Effexor XR and Withdrawal: What Users Say (Page 4)

• Dre...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 22, 2017

For Depression "I was having moderate anxiety and dealing with a lot of stress in my life. I began seeing a psychiatrist and was started on Effexor. Around my 3rd month of being on Effexor, I was increasingly paranoid and tired. My doctor's response was to increase the dose. I began to become very nervous and started pacing and having trouble sleeping. He put me on trazodone for sleep, which made me feel incredibly tired the next day. His response to the sleepiness was to increase my dose again. I started to have severe depression then and became incredibly moody and volatile. I no longer had a fuse for my anger and became very withdrawn from everyone. This, of course, sent me on a downward spiral, ending with me being hospitalized."

• HJ7...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 11, 2019

For Depression "I'm extremely tired all the time. The doctor wants me to switch to Cymbalta, but the reviews aren't great, and I don't want to go through withdrawals, especially now. Trying out Nuvigil to see if it helps with the fatigue."

• SD-...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 24, 2015

For Anxiety "I was put on this medication for anxiety and depression as I had previously been on Lexapro 15 mg for 3 years and had consistently had an insatiable appetite. I saw a psychologist specializing in perinatal depression as I changed while pregnant. I started on 37.5 mg of Effexor but needed to constantly increase to 75.5 mg then 112.5 mg. My biggest complaint on this medication was extreme aggression. I would get so angry I doubted my ability to not harm my children. I obviously saw my doctor, who has taken me off it. Withdrawal was okay until back down to 37.5 mg. Please don't take this medication, try everything else before this. The side effects of withdrawal are awful. I've just got off it and switched to Zoloft, and the 2nd day in, already feeling better."

• pin...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 29, 2021

For Anxiety "I am a college student with severe GAD and MDD, as well as having derealization disorder. Before switching to Effexor, I was on 75 mg of Zoloft for almost 5 years, and it had done wonders for my anxiety. Eventually, I hit a plateau point, and Zoloft no longer worked. I started taking Effexor soon after and had no problems in transitioning. I missed a dose about a month in and had horrible withdrawal symptoms, but still nothing comparable to the level of anxiety I’m used to. I felt super dizzy and just wanted to sleep. Missing one dose did set me back—it’s about two months later, and I’m getting back to the place I was before I missed. But other than that, I’d say that it has certainly helped me learn how to better cope with my anxiety."

• Som...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 29, 2018

For Major Depressive Disorder "This has worked really well for me. I'd recommend it, but I think with any of these types of drugs, everybody is different. There's some trial and error involved. Took about 2 years and a trip to a psych ward before I found the right medication. I take this, buspirone, and Remeron, and it works for me. My only advice is if you take Effexor, don't ever run out of it. I went 5 days without it, and it's a pretty freaky withdrawal."

• Dan...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 20, 2018

For Depression "Effexor worked in the same way surviving a traumatic event makes you appreciate life. The first two weeks I experienced the worst horrible side effects. Vertigo (almost fell while walking) and a range of emotions from anger to numbness, then it worked. I felt okay for a while until I missed a dose. Then the withdrawal symptoms hit me like I was a crack addict. I had to wean off slowly, the vertigo was so severe. After that, I felt like I survived and learned how to use natural coping techniques. I didn't want to take anything else."

• bls...
• June 9, 2009

For Depression "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 yesterday's 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."

• ByG...
• August 31, 2016

For Anxiety "I was put on 150 mg daily of Effexor after having a mental breakdown brought on by stress and severe insomnia. I did not find the medication helped at all other than to cause weight gain. Worst of all, I experienced horrific withdrawal symptoms coming off it. I started to wean off it in May, reducing the dose to 75 mg/day. I halved it to 37.5 mg a month ago, and my Dr. said I would be good to stop it after two weeks. Within 24 hours of taking my last pill, I experienced dizziness, nausea, insomnia, and brain zaps. I could barely function. Turns out the 'half-life' of Effexor is one of the shortest out there. I had to take a short 2-week course of 10 mg Prozac (much longer short life) to come off Effexor. Horrible!!"

• Liz...
• November 2, 2009

For Anxiety and Stress "This drug has worked for me for the last year. It actually started working the first couple of days I used it, and then I titrated up to a dose twice a day, and it has enabled me to be in a more even mood throughout the day. Just be careful when the doctor mixes it with other anxiety medicines or depression medicines. You could be susceptible to serotonin overload. I mixed it with a high dose of trazodone for sleep issues and found that it made my anxiety worse and more apparent to people, so I switched to Limbitrol, which seems to work well with it. And don't forget, if you stop these drugs, don't do it cold turkey. I stopped trazodone and went into withdrawal symptoms that triggered a major seizure for me!"

• Add...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 29, 2019

For Major Depressive Disorder "I have been diagnosed with MDD, GAD, and OCD. I'm currently 36 years old and am healthy otherwise. Effexor XR worked well for the MDD and GAD, but I did not get relief from OCD (which may have intensified). However, this medicine caused me to have memory and thinking issues, and I would forget to take the medicine 1-4 times a month (which caused withdrawal symptoms to begin within ~4-6 hours of forgetting). I had to quit Effexor so I could do my job, but the withdrawal symptoms are horrendous. I've been tapering down (from 150 mg/day) for 4 months, and every step down is terrible for ~7-14 days. I can't work, or even walk around my house because I have body (and brain?) tremors, intense nausea, difficulty maintaining balance while walking, and intense muscle aches and pains in my neck and back. If the withdrawals and forgetfulness were less severe, I'd take this medicine forever because it really helped with depression and anxiety."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 23, 2022

For Depression "I have been on Effexor XR since I was a teenager, about 12 years. I do wholeheartedly believe that this medication saved my life at that time, but I have fluctuated in dosages. Within a couple of years, I was up to 150 mg, which worked for a long time. I eventually went up to 300 mg, which isn't recommended, and have been trying to wean off. It will take a few months to notice an effect, and the withdrawal symptoms are awful. If I miss more than one day, I will not be able to walk. Usually, it is only recommended as a third or fourth option for a reason."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 19, 2012

For Depression "It seemed to help my depression and anxiety, but the trade-off was the side effects I experienced. If I was a few hours late, I would experience significant withdrawals that made my anxiety worse than it was. I had sexual side effects such as lack of sex drive and inability to ejaculate during intercourse."

• Anonymous
• October 30, 2009

For Bipolar Disorder "I take 225 mg a day. I experience withdrawal symptoms throughout the day. I have missed a couple of doses and felt like I was relapsing. The medicine helped me. But the side effects are affecting me physically and have become more and more of a nuisance for me over the last year. I experience a tingling in my lips and get a nervous feeling throughout the day now. Jittery and antsy. I soon will hopefully start the tapering process."

• Cat...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 25, 2020

For Major Depressive Disorder "I started taking Effexor at 50 mg, and my dosage has slowly been increased to 300 mg. It has helped a little, in conjunction with managing my PMDD, sleeping pills, and DBT. The side effects are awful. When I first started taking it, I got so nauseous I had to lay in bed all day and couldn't do anything. I started taking it at night to combat this, but then that gave me insomnia. The anorgasmia is awful. I still have the same libido as before, but reaching orgasm is near impossible thanks to this medication. The withdrawal is bad too, which is awful for me because I often forget to take it and will often leave it at home."

• dar...
• November 3, 2011

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "In one sense, it handled many of my symptoms, but I became a completely different person. I was no longer myself at all. I made many, many horrible decisions affecting my family, friends, business, etc. I adopted a whole new set of values - I just wasn't myself anymore. When I finally decided to go off it, I spent 9 months of withdrawal symptoms, splitting capsules every day and gradually reducing the amount of grains."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 14, 2013

For Depression "18-year-old female and have been on it for 5 months. Just recently quit taking it and had horrid withdrawal symptoms. I don't recommend quitting cold turkey. Talk to the doctor and formulate a titration schedule to wean yourself off. Worked to help lessen my depression, though I am not sure it helped as much as Prozac did."

• Lau...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 1, 2022

For Major Depressive Disorder "I had tried a few SSRIs to no avail. They made me feel like I was a zombie. Tried venlafaxine and had good results for a few months. After that, though, it felt like it stopped working. I missed a couple of doses and noticed no difference whether I was off the meds or on them. I, fortunately, did not experience any of the withdrawal symptoms that others report. It simply didn't work for me long-term."

• Cal...
• May 6, 2012

For Depression "I'm 22, male, with major depression, and have been taking Effexor XR for over a year. It has partially helped, I still suffer from anxiety, lack of motivation, mood swings, and it seems like it's changing my personality. The withdrawal symptoms are the worst. I missed 2 days of my dose and am feeling sick."

• BBx...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 22, 2021

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "CW: Mention of being suicidal. I suffer from borderline personality disorder and PTSD. Personality disorders are wild because you don't know how much of you is really you and how much is just symptoms of it. This medication changed my entire life. I have goals, dreams, passions, a sense of identity, a drive to better myself, a healthy and nurturing relationship-all of which I would not have dreamt of having before. This medication is the best thing that happened to me because before I used it, I was just drifting through life waiting to die, and every day I hoped would be my last, and waking up each morning felt like a punishment. The reason I didn't give it the 10/10 it probably deserves is because the initial couple of weeks of treatment are awful, and it definitely gets worse before it gets better, and also the withdrawals. I don't always have the means to get my prescription, and by the second day without taking it, I feel like death. Drunk without the fun, lol."

• Aus...
• October 28, 2015

For Major Depressive Disorder "Don't ever remember feeling 100% on Effexor. Bad withdrawal symptoms. I went from 150 mg of Effexor to 10 mg of Cipramil and feel a lot better. There is no way I'll ever be taking Effexor and wouldn't recommend it to anyone, too many side effects."

• Unc...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 5, 2024

"Keep in mind: everyone is different, and this is my personal experience with it. It definitely got rid of the panic attacks. I went from having 2-4 a week to once a month, but as soon as it would start up, it quickly disappeared. This medication did not give me energy, and the adjustment period lasted 2 months, where I all of a sudden became 'a napper.' The anxiety and depression generally went away, so much so that I never cried once during the 8 months I was on it (that doesn't seem right). The most important part you should know is if you decide to come off this drug, all the reviews telling you 'it sucks' are accurate. I tapered off over the course of a month and had withdrawal lasting beyond that. I would look into this medication as a last shot. It's 6/10 only because of the panic attack benefit."

• Anonymous
• April 20, 2011

For Depression "I took Effexor XR about a year ago for about 6 months. At first, it worked great. Then, I got sick and couldn't take it for a couple of days, and OMG, the withdrawal. I felt like I was going to pass out and throw up. I was dizzy. It was awful, and it took two more days of taking it before those feelings went away. I finally decided to talk to my doctor about getting off the Effexor. I had to step down at half-dose intervals and, in turn, go through the withdrawals 3 times over the time frame of three weeks. Just as the withdrawals subsided from one cut, I had to cut again."

• unh...
• September 8, 2016

For Anxiety "Do not take this medication! There is no other medication for depression/anxiety that has withdrawal symptoms that put you in excruciating pain! You become a person without feelings, almost hard-hearted on this medication! Please, please have your doctor try other meds first! I am so angry that I trusted my psychiatrist! I feel betrayed! Thank God I have my general doctor who is spending more time with me to help me get off of this medication!"

• iro...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 27, 2017

For Depression "Ineffective for me. I had to stop taking it twice, and the withdrawal was awful! It was like what I would imagine heroin withdrawal from heroin. I highly suggest no one use this drug for that reason."

• Jan...
• April 17, 2016

For Depression "I just wanted to die while going through withdrawal, while tapering off very gradually and for six months afterward. Longer-term effects are too painful to write about right now. Avoid."