I have just started Effexor-XR and am on 75MG in the morning.
Does anyone have any feedback on this drug? Someone who has been on it for a good deal of time anyhow.
I use it for Depression, Anxiety, and most other things Paxil and other SSRI's are precribed for, but I know Effexor-XR is not an SSRI.
I am 31, male, and live in Toronto Canada. I used to take Celexa 40mg and found it did nothing and Paxil had to many side effects.
Any word of wisdom about this from users of Effexor-xr?
Thanks
Nick
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I got attacks of dizziness initially and some difficulty sleeping. It can make your thoughts "whirl" is the best way i can describe it. I also feel the heat lot more than i used to, I "glow" and sweat more. all these have settled down now. The only problem I have now, which I'm not sure if it is related to Efexor, is lots of acne-type spots/folliculitis on my arms and hips/buttocks - does anyone get this on efexor?
I was on Effexor Xr for about a year. The dreams were the big thing for me. I had some of the craziest dreams. I decided to tapper off and see how I would do without it. The withdraw symptoms are awful. If you decide to stop taking it, please talk to your doctor first. I am now on prozac for about 2 weeks. The anxiety is the worst part now. Just be careful when considering stopping effexor!
Howdy neighbour. I am from Toronto too...well Barrie actually. I am looking out my window at the 5 inches of snow that still hasn't melted. The snowbelt is such a treat.
Anyway about the effexor...Your are on a low dose at 75mg or it may just be your starting dose. Most people take 150-300 with 150 being the average. Effexor did not work for me on its own. I now have a coctail of effexor, wellbutrin and trazodone. None works on their own but they seem to do it when in combination.
I had a few side effects in the beginning. Hang in there they do go away I promise. I had nausea for the first week. I had insomnia for a bit, night sweats and yes the wicked nightmares. Only the sweats and the nightmares lasted any length of time...about 2 months I think. I know a lot of people who take this drug and swear by it. I hope it works out for you.
As far as the brutal withdrawal people mention goes. I came off the effexor a month ago only to have to go back on it because I couldn't function without it. Anyway I tapered off very slowly and had absolutely no problems with it at all. I think only the people with the negative withdrawal experiences tend to post it. There are millions of people who have taken it and come off it. I believe that the folks who get the bad reactions from it are in the minority.
I've used it (75mg at suppertime) daily for the past year. I also took 37.5 mg daily for 6 months the year before. I was almost euphoric because I felt so much better. Amazing stuff for me. unfortunately, within 6 months later, I was in a much darker depression than the year before. It has helped so much (I have anxiety too, but have dealt with it through Cognitive therapy).
I have vivid bizarre dreams....but I love that part. Dreaming has always been awesome for me, just much more since on Effexor.
It didn't take long for me to start to feel better emotionally. It's given me a "quiet calm" that's hard to describe. I still have some ups and downs -- but not the serious downs as before.
I'm not concerned about going off it. I would do it very slowly if I intended to. I may consider going on a lower dosage next year, but for now, one year is still a honeymoon for me.
It's worth the try. I had nausea the first few days (so take it with food). Don't worry about getting off it just yet. When the time comes to deal with it, you'll have the information available, and there is a correct process to go through.
I did forget to take mine for 24 hours once. I decided to wait it through. I did get a few anxiety flutters after the 12 hour mark....drove me crazy. But, I waited it out and have been faithful to make sure it's never longer than a few hours late.
You're obviously wanting/needing to take it.
Are you also dealing with your anxiety through a therapist?
I was started on it just over a week ago. Had 37.5 mg the first week and now on 75mg for three days. The first 3 days I started on it, I was having heart palpatations & panic attacks, and then it got better, but as soon as I started on the 75 mg I'm now on day 3, I have the heart palpatations & panic attacks again. Not sure if it's helping my depression cause I'm too worried about the panic attacks right now.
Hi, I was on Effexor for only 8 months when my closest friend and I both decided to ween ourselves off it. He stopped cold turkey and I just took less everyday. I ended up in the hospital and he ended up taking his own life. DO NOT TRY TO GET YOURSELF OFF ANY ANTI-DEPRESENT! That is my word of warning to everyone out there! Especially with this drug my doctor told me (after i stopped taking it) that the withdrawl symptoms of this drug are worse then any he has ever seen!
While on it things seemed to be getting better for me and I was feeling good and handeling life well! So the drug did do some good, but it also messed me up REALLy bad so I will never take it again, if I missed one or two pills even the symptoms would happen , It was really scarey! So if you do continue to take it it is ok as far as meds go BUT remeber to always take it on time and the right amount and dont try stopping with out letting yoru doctor know and help... other then the withdrawl though it seemed ok. Unfortunatly in my friends case we were never told by either of our doctors the dangers of stopping meds!
peace
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Hi: I also recently started taking Effexor XR for depression and anxiety. Have been on it almost a month and am not sure if it is working or not. Though I did drive to town, down the mountain on snowpacked roads without a panic attack. I did notice when I first began taking this med I had some nausea for a couple of weeks, but it went away. I will be seeing the doc this week again and perhaps he will increase the dose as he thought he might have to. Other than that I have not noticed any strange side effects. Hope this helps!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skorpion1971
I have just started Effexor-XR and am on 75MG in the morning.
Does anyone have any feedback on this drug? Someone who has been on it for a good deal of time anyhow.
I use it for Depression, Anxiety, and most other things Paxil and other SSRI's are precribed for, but I know Effexor-XR is not an SSRI.
I am 31, male, and live in Toronto Canada. I used to take Celexa 40mg and found it did nothing and Paxil had to many side effects.
Any word of wisdom about this from users of Effexor-xr?
I used to take effecxor for about a month. It made me too tired to do anything at all because I already didn't have energy from depression. It helped me a bit mood wise but I couldn't work at all while I was on it. No amount of coffee helped me.
When I tried to quit cold turky after a month, I was very sick for about a week. It was horrible. I felt dizzy like I was about to pass out and felt more depressed before. I don't know it's just me but I wouldn't recommend to anyone unponmy experience.
'
Oh gosh...I didn't know it was that bad...I am on 150mg currently for the third day. Should I stop taking this med? It sounds horrible...like a living nightmare reading those comments from the petition. 3500 people with these symptoms is quite a lot. I can't believe my doctor would prescribe something like this to me. He did tell me that there was a way he could slowly take me off the drug that would lead to no side effects, but I'm not so sure about that now seeing as people have commented that taking a increasingly lower dosages didn't help them from experiencing those horrible side effects. On top of that, I don't think this drug is working for me either! I told my doctor that it wasn't but he thinks that this drug is still worth trying. I'm scared now.
misanthrope, don't let others experiences cloud your thinking, everyone reacts differently to each med. Most anti-d's have a weaning off period when you stop them. I have side affects from effexor that no one else seems to have & I also had horrible side affects from Lexapro and others say it's wonderful, so do what your doctor says. I am not sure the effexor is working for me or not, I do know that I have increased heart rate about an hour after taking it & have to take a half xanax to calm down, so it may not be the right one for me. It's all a crap shoot trying to find the right one, unfortunately!!!
It is important that you diagnose your feelings about yourself and be true to yourself.. Too often because of influences of the medical profession we become ill by association. Nothing could be more true then the propaganda in mental health and the counseling industries and the profits derived from drugging by the bogus research that influences the general population of many countries. In the prior years with the web and media available we have seen the damage done from the psychotropic drugs far out weighing any benifit. From a child shooting at other children in highschools to a mother drowning her children in a bath tub to accidents on the highways to the injustices of the judicial courts in sentencing a person prescriped mind drugs who weren't aware of their action and wouldn't have caused any crime under their natural thought process but were arrested for something they could'nt control as a result of mind drugging. That is a "crime and attrocity" committed by greed of the mental health and counseling industry along with the pharmecutical industry that reaches further then the attempts to disrupt of democracy that we created on this earth for the freedoms we placed in a Constitution. It reaches to the heart of our families and our personal causes to be free. Have you checked your diet which influences chemical imbalances in the mind. Have you checked your chemistry for high/low blood sugar, allergies or investigated the herbal suppliments. Tryptophan, an amino acid is worth researching on the web as well as the drugs being prescribed by your doctor. Your on the right path in questioning foreign substances that influence and modify your personality and feelings.
I personally am taking 5 hydroxytrytophan and St johns wort as alternatives to anti depressants as I didnt have a good time on prozac but listen people who are prescribed anti ds are in this situation because they are having mental health problems we all accept this right
I am not saying that these events arent caused by the drugs but I find it more plausible that these things happen due to the illness's maybe misdiagnosis being treated form depression when there is a more serious illness involved.
Presciption drugs have been a miracle for some people dont forget that please try not to force your anti d message on somebody that is trying to get useful advice, they are not looking for panic mongery
Please by all means look at the alternative but talk to your GP/MD before doing anything If you are anscious about taking anti d's it doesnt help to come here and have people vent there alarmist views
Hey I dont like them either but they do good things for millions of people
when somebody asks for advice they are probably anxcious of taking the drugs so they are asking people who already take them for advice
not a lecture on how pharmaceuticals are just wanting money and conspiacy theories
all I am saying that there are frightened people hear who need advice from people who are experiencing first hand and not reams of text copied and pasted from a web site
the beauty of these forums is that we get to share the knowledge first hand
I respect your point of view and in fact kind of agree with it which is why I wont take them and have seach for a more natural approach, and If somebody was to ask of my experience with certain drugs I will freely give them but what I wont do is go on the web to anti pharmaceutical site and get other peoples experiences and use them as fact.
Someone in this forum mentioned it is all a crapshoot. Very accurate statement. When a person has diabetes, it will be discovered in a biological test. The blood test will show if blood sugar is too high, and normal blood sugar levels have been established long ago. Also, the levels of blood sugar can be monitored. It's exact science; no crapshoot there.
Not so with brain neurotransmitters. No test is available for measuring serotonin in the living brain, for example, so it's a guess whether or not one is deficient, and making too much serotonin available in the synapse could cause adverse effects to health and well-being. The meds developed for depression like SSRi's are based on theory, not fact....in the 1960's they found a desirable side effect of "mood lifting" from LSD, which also effects serotonin. So since the drug could make people "happy", they decided that some people are deficient in serotonin ....not very scientifically acurate now, is it?
Given the physical side effects of these drugs which includes various heart and nervous system disorders (which can occur years after being on them) and also the possibiltiy of mania, sleep disorders, etc., you would think they would want to be certain a deficiency really exists before prescribing such powerful brain drugs.
Most people would not take insulin without first testing their blood sugar levels. Most doctors wouldn't prescribe it without those results. Why isn't the brain as well respected...after all, it is not only an organ, it is THE organ which controls all the going-ons of the other organs.
Serotonin is simply the by-product of amino acid ingestion....protein is broken down, assisted by vitamins and carbs, into aminos and those make the neurotransmitters. Drugs simply manipulate serotonin, not make it. Lots of things like alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, can cause deficiencies and poor digestion of proteins.
New studies indicate long-term use of SSRi's could cause damage to serotonin receptors.
Now, as I do agree that support is very important for people here, the reality of health concerns regarding these drugs are also very important too!
You raise some very good points Jennita. How can my psychiatrist prescribe antidepressants for me without first knowing for sure that I indeed have a definiciency in seratonin, etc.? He gave me the option to take the pills or not, but I thought that the pills were safe. Oh well, I'm such a walking contradiction...I want to die anyway!!!
I just went off of it. At first, it seemed like a wonder drug. The nausea was bad if I didn't drink a full glass of water. I took it for about three months. As time progressed, it didn't really make me feel better anymore, just jittery and sick. I started taking an herbal product to reduce cortisol and actually feel better than the medicine made me feel. I went off of it as slowly as I could, and I probably am still a little tired, but am now able to clean house and take care of myself.
I've been on Effexor for over a year and am now taking 450 mg daily. For me, it's a miracle drug. I need the combination SSRI and norepenephrine uptake inhibitors (whatever that means ). As far as side effects, I've not had any even worth mentioning. I only say that because I feel that any side effect that's not as bad as suicidal depression is fine by me.
My blood pressure went up a bit but even at its highest it was about 130 over 80. If I miss a dosage, I do feel dizziness but that's fine as soon as I take it again.
As for going off of any anti-depressant, DO NOT ever try to do it cold turkey. Keep in mind that you are tampering with your brain chemistry and it's not something for amateurs (regardless of what Human Spirit implies). When you go off of a drug cold turkey, you throw that chemistry into freefall. Don't do it. See your doctor and go off of it how it's prescribed.
As for Effexor, I'd swear by it and I've had my depression treated for about 25 years and have tried just about every drug in the book (including a nightmarish time on Prozac and Zoloft).
Effexor-xr 
). As far as side effects, I've not had any even worth mentioning. I only say that because I feel that any side effect that's not as bad as suicidal depression is fine by me.
