Venlafaxine for Anxiety User Reviews

• Its...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 30, 2023

"I took it for a few years and it didn't help much. It can cause mood swings if you miss a dose."

• Jon...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 19, 2023

"Awful medication, gave me seizures, heart attacks, and fatty liver. My depression and anxiety are very severe on this."

• Unc...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 16, 2023

"This is a HORRIBLE drug. I will do everything I can to make sure it is taken off the shelves. DO NOT TAKE THIS TERRIBLE DRUG!!!! Wish I could give it a negative billion rating."

• Oli...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 11, 2023

"This medication is a nightmare that should be avoided. I switched to it from Zoloft after it ceased working. It made my anxiety twice as bad and barely did anything for my mood. I tried to stop taking it after four months, but the withdrawals are every bit as horrendous as others have described. I ended up having to add Mirtazapine to get some relief. I'm now very slowly tapering down the dose from 150 mg. Venlafaxine is, by far, the worst medication I've ever taken. It is horrible to start, it does nothing but give you awful side effects, and it is horrendous to stop taking."

• Chr...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 19, 2022

Venlafaxine "Effexor is by far the worst medication I've ever taken. If you miss a single dose by a couple of hours, you're done for the rest of the day. It also took me 4 months to get this out of my system. NEVER AGAIN!!"

• Ray...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 11, 2022

Venlafaxine "Terrible, addictive, dangerous. This drug nearly killed me. It is like using a shotgun to kill a fly. I suggest you look at all other options before using this drug. It takes between 3 and 6 months to get off it once you are hooked. And you suffer like nothing else coming off it. It is not a drug for anxiety sufferers."

• Art...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 21, 2022

"Terrible medication. I hear that it is supposed to take a few weeks for the drug to just settle in and take full effect, but it is not worth it for me. Within a few days, I was unable to get myself to urinate. I ended up in the emergency room because I had felt anxiety unlike anything I had previously felt in my life. This drug made me feel dissociated and vapid. The scariest side effect by far was the mental blockage it creates for urination. Imagine shy bladder syndrome that you experience at a public urinal, except you feel that at every single toilet, even your own at home when you are alone. I am very angry and disappointed."

• Dai...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 30, 2021

"This medication has ruined my life. It has caused numbness and tingling in my feet and hands, so bad it wakes me in the night. I suspect my whole body has some numbness as a result."

• Cin...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 27, 2021

Venlafaxine "I guess I'm one of the unlucky ones and had what I would consider a pretty bad reaction to this medication. I only took two doses, but I didn't want to know how much worse it would get. The first day was okay, no nausea, but I felt moments of depersonalization. The second day I felt more of the depersonalization, and at night I woke up with racing thoughts and hot flashes - my entire body felt like it was tingly and hot, and my heart was racing, and I was sweating profusely. This episode lasted for a good 10-15 minutes. Once I calmed down, I got chills and tried going back to sleep. I was woken up two more times with the same feeling. I decided to discontinue this med because if it's going to make my anxiety worse, even just for the first few weeks, it isn't worth it to me."

• ano...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 24, 2021

Venlafaxine "I have now been on Effexor XR since the beginning of summer. At first, the first 2 months it seemed to calm my anxiety, and I didn't panic as much, but that quickly subsided as quickly as it started, so I went up a dose (from 37.5-75 to 112.5 mg), and it had not changed anything. About 5 or 6 months in, I started noticing spikes in my panic attacks, anxiety, and depression, the depression being the worst. I also got prescribed Adderall, which I take 'as needed,' and it also helps with everything. The Effexor now, I can't tell if it does anything, as my anxiety and depression came back full force. Like it didn't do anything to begin with now, or at least barely. Also, I do see many things about withdrawals. Yeah, it's said you get them, but at least for me, it is super bearable, like not smoking for a day. That being said, it seems to me as useless sugar. I'm really hoping to soon find something that actually does something. These kinds of drugs are sugar pills to me or increase depression and anxiety and irrational thoughts."

• joh...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 9, 2021

Venlafaxine "I've been on Klonopin for 27 years, and I tried all sorts of antidepressants along with it. About two years ago, I started Adderall and soon discovered that it worked like any other antidepressant for me. It totally wiped away my social anxieties; however, in May, my doctor also thought it was a good idea to get off Klonopin, which wasn't great news for me. The Adderall alone wasn't enough and he put me on BuSpar, but I ended up in the hospital. The staff refused to listen to me because they don't believe in benzos and controlled substances. I was put on Effexor and realized it wasn't for me, but the doctors kept pumping me full of beta-blockers to reduce my anxiety and had me on Klonopin for several days, then released me without a script for Klonopin. Now I'm struggling to find myself in the midst of all the chaos. I was stuck with Effexor and beta-blockers and told to follow up with my psychiatrist. I wish everyone here doesn't go through the same ordeal as me. Benzos are not worth it."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 8, 2021

"This ruined my life. I'm still anxious and very sick. I then got buzzing in my ears. Only took it 12 days. Brutal side effects, was insomnia."

• Syd...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 3, 2021

Venlafaxine "Took Effexor XR for anxiety and depression. This was not the drug for me, even though trying for months. My anxiety and depression worsened and brought in suicidal thoughts. I couldn’t eat or sleep without taking something to help, I would get brain zaps. It 100% made me so much worse and turned me into a different person. If going on this, make sure you keep a diary of how you feel each day, use family for support to help if you can. If it doesn’t feel right, speak to your doctor. I would hate for anyone to suffer as much as I did because the doctor kept saying, “it’s meant to get worse before it gets better.” Seek second opinions if it doesn’t feel right. I will never touch that again."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 3, 2021

"It helped knock the edge off of anxiety. The only side effect that bothered me was the “brain zaps” that occurred if I didn’t take the med at the same time each day. However, I had to stop this drug as it started to cause me to tense my face constantly and clench my jaw. This didn’t begin until a year after I started taking this drug. I didn’t know this was related to the drug, so I continued to take it for another year, and it got worse. I stopped taking it 6 months ago, and I still deal with the chronic jaw pain/clenching and facial tensing."

• Dai...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 9, 2021

"Don’t take this medication. It is almost impossible to come off of it. The withdrawal symptoms are brutal. The medication causes symptoms of neuropathy, broken teeth, tinnitus, brain fog, sexual dysfunction. It is awful!"

• lak...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 5, 2021

Venlafaxine "Be wary if you are younger. I had every side effect taking this drug. Extreme nausea and vomiting, shakiness and dizziness were just a few. Absolutely not worth it, I would never take this drug again."

• Kim...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 28, 2021

Venlafaxine "I could not get past the first dose of 37.5 mg. It made me extremely nauseous, loss of appetite, tired but could not sleep, very irritable, weak, diarrhea, and made my anxiety worse. It was the extended release, and I could literally feel when it was releasing into my body. This went on for two days. I could not get out of bed. Once the nightmare was over, I was so weak like I’d had the flu and needed to rebuild my strength. I’ve taken Lexapro in the past, and while that just made me feel blah, it was 100 times better than this. I know every drug affects people differently, but I believe you can tell fairly quickly if a drug is right for you or not. I’ve now been prescribed Paroxetine. I’m so nervous to try it as I’m afraid it will make me feel awful too, but I will give it a whirl once I feel I’ve fully recovered from Effexor."

• Bad...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 17, 2021

"Terrible medication. Be careful when trying to come off venlafaxine, as it has horrendous withdrawals. Just don’t take it."

• Lun...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 13, 2021

Venlafaxine "This medication was working at first. But then it stopped working, made my anxiety worse, and had weird episodes where I would dissociate and depersonalize. I decided to do something really stupid and quickly weaned myself off. I've been on so many antidepressants before. DO NOT DO WHAT I DID without letting your psychologist know. The withdrawals were so bad. My mood would crash, I felt like I was falling, and I was the most anxious and depressed I would be in my entire life. My panic attacks were so bad, Klonopin did nothing for them. I weaned off of 112.5 mg. I didn't like this drug... to say the least."

• Flo...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 2, 2021

"My doctor recommended this drug after being on mirtazapine for about 15 years. It was a terrible choice for me. I had probably every side effect and more. I’m postmenopausal, and my hot flashes, in the middle of the night especially, were intense. 20 times worse than before this drug. I woke up 3-6 times a night, many of which I was sweating heavily and exhausted. I also had nausea, stomach pains, and diarrhea. I missed a number of days of work because I had such bad insomnia and didn’t feel good until midday. Additionally, when I woke up at the beginning of my day, I was close to panic attacks until I took the drug. I don’t think this was a coincidence. None of these severe side effects happened with my prior medication. Going back to mirtazapine as soon as I wean off this awful drug."

• Any...
• March 7, 2021

"I have PTSD, GAD, panic disorder, and depression. I have been on quite a few antidepressants previously, and my last antidepressant (Lexapro) sadly stopped working after a few years. After being admitted to the psych ward, the doctors decided to put me on venlafaxine. It has been horrible. Panic attacks, uncontrollable shaking, nausea, vomiting, migraines, and increased anxiety are some of the side effects I’ve experienced. Due to the severity of them, I was put on benzodiazepines and sleeping meds for the first time in my life. After having been on it for 2 months with the side effects not going away, I am now lowering the dose and will eventually stop the medication completely. The withdrawal isn’t fun, but it’s about the same as being on the meds. For some people, venlafaxine is amazing and very effective, but it generally is less tolerated than other antidepressants such as Lexapro and Zoloft, so keep that in mind."

• Rai...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 18, 2021

"I was prescribed venlafaxine ER for anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. I also have PMDD. I had previously been on Lexapro and later Prozac. I had told my dr both of those meds worked, as far as getting rid of depression, but they made me totally numb. I was literally just existing. I had been off meds for close to 3 years when I was prescribed venlafaxine last week. The dr told me it would take about 6 weeks for the meds to start working. I took it at night, with dinner because a lot of depression meds cause drowsiness. I woke up the next morning feeling extremely nauseous and exhausted. I had zero appetite and could barely hold my eyes open. I had to miss work. I contacted my dr who said the side effects should subside. They did not. All I was doing was working and sleeping. By the end of the week, I was so weak and exhausted I decided to stop taking the medicine. After being off the meds for a day or two my energy and appetite returned."

• Tat...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 8, 2021

"On my first day, I felt really sick. Very dry mouth, my blood pressure got higher, and I had problems that increased a bit more: nausea, chills, and nervousness."

• Cor...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 1, 2021

Venlafaxine "I was prescribed Effexor XR for anxiety. After taking 75 mg for two weeks, the nightmare begins. Insomnia, night sweats, horrific dreams and visions. I couldn't think or concentrate, I couldn't work or drive, my head was spinning, I couldn't talk properly. The headache was so bad it landed me in the hospital. I was so tired and couldn't stop yawning. I actually thought I was going insane on this drug. Loss of appetite followed by drastic weight loss, diarrhea. I persisted another week, then that's when the electric shocks started through my body. They were horrendous and left me thinking there was something wrong with me neurologically. Against the doctor's advice, I went cold turkey off of this drug. The withdrawal was horrific, but I was determined to get this stuff out of my body. Even seven months off the drug, I still get some of the shocks and feel this drug has permanently damaged me. I would do your research well before considering this drug. I'd never touch it again. Worst experience of my life."

• Mim...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 22, 2020

"Yesterday was my first day ever taking venlafaxine for the first time, and it was just one pill. I thought everything would be fine, but a couple of hours later, I felt so sick, dizzy, didn’t feel like eating, had a dry mouth, very bad anxiety, and I couldn’t sleep at all. Even until now, I can’t sleep at all and have no rest. I feel horrible, like I can no longer take this. I’m not going to take a 2nd pill. I’m done with this medication. It made me wired, it even made me jump while sleeping. Don’t take this medication!"