What kind of side effects have people experienced on Effexor? I'm starting up in a couple days and what to have an idea of what kind of fun stuff I can look forward to. Any replies to give me a heads up would be appreciated.
What kind of side effects have people experienced on Effexor? I'm starting up in a couple days and what to have an idea of what kind of fun stuff I can look forward to. Any replies to give me a heads up would be appreciated.
Hello,
First, everyone will react differently. When I started on Effexor XR, I had severe head 'aches'. Not a regular headache, but a head ache if I moved to fast. I also was sweating quite a bit more than usual. Hot and cold flashes happened daily. I would say my side effects from Effexor were nothing to that of compared to Wellbutrin and Paxil CR. OH< forgot to mention the biggest side effect: weight gain.
However, the withdrawls are what you should look into. Not fun stuff at all. I don't want to discourge you and you definitely should listen to your doctor. But my doctor didn't fill me in on everything if you know what I mean. It's your body, you deserve to know what you are putting into it. Just be prepared.
Hi, I'm a fairly new Effexor XR user (in the middle of my third week). In terms of side effects, the first few days, my stomach felt somewhat messed up, but that went away, and I felt SUPER spaced out (but I was going off zoloft in the process, so it's hard to say which that was related to.) If the spaced out thing is related to effexor, watch out for that. I definitely drove into a curb, lost my keys for 45 minutes, and decided it was a good idea to park in a handicapped spot and get a $60 ticket. Fun times. Of course, each person is affected differently by these drugs so it's hard to say. After a couple weeks, though, I began to feel "normal" again. I've been having some sleep issues I need to talk to my doctor about. I'm taking effexor in the morning and it seems to work ok, but even though I'm taking the XR tablets that are supposed to stay in your system longer, I still feel like it's wearing out like 4 hours before I get up. I start waking up and feeling really anxious and stuff. I have no clue if this is normal... Anyway, good luck!
DK I posted on another board about this. My only side effects are the blurred vision that comes and goes on occassion. I do find myself increasingly wanting to eat or snack on foods....salt or sweet or both!!!! I'm trying to watch this. I'm going on my 5th week. 75 mg per day (1 in morning and 1 at noon of the 37.5) I did have sleep issues on this but my dr gave me a mild restoril to counteract. I have laid for a few hours on no particular subject, and once going to sleep I can not recall why I couldn't sleep. I am beginning to find myself in short term memory loss---although I would do that before I really see if now. I guess its myself slowing down. I have to literally tell myself 2-3 times not to forget something. I've never felt better tho. I'm more focused, attentative to projects at work (ADD here) and less depressed and more energetic. I wake up and feel refreshed. However, my bedtime is getting earlier. I can feel myself tire easier.
I tried it, hated it. started at 37.5, and two months later was at 225 mg a day. It did not help with my 'depression'. I have begun to question my need for the pills. happy pills i notice have made me a very somber, boring, lifeless person. they zap your emotions and creativity. i have been on prozac, paxil, zoloft, welbutrin, elavil. i told my shrink i did not want to do this anymore. i still think of death every day, but dont feel an urge to act on it. i decided to stop taking the effexor after a bad nightmare... this nightmare was of my husband leaving me, cause i was so depressed. these damn pills have me more f*%^&#d up than ever.
So, i am now trying 'natural' stufff - vitamins,, lots of em. LOTS of EFA's. Think about it. How can one be healthy eating the crap that our society produces? all the insectisides. poisoned water. fast food. no wonder we're all crazy. our own government is poisoning us every day.
i think im having withdrawals. or something else is wrong - always dizzy and confused. weak. god i hope it passes soon cause it sucks.
anyways, theres my 2 cents worth.
id rather be unhappy than have my life sucked out of me by those damn pills!
Thanks for the replies, everyone. I know everyone is different but I wanted to get an idea of some of the kinds of things I might have to look forward to. This is the 4th drug I try. Hopefully the 4th time will be the charm. I know what you mean, skr though about feeling robbed of your personality. Not fun but for me feeling like hell isn't an appealing alternative
i decided to stop taking the effexor after a bad nightmare... this nightmare was of my husband leaving me, cause i was so depressed.
SKR,
I had very livid dreams on effexor. I would dream things and they would happen.
Like you I had a dream of my live-in boyfriend (comparable to your husband) leaving me. Unfortunately mine did leave... while I was out of town for work and didn't even know about it. Talk about the lowest thing someone could do.
Anyway, I hated the dreams I had with effexor. They were tripped out to say the least. Now I don't remember my dreams at all and I'm very happy about that.
I just started taking this yesterday,,,so I can relate to your anxiety,,starting anything new is scary~ so far i feel a bit jittery,,I have no bad dreams,,I also take restoril to help sleep. I was on Celexa, but stopped b.c it killed my sex drive~~
I really hope this works for you,,just try to stay positive,,I know alot of the posts can be discouraging,,,
I'm starting Effexor this coming Sunday. My concern is the cold sweats, which I had with Welbutrin, and they really made me unhappy, because even the palms of my hands were always sweaty and I couldn't hold on to anything. But the sweats went away after about 2 weeks and never came back. Has anyone found that their side effects from Effexor have gone away after a period of time? I don't want to go through life with clammy hands, especially not if I have to start job-hunting.
__________________
Choose the devil you don't know.
What kind of side effects have people experienced on Effexor? I'm starting up in a couple days and what to have an idea of what kind of fun stuff I can look forward to. Any replies to give me a heads up would be appreciated.
i had no side efects taking effexor but i wa on methadone at the same time when i came off thats when they showed for one it wasnt doing its job and added to my anxiety im now weanig off it and switching to lexapro let me warn you dont miss a dose i did and 8 hrs later i was an emotional basket case using words i'd never used before and crying uncontrolably for no reason the w/ds are suppose to be equivelent to opiate w/d but weaning off i/ve had no probs but i take my last one tomorrow and i'll let you know sorry for the horror story but effexor is good for some and not for others just like any other antidepressant chat later kelly oh one more thing how high is your dose?
Last edited by no patience; 04-25-2004 at 01:35 PM.
Crossbow,,I have the same question...When do the side effects wear off?..& when will i notice a positive change?
I dont have the clammy hands,,but i have a kind of "Caffiene buzz"...most of the time,,not very pleasant,,& i think my memory has gotten worse~~
I am only taking 37 mgr..I am suppose to take that twice a day,,but am kind of afraid to~~
Sonic,I'm in the same boat as you supposed to be taking the same dosage but would rather start small. The only thing I've noticed so far is feeling thirsty almost all the time. If that's the worst side effect I have to deal with, then it's all good.
I've been on Effexor for depression and social anxiety for almost 5 months. I've heard alot of people who had problems with it but so far it's been GREAT for me! I started at 37.5 and the first time I took it I felt horrible and stayed in bed all day. I didn't want to take it anymore, but I tried again a week later and it was a little better, but it still made me REALLY tired. I started taking it at night instead of in the morning and that helped for a while. Then I started having insomnia so I went back to taking it in the morning and it's been fine. I started noticing an improvement in my mood after about a month. I've slowly been increasing my dose, and I'm at 150mg right now. My depression has subsided and I feel much less anxious. The only side effect I have these days is occasional decreased appetite. Some days I barely eat anything.
Good to hear that the side effects wore off for you. My newest one, which is a little scary is a more rapid heartbeat. I'm going to see my doc today so I'll find out whether or not this is something that will go away or if I'll need to try something else.
Kbell,,,,I had the same thing happen to me,,it comes & goes,,I figure it will wear off..(i hope) Maybe i need to give it longer..today i feel pretty good, just a bit of a headache. Im wondering if the side effects will be worse if I increase the doseage?
Im taking half of what im suppose to take~~~
I also have the decreased appitite...maybe its the nausea?..I dunno
Re: Experienced Effexor users, what can I expect? 
oh one more thing how high is your dose?
