anti-depressant drug works for anxiety?

Thanks:

VAN

Why did your doctor double your dose? That's quite a leap! Yes, it's quite normal for your anxiety to initially increase. Ask your doctor if you can increase the dose more gradually, should be less likely to have extreme side effects this way. It doesn't seem as though your body had much time to respond to the first increase!

In answer to your second question, lexapro was a great drug for me for treating anxiety, but I was way too tired on it to function.

So what did you end up using to treat your anxiety and how long will it take or should it take for my body to adjust to this drug and the initial anxiety?

Thanks:

VAN

Anybody else have any thoughts out there.

Thanks:

VAN

In answer to your first question, from my experience, anywhere from 2-8 weeks, if the drug is going to work for you.

I'm using effexor, 150 mgs, for anxiety and depression. My anxiety is much reduced, but not eliminated, at this dose.

It's been a while since I posted here....been feeling really awful with anxiety/depression. Probably the anxiety is the worst. Was taking Remeron 15 - 30 mg for one year and finally went off it. Gave me weight gain that I just couldn't lose and also alot of swelling of my feet/ankles.

so my doctor, had me try Lexapro/Cipralex which gave me terrible nausea and diarhhea. Had to go off it.

Now taking Effexor XR since August 8th - started at 37.5mg and just last week up to 75mg. But it has not helped my anxiety at all!!! Wow, it seems worse than ever. The tight throat feeling and constant excess saliva/swallowing is driving me crazy. So I can say for me, this med is not working yet - feel worse than before taking it.

I've been living with this for approx. 14 years now (to the point where I have had to take meds) and sure wish I could find something to ease the anxiety. I take .5 mg Valium when needed, but I thought that the Effexor would help. I've also noticed that I cannot sleep at night. I was taking the Effexor in the morning with breakfast but was sleepy and yawning all day so tonight I'm going to try taking it after dinner.

Sorry I've been so wordy. But here's my experience on this medication. Not impressed so far :yawn: I guess I'll just keep on trying......

girlgato, effexor didn't work for me either until I'd been on 150 mgs for a few weeks. It stinks, but the only way we sufferers know if a particular med is going to work is to try it at different doses and stick each dose out for awhile. It's HARD! Good luck!

Guineapig5,

I don't see my dr. until the end of August and I'm sure he'll want to increase the dosage. But my system is SOOOO sensitive to all these types of meds that I get so leary about taking more. Like you said, it's all trial and error in finding the dosage that works to relieve these awful symptoms.

Sometimes I think I'm going crazy :dizzy: but then it passes and I realize, no it's just anxiety rearing its ugly head again.

All the best to you.

I have been on effexor XR for a lil over 2 mo. I think it doesn't do anything except raise my blood pressure. I am seeing my psychiatrist later today and asking to be switched to cymbalta. I run a mental health chatroom on msn and alot of my members are on cymbalata with good results. As far as anxiety goes...don't beleive any doctor who tries to tell you something like paxil will help anxiety...hogwash. Only thing that truly works are benzodiazepines...but so many people are deathly afraid of getting addicted. I have been on benzos for 8 years and have stopped for periods of time and never experience a bit of withdrawals except a lil edginess and/or insomnia. It's not hard to stop them if necessary. I primarily have taken klonopin but have also taken ativan, oxazepam, tranxene, and xanax. Good luck!

girlgato, I'm pretty sensitive to medications also, but effexor has been tolerable, so I feel fortunate!

I must disagree with texassweetpea that antidepressants don't relieve anxiety. For me, when they work, they work much better than benzos. I would say that meds like paxil are not the ONLY medications that help. Individual response varies considerably.

I am very sensitive to meds and Effexor is the only one that l have been able to tolerate so far. I have been on 300 mg now for 5 days and it seems like every time l bump up the dose l get worse anxiety and then after a week or two it gets better. Do l need to be more patient, will this stuff kick in or should l just try something else or a mix of different drugs. This is so difficult to live through, sometimes l want to just quite.

Thanks:

VAN

Van, when you are so senstive to medication, you probably shouldn't have bumped up to 300 from 150. You can get effexor in doses as small as 37.5 so do you think you should talk to your doctor?
I have been on effexor xr for about 4 years and it has worked wonders for me. I have felt like a totally "normal" person. However, I didn't like a couple of the side effects so have been slowly trying to get off it and go back to Prozac. I have gone from 225 down to 112.5 (started on 20 of Prozac when I got down to 150) but I'm starting to feel the anxiety again. I need to decide in the next few days if I should build back up the Effexor again or try this a bit longer. Anyone else try this?

Annelisa:

How long did it take before you started to feel better, did the anxiety get worse before it got better? I went from 125 mg to 225mg for a week and then up to 300mg. So l did take some time to get up there, however l always feel worse when l bump it up and then l start feeling better after a few weeks, but l am no where near normal yet.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks:

VAN

To be honest, Van, I don't remember. I was in the hospital at the time, for severe anxiety and depression. I don't even know what they started me on, but ended up doing the best at 225.
It's weird.......outside of a few side effects, I felt the best on Effexor than I have ever felt in my life. I'm sure it took awhile to start feeling really good.
I know with other anti-depressants they say to give it a good 4-6 weeks.
It's hard "waiting it out", isn't it? Every minute seems like a month! But, hang in there, there really IS light at the end of the tunnel!
Blessings......
annelisa

I really cant take this anymore l am at my last straw, today was so bad, l feel worse on this stuff and l dont know what to do, what will help me feel normal again, if l dont feel normal soon l dont know what l will do, there has to be some light at the end of this tunnel.

VAN

Van, I have been on Effexor XR for almost three years. However, I am also on Pexeva for social anxiety. For the past week, I have increased my dose-under medical supervision-from 150 mg to 225 mg. The dose had, at one time, been increased to 300 mg. However, I could not tolerate that dose. My Pexeva is at 40 mg. I had been taking Paxil CR. However, due to insurance issues, I had to change to the Pexeva. One question that my psychiartrist always asks me is to rate my depression on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being severest depression and 10 being practically on depression. The highest I have described is an 8, which was only once. At one time, my psychiatrist told me that I would probably never reach a 10 without counseling.

With the increase dosage of the Effexor XR, I am experiencing increased anxiety and nervousness. Yet, I will attempt to go another week to see if this anxiety and nervousness subsides.

In addition to the above, I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and am on CPAP. Sleep apnea can cause depression. So, after being on CPAP, I asked my psychiatrist about lowering the dosage. At that time, I was on the 150. So, I lowered it to 112.5 for a couple of weeks, then to 75. THAT DID NO GO WELL. Went back up to 150-under medical supervision.

I feel like this stuff makes me worse for a few weeks, almost to the point that l cant function, literally l cant function. Then l start to notice a difference but so far nothing earth shatering, and nothing that has really helped make my life happier or easier to live. There has to be something out there to give me back my life. What other options do l have, l have tried lexapro and prozac both l could only take once because l became so violently sick. Any advice would be helpful, of do l just keep upping the dose of Effexor and pray for the best or get worse?

Thanks:

VAN

van, how long have you been on the 300 mgs? I would give it at least 3 or 4 weeks, and if life still isn't dramatically better, I'd ease off it very, very slowly. I know things seem bleak to you right now - believe me, I've been there - but don't despair - I, and countless other folks on this board, have been through a number of drug trials before finding one that works.

Van, My doctor told me that if Effexor XR 225 mg does not help me that he will look at changing my med to Wellbutrin.

I have only been taking 300 mg for 5 days, l have slowley been raising the dose and been on Effexor for about 9 weeks. I will take your advice and wait it out but holy cow it is really tough, l feel like l am loosing it.
I was told that Welbutrin doesnt work on Anxiety thats its more of a depression drug, maybe l am wrong?

VAN

Van,
I know what you are going through is horrible! Anxiety is such a terrible thing and no one knows how bad unless they've been there. I have been there and I encourage you with my whole heart to keep telling yourself that things WILL get better.
As someone else said, give it more time. I wouldn't increase it anymore at this point. I know it is HARD to wait to feel better, but it will happen.
I have decided to stay on Effexor and am gradually increasing my dose again.
I know different drugs affect people differently but I have to say that this drug has helped me tremendously. I have been feeling really great for about 4 and a half years but have some side effects that were kind of bugging me. (some blurred vision and some short term memory loss) After SLOWLY decreasing my dose over the last 6 weeks, I was starting to feel anxiety creeping in again. I immediately decided I can live with the side effects; feeling that "old feeling" again scared the hec out of me.
When you start to feel better it won't be an overnight realization; I think it will be more that one day you will just realize that you've been better lately.
I know it's difficult, but hang in there. Give it a little more time.
annelisa

In my research on this medication, it works on both anxiety and depression.

van, my doctor made a comment to me yesterday when I asked about raising the dose of effexor that made me think of you. She said to realize that as the dose is raised, different brain chemicals are affected, not just seratonin. As we get much above 150-200 mgs, I believe, nephroniphrine (sp?) and possibly dopamine are also activated. So it's kind of like taking a whole different drug! For some people, this is a good thing, for others not. For this reason, my doctor suggested raising the dose slowly, and giving each dose a few weeks. Just a thought.

Thats a good idea, l tired to bump up from 150 to 225mg for a week and then to 300 mg but l think l went to fast because l am just going crazy l hope it gets better soon, l have been on 300 mg for week now and still having a real tough time, l just want to snap out of this dream world l have been living in for so long or should l say this nightmare l have been living in for so long.

Thanks:

VAN

Yup, feeling anxious 24/7 is a nightmare, all right. Noone who hasn't been through this hell would understand. How are you doing?

I am still trying to adjust to the 300 mg l think, l can still feel the anxiety in my body, but am hoping that it will start to get better, l have been on the 300 mg now for 8 days, l will give it another week or so before l make any decisions, its a battle to get through the day, l am running off of hope right now, there really isnt anything else to get me through this madness, your brain and the chemicals that run it can sure mess you up if there not right.

Thanks:

VAN

Another quick add on to my last post, can anxiety cause your do have stomach issues, l feel like after l eat especially lunch that my body isnt digesting my food or something, l feel like crap and l get real tired all of a sudden, can anxiety do this to you?

Thanks:

VAN

P.S. Read my post before this one.

Yes, anxiety can create real havoc in your body, creating all types of symptoms. On the other hand, as you know, effexor can mess up your digestive tract as well. This fortunately went away totally for me, but it took awhile. Anybody who has been through the medication game knows that it takes no small amount of courage to stick to a medication.

I agree with Guineapig5 on both counts. I have had personal experience with both the anxiety and the Effexor XR playing "havoc" with my digestive system. Yet, I stuck it out with the Effexor. I feel that the digestive symptoms from the medication have gone away. But, then again, that is just my opinion.

Thanks for your replies, when you say you stuck it out how long did you have to stick it out for. I have noticed that when l up the dose my anxiety gets alot worse and then after about two weeks things get better. I have been on the 300 mg dose for about 2 weeks and am starting to notice a slight difference, but am not even close to 100%. I have been on effexor for over 8 weeks now, how long should l stick this thing out.

Thanks:

You have been on it for 8 weeks...but if your doses have changed, it is like starting over.
I have been on it for 8 weeks from 37.5 - 225. I can tell you each new dose, I just HATE it!
I have every symptom of mine x 10 . I have been on the 225 for a little over 10-14 days, and I am just starting to feel normal!
I had to take valium a couple of times due to the "increased anxiety".

Everytime I have increased my dose...it has been hell. I would give any new dose three weeks.

Its like your reading my brain, my anxiety has been like 10 times worse everytime l up the dose for this stuff. The tough part is l have been upping the dose about every two weeks for the past 8 weeks and just about 2 weeks ago l went from 150 mg to 300 mg. I hope that l can start to see the results soon because l cant keep living like this, its not worth it. Thanks for your reply let me know what happens with you, do you feel better all at once or does it come real slow and then one day you realize you just feel alot better?

Thanks:

VAN

Ariom,

I have the same problems you have had. I can't drive long distances either. I am on Xanax and have been for almost a year. I am in school right now and as I type this I am having alot of anxiety because a teacher called on me to read in class and I felt panicky even though I had taken a whole blue xanax! Now I am fearing I have built up a tolerance to it. Which has caused me great anxiety. I have screwed up so many semesters, I can't afford to mess up again and yet I am terrified of going to class tomorrow. I have my Xanax - but it did not help me. I handled it, but I don't like feeling my heart pound and wondering if I'll get through the reading without people realizing I am having a problem. So I am considering Paxil. I took Effexor for years. It was good for me. It worked immediately, which is unheard of. But after years of taking it, it stopped working and started to cause severe panic attacks. It also caused me to gain 30 lbs. Which I have never been able to lose. I just can't handle having to think about my panic attacks all the time. And an anti depressant will take care of that.