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Reviews for Effexor XR to treat Depression
Anonymous user said:
User Rating:
10
I started taking Effexor XR 37.5mg capsules 2 months ago. I had a hard time for the first couple of days. I would wake up in the mornings feeling afraid and hot. But my loved ones convinced me to stick it out. I continued taking my medicine each day...at the same time each morning. And I wish I would have started taking it a long time ago! I can concentrate. I can focus on what my children are saying to me. Things that used to be overwhelming are no longer. I can go out in public and feel confident...not feel like the walls are closing in on me. Effexor XR changed my life for the better.
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I've been on tons of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications throughout the years. When I started taking Effexor XR, I was thrilled- I felt so much better... minus all of the side effects. The side effects are just awful. I sweat constantly, I have awful headaches, no sex drive, and I gained 15 pounds. And now the medication has stopped working sort of... I don't feel sad or happy... I just kind of feel here. I've tried to get off of Effexor but I get those brain zaps/vertigo feelings and vomit so I stop and keep taking it. I guess it helps some people but if I can ever get off of it, I will be going back to another medication.
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I've been on Effexor XR 75 mg once a day since December 1999. I originally started taking it for depression. It has worked superbly for me. It removed the frequent crying spells, and feelings of worthlessness, disinterest, etc. The only side effects I had were yawning at first and vivid dreams (which can still occur). During the fall, around September/October, I find I double my dose to 150 mg once a day. If I miss my dose, I get weird vertigo-like symptoms. I can heartily recommend this medication to those with 'milder' forms of depression with some anxiety. I don't care if I have to take it for the rest of my life! I'm a 'normal' human being now!
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I was prescribed venlafaxine a year ago after a suicide attempt. After about four weeks on 150mg once a day
I started to feel less miserable all the time and a bit more sociable. However, the side effects have affected my life quite a lot. I am now constantly getting sweaty, often feel restless (especially at night) and I have little to no sex drive. The side effects of skipping a pill (just one day) are also extremely drastic. Nausea, vomiting, crying, headaches and my anxiety problems are exacerbated to the max. It is not helpful at all to my anxiety, I have been prescribed buspirone for that on top as I am still having frequent panic attacks, etc.
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So far Effexor XR has been a lifesaver with minimal side effects. As a full time care giver to my mom who has Alzheimer's, depression was slowly destroying me and I was a fool to think I was man enough to deal with it - with no help. After 3 weeks use, I had completely overcome my heavy alcohol use and my motivation, clarity and concentration levels returned to an above normal level. In the beginning I did experience the sweating side effect and felt a bit anxious. My doctor agreed he should have started me at the lowest dose instead of the 75mg. I now find that a 75mg dose every other day, supplemented with exercise on the non dose days has seriously turned my life around for the better.
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I was on Zoloft for 8 years and my doctor first tried to ween me off that and put me on Effexor. It was miserable. I am sure some of it was related to the withdrawal from Zoloft, but I was eventually able to transition to Lexapro without the same problems. This medicine made me extremely nauseous. I had a horrible headache and was so depressed my family cried from being around me.
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I have currently been taking Effexor XR for about a year. It seems to be helping with my depression I could do without the weird side effects such as the constant yawning and vivid dreams. Also never miss a dose because after missing only one dose I experienced jitters, massive headache and dizziness, it felt like my head was full of water kind of a "sloshing" feeling.
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I've been on Effexor XR for about 9 years now (150mg once a day). I originally started taking it for A.D.D. and mild depression. It has worked incredibly for me. I went from no attention span to extremely focused. I also went through some events that increased my depression, and by upping the dosage, I was fine. The only side effects I've had are extreme withdrawal symptoms if I miss a dose (severe headaches and jitters), and a decreased sex drive. I would strongly recommend this drug.
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I started Effexor XR about a year ago. Within a month I developed an excessive sweating condition, which my family, friends, and others noticed and commented on. Many of my new blouses got discolored sweat stains on the neck, which would not be removed by pre-treating or washing. I could no longer exercise without having a major debilitating sweat, which would take at least 20 minutes to recover from. I started Cymbalta yesterday, and tonight I was able to walk for 1/2 hour with my husband, with only normal sweat.
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I feel the need to write a review of this medication as I am currently experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms from missing one dose. There was a mix up with a new insurance company and I unfortunately had to miss yesterdays dose. I have never felt this way after missing one dose of a medication and I have taken several different antidepressants over the last 10 years. I have the sweats, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and I have been crying uncontrollably all day. I did have benefits from taking this medication for the past three years but I worry about continuing to take it any longer.
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This medicine did not work well for me. I was on it for a total of three months and it did not make me feel any better. The side effects were not fun. I had trouble sleeping and almost no energy.
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My doctor suggested I take this medicine. I was a what you could say was a functioning, depressed person. I tried Effexor SR and after a week felt better but in 3 weeks time a 9 lb weight gain. I think that I would continue this medicine if not for the huge weight gain.
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I went through a very bad depression state a few weeks ago. I went to the hospital and they put me on 75mg of Effexor-XR and increased it to 150mg after a week. I had severe bladder cramps and waterworks problems while on the higher strength. My doctor reduced the dosage to 37.5mg once every 2 days. I now feel fantastic. One of the main things I have noticed since taking this medication is this. For about 35 years I have suffered with extreme pain from T.M.J(an inner ear problem). Since I have been taking this medication the T.M.J. has gone and I can sleep 8 hours at night, the first time since I was a baby which is 53 years ago.
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I've been taking Effexor XR since mid-2005 to help me through a major depressive episode in my life. Took it in conjunction with Remeron, which helped me immensely with improving my sleep and improving my mood.
Watch for withdrawal symptoms (reduce drug by taking a few grains out of the capsule each time). Do not go off cold turkey. Would be a 10/10 except that I have the sexual side effect. However I'd rather be happy/non-suicidal than easily aroused.
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I've just started using it, to take the edge off of anxiety and panic problems. I use to wake up in the middle of the night with bad panic attacks thinking I was the only one in the world awake with this. Well I haven't had an attack since taking this.
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I've been taking Effexor XR for 15 months for treatment of depression. Initially, I wondered if there was a point and if it was making a difference. I was very skeptical when I ran out during a storm, didn't receive mail, and my mail service pharmacy prescription arrived late. I felt like my head was "sloshing" and I was very sick to my stomach. Missing a dose was awful. But about a year after I began taking it, I noticed that I was back in control of my life and I felt like me but better than I remembered. My friends say they saw a difference much sooner. I don't know if the passage of time, monthly therapy, or the medicine is what helped me get my depression. I'm giving credit to Effexor XR.
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Like others, I'd been on Paxil and Lexapro before. Lexapro helped for a few months only. I've been on Effexor XR for a month now and what a difference. I have more energy and I'm thinking more clearly. Thank God for this medicine. I have an active 5 year old who now has her mommy back.
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This medication was not for me. Over the year that I was on it I gained 20 lbs and kept having to up the dosage. The side effects were horrible. If I was late taking a pill I would get a really funny feeling in my body.
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I've been on Effexor-XR for around 6 months now. My dose is up to 300 mg, and it will probably increase to 375 mg next visit. I was in an extremely deep depression and was initially prescribed prozac. That was a mistake for me. Affter a 2 week washout I was switched to a low dose of efexor, and it was gradually increased. It is helping with the depression. I have feelings again, and I can talk to people and meet their eyes. It's not so good for the generalised anxiety. Side effects at the start were lack of appetite and insomnia. Only the insomnia remains, and has got worse as the dose has increased.
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I've been taking Effexor XR since 2004. The side effects that I experience are loss of appetite/weight loss and sexual side effects. However, every time I try another medicine or try to "get off" my medicines, I crash and I always go back to Effexor and it works really well. So it is a consistently reliable drug for me and I am very thankful for it.
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Effexor XL has worked very well for me in combating my depression. I have been very diligent in taking the medicine properly and on schedule every day at near the same time. This past weekend due to an oops at the doctor's office a refill was not called in properly to the pharmacy before I went out of town for the weekend and I left town without any Effexor. Needless to say I experienced Effexor withdrawal symptoms. Heed my warning! It's not a good idea to miss a dose and you DEFINITELY DO NOT want to miss any doses. It was awful. Don't let the script run out.
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I have been on this wonder drug for many years. I find that if I forget to take my medicines for even one day I become sad and can cry very easily. If I am off them for more than 3 days watch out. So don't skip. Take your medicines. I am 46 and find I am forgetting things. I have been on antidepressents for 20 years now. 6 or 7 of those years on this medicine.
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I started taking Effexor XR 3 1/2 years ago while in an eating disorder treatment center. I struggled for years with major depression and took several different anti-depressants that never helped. Even after being in a treatment center for 3 months I could barely deal with my emotional issues because I was so weighed down by the depression. They finally sent me to a new doctor who knew Effexor would be different for me. He started me off on a week of 75mg/day then the next week he upped it to 150mg and the next week he ended it at 225mg. It was like a huge dark blob was lifted off of me! I felt clear-headed, stronger and happy. I never thought I could feel that way again.
I still take the 225mg dosage and have no plans of quitting.
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I have only been taking this drug for two weeks but I believe it has saved my life. I have taken so many drugs that did not work I could hardly believe this began working in just over a week. My severe depression has not gone completely but the change is huge in such a short time. I think the doctor will probably increase my dose, only on 75mg daily, and I am hopeful I will be in total remission quite soon.
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I have been taking this medicine for 6 years and am very happy with it. It is the first medication that has helped me to feel what I would guess is normal. I am able to enjoy things in my life that are good. My anxiety is less and my paranoid obsessive thoughts are much more in control. I feel like it gets my brain in the right place to where I can think clearly.
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Effexor XR is the only drug I have found that worked for my depression (I have tried about 10 different drugs), but I gained weight. I got off it about 3 years ago because of the weight but haven't found anything that worked as well.
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Life changing. I was prescribed Effexor XR for depression and anxiety with attacks. I suffered for years until I hit rock bottom and saw a doctor. This was the first medication I was prescribed and after 2 weeks I saw an improvment and after a month I was a completely different person. I actually for once feel normal and I am never sad and cry for no reason.I have energy, I dont feel crappy. I am hardly ever in a bad mood and the best part is I don't feel like I am taking anything. Best decision of my life.
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In 2003, I had initially tried Remeron to deal with anxiety/insomnia but after 4 months and going through major depression, I started on Effexor. I took Ativan to get me through the first few weeks for anxiety until the Effexor kicked in. It definitely helped me get my life back. My only problem is the weight gain - about 25 lbs. I have tried to wean myself down from my highest dose of 225mg/day to as low as 37.5mg but had reoccuring depression and anxiety so have gone back up.
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I have been using Effexor XR for a couple of years now and can tell u if it wasn't for this I don't know where I would be today. It work's for me. Thank you.
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When I first started Effexor XR, it seemed to really help for a while. After a while we had to increase the dosage to its maximum, and had to add the max 80 mg of Prozac to keep me "normal". After about a year, I started having real problems with exhaustion and fatigue. It took a lot of testing and doctors and finally two separate sleep studies to find that my deep sleep had been disrupted significantly -- essentially I was getting NO restorative sleep, even when I slept for 8-12 hours!
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It's a good product. I have been on Paxil and Celexa but Effexor XR was the only thing that made me feel normal. I have been on it for 7 months and I would suggest it to anyone who has depression.
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zoombini1 said: 
bls247 said: 
