Venlafaxine and Tiredness: What Users Say (Page 3)

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 7, 2016

Venlafaxine for Major Depressive Disorder "I had been off all meds for 10 years when I had a major relapse and knew it was time to medicate again. Effexor is hard to get on, lots of dizziness and exhaustion. Also, if I am late taking it, I feel awful. Headaches, anxiety, mood swings. Don't ever miss a dose! I can't stress this enough. Withdrawal hits hard and fast, even within 12 hours. Sweats, chills, headache, dreams, whole-body pain. HOWEVER, it does help me get through the day. I have suicidal depression and clinical anxiety, so for me, it is worth some struggle to stay with Effexor because it does give me relief. It calms my brain, allows me to get moving with my day, and not have the threat of my own self-destructive tendencies."

• Unk...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 8, 2019

Venlafaxine for Depression "I had the worst depression and anxiety. I was taking Zoloft, and it quit working. I am now taking Effexor, and my anxiety completely went away! I was having to take Xanax throughout the day for my anxiety before I took Effexor. I now no longer have to take Xanax. I had no side effects from Effexor, and my depression is completely gone and my anxiety. The only thing it did not help is that I have no energy. I feel tired and fatigued and have no motivation to do anything. I also have had no problem sleeping at night."

• Die...
• October 5, 2015

Venlafaxine for Depression "Effexor has helped me, but it took weeks for the initial side effects to go down enough for me to be comfortable. I could hardly eat and sleep for a week. It got better over time, but it was painfully slow, and after a few weeks on the stuff, I was exhausted. The side effects never went away completely, but I can manage to eat and sleep enough now. Effexor also makes me have really intense, long, complex dreams. They are usually quite interesting, and I enjoy having them for the most part. Sometimes it's hard getting back to the real world after having woken up with such interesting stories and intricate plotlines in my head, but it's worth it in my opinion. Life is more manageable now."

• Anonymous
• February 1, 2010

Venlafaxine for Depression "Works really well but made me very tired all the time. At least I could sleep well, though."

• Nam...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 25, 2015

Venlafaxine for Depression "I can explain this drug easily. It will take away your problems, BUT...your sleep won't be effective, you will have extreme memory problems, you won't experience vibrant emotion (it's always dull). Did I mention you will be tired literally all day within minutes of waking? You will basically be a living zombie where every action you take feels forced and fake. You will gain a ton of weight. I was a bodybuilder, 200 lb, 7.5% body fat year-round. Counted calories constantly. Still did on Effexor, counted them all the way up to 4k a day along with 4-6 beers and no weight lifting. I just didn't care. I'm 215 lbs at 28% body fat. If you don't know what that means, basically I traded a 6-pack for a keg. Went from a size 32 to a size 38. In 8 months."

• mr...
• May 27, 2016

Venlafaxine for Depression "This medication has worked amazingly well for me, but the side effects are no joke. My mood is better, I'm less anxious, less angry, and more sociable. It works. It's great, but there are serious drawbacks. My libido and sexual performance are down. I get tired more easily. If I go outside on a hot day, my clothes are quickly drenched in sweat. Physical activity exhausts my muscles more quickly. My mouth is so dry I need to constantly sip water. And finally, if I miss a dose, I get the sensation of electric shocks in my brain. I personally find the benefits outweigh the side effects. Worth a try when more tolerable meds fail."

• Que...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 13, 2013

Venlafaxine for Depression "I have been on this medication for 12 months now. The only side effect is being extremely tired. However, this is much better than the depression I was experiencing. I've always had moments, however, after having a traumatic childbirth and various other family issues, it quickly increased. It has basically saved my marriage and allows me to now enjoy the time with my beautiful children. I have struggled to lose weight (still from my second child), however, I am also using the Mirena, which seems to have negative reviews in this area. So, I'm looking to remove it. I'm glad I have read the other posts, as I'm more confident that the removal of the Mirena will allow me to lose the few kilos that I have, as I need to stay on the Effexor a little longer."

• sta...
• November 17, 2015

Venlafaxine for Major Depressive Disorder "Effexor worsened my depression. Made me feel exhausted all the time and impossible to be able to wake up in the mornings. I was unable to concentrate. My mood worsened, and my motivation to do anything lessened. My depression got worse every time they increased my dose."

• dre...
• February 25, 2015

Venlafaxine for Anxiety "Been on Effexor since July 2014. I take the lower dosage 2x a day as the higher one all at once made me feel sick. I have severe anxiety to the point where I didn't want to leave the house. I am also on Ativan for moments I know when I panic... way better than Xanax. I was on Paxil, Wellbutrin... neither worked, made me feel like a zombie. The only drawback with the Effexor is that I am exhausted!!"

• Anonymous
• March 14, 2012

For Anxiety and Stress "I started taking the generic venlafaxine XR about one month ago for anxiety attacks and feelings of being overwhelmed. It started working within a few days. I have had a positive experience, although my sex drive is depleted, and I'm having much more difficulty reaching orgasm (I'm female). I am now waking 3-4 times a night, and although I can go right back to sleep, I feel tired every morning. I already take 1 mg Klonopin at night and 350 mg of Soma as I have degenerative neck disease. I am still waking up. I hope my doctor can give me some pointers on sleeping through the night, but other than that (oh, and increased sweating at night), I do feel great. We'll see how the sweating goes and the sleep disturbance."

• MAD...
• August 23, 2011

Venlafaxine for Depression "I have been taking Effexor for 4 weeks. The side effects have been miserable. I have tried taking it in the morning and at night, but I'm always tired and dizzy. Sometimes I even feel like a zombie. I must say, the only good thing about Effexor (for me) is it has decreased my anxiety, unless I skip a day... then watch out and get out of my way. The comments regarding withdrawal scare me. Please tell me this gets better."

• Dwa...
• January 18, 2013

Venlafaxine for Depression "I have been having depression for about 10 years. It took a long time to get the right one. Eventually, I was put on Effexor XR. Started from 37.5, then finally 300 mg per day. Effexor gave me a lot of side effects, but I found it to be very good, making me feel like myself again. There was only one major problem, I got addicted to gambling even from the day I started with 37.5. I was in major debt. I am now trying other medicines (Seroquel), but I am not the same anymore, very lazy, no motivation. Since I have stopped Effexor, I have stopped gambling. And as for the depression, I am on trial with Seroquel. Wish me luck!!"

• Mee...
• February 19, 2016

Venlafaxine for Depression "The side effects are NOT WORTH dealing with! I've tried this medication twice, and while it was the only drug I tried that helped my depression/anxiety, the side effects were killing me. I would feel sick for 3 hours after every dose, whether I would eat with it or not. It made me constantly hungry during the day. It caused me to be so exhausted and even angry. I finally weaned off of this medicine after gaining almost 100 lbs in 5 years (3 years on, 1 year off, 1 year on, now off). I only went back on because I thought the weight gain was my fault, and after losing so much of it, swore I'd never gain it back. Back on Effexor, back came the weight. I feel so much better off this medicine now, and wouldn't recommend this drug to my worst enemy."

• Fat...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 26, 2018

Venlafaxine for Panic Disorder "I was on citalopram and propranolol after a breakdown, as I couldn't go out for 6 months. Totally given up on myself. Citalopram helped, although I gained weight, but I was always tired, everything was an effort. Another few breakdowns, and I couldn't walk over a bridge. I asked the doc to change. He gave me venlafaxine 37.5 mg, right away felt better. My doc has wanted me to go up a higher dosage, but I must say I am so happy, got a new job, going on holidays, and just happy, happy. I split the pill half in the morning, half about one in the afternoon, and I'll stick to that dose, but if I need to go higher, I will, because I will never want to feel like life’s over again. I've so much energy now and am always looking to the future."

• Sle...
• April 19, 2015

Venlafaxine for Depression "I've only been on this medication for about 2 weeks. That said, I've slept almost every day since starting it. I know sleepiness is a common side effect, but this is excessive. Almost no energy throughout the day. Nonstop yawning. My depression is still there, anxiety has been better. I just feel very drained and apathetic. I'll stick with it for a while longer because I know it will take a while for the full effect to kick in, hoping for good results!"

• Anonymous
• March 23, 2009

Venlafaxine for Depression "After I started taking this medicine, I got Restless Leg Syndrome - when I went off of the medicine, it went away. I was always tired while taking the medicine. When I quit, I got dizzy twice and fell within the first week after I stopped taking it."

• Anonymous
• June 8, 2010

Venlafaxine for Depression "I've used tricyclics and SSRIs before. Both caused huge weight gain and were only moderately effective. Effexor XR worked very well for me at 150 mg for several years. I was able to lose a small amount of weight and stopped having late-night cravings for sugary stuff, and it was very effective in combating the depression symptoms. I slept well but was not lethargic during the day; I took it at night. Later on, I needed to increase my dose. I am now on 300 mg and started losing weight again (a good thing in my case) and have more energy. It takes longer to have an orgasm, but other than that, I've been very lucky in having few to no side effects. The one thing I hate is that if I miss a dose, side effects are awful!"

• Tin...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 22, 2015

Venlafaxine for Major Depressive Disorder "I took Effexor for many years. I believe I was becoming resistant to it because it wasn't addressing my depression anymore. I tapered off as slowly as possible, and I can safely say it is the worst withdrawal I have ever had in my life. Nausea, dizziness, sickly feeling, huge brain zaps, lethargy, headaches. It was horrible. I am so glad to be off of it. My new medication, Wellbutrin and Lexapro, are much better at controlling my chronic major depression. I will never be off drugs, but I would never take this drug again."

• ash...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 4, 2022

Venlafaxine for Depression "I was actually on Effexor XR for Borderline Personality Disorder and did nothing except make me tired. When I cried at my doctor's appointment because I was so depressed (3-6 months in), they just said “jeez” and doubled my dose. This shut me up until I found a new doctor, but it seems like medical abuse to me. A total of 2 years on it with 0 benefit, at 150 mg. waste of time. I will never get that 2 years back."

• Ace...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 4, 2018

Venlafaxine for Depression "I was prescribed 75 mg Effexor for my depression. Took the medication for only four days and had to stop it, as my depression deepened. I went into rolling panic attacks. I did not get an hour of sleep for four days, despite feeling completely exhausted. The world made no sense. Life made no sense. I couldn't stand my head and the thoughts in it. It is not true that the drug can cause increased suicidal thoughts only in young people. People should be very careful with this drug!"

• Anonymous
• October 24, 2011

Venlafaxine for Anxiety and Stress "I've been on this medication for almost a month. My doctor told me it could easily take a month to get used to it. I started out with headaches, extreme tiredness, and excessive sweating. The tiredness was gone after about 10 days. The sweating is the worst side effect, and I still suffer with it daily, though I am no longer dripping with sweat like I was when I began the medication. I get occasional headaches, but nothing more than a slight headache to remind me that I have one. I do feel better and am less stressed."

• Sea...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 4, 2017

Venlafaxine for Depression "I just started taking Effexor XR a little over a month ago. I was extremely tired the whole month (nothing would help that either, I took a 5-hour energy and fell asleep right after), and last night was my first night where I felt like myself for the first time in a few years. I am hopeful that this lasts and the exhaustion goes away. I have a cough, but it's only really bad at night and I have a small cough in the morning. My cycle seems a little off, I had spotting and then nothing, so I'm not sure what is happening with that, but I read that's a possible side effect as well."

• Gem...
• November 21, 2019

For Anxiety and Stress "I have taken venlafaxine for just over a week for stress and anxiety. To start with, I felt better, I had a clearer mind. However, I was exhausted. After a few days, I started feeling very sick and getting awful headaches. I realized as soon as I was taking this tablet, within 20 minutes, I was feeling sick. My head was pounding, as well as blurred vision. This got worse. I decided to stop taking them, as I had only been on 75 mg for a week. After two days, I was off my feet, with flu-like symptoms, brain zaps, and numbness in my lips, wrists, and fingertips. I couldn’t stop eating even though I felt sick. I am on the third day of this come down and still no better. I am off work and unable to do much at all. I am now a lot worse off than I was before taking this drug, as my anxiety has returned and I have found my depression has crept back too. I would not recommend venlafaxine to anyone, it is a strong and scary drug to be on."

• Anonymous
• August 5, 2016

Venlafaxine for Depression "Please everyone make sure you are emailing Pfizer. They need to be making increments of 5 mg so that people can wean themselves off easier. They are aware of the withdrawal from Effexor yet have not made smaller increments, so people have to figure out ways to do it themselves. I was on 150 mg for 4 years. I attempted to go off by decreasing by 37.5 mg every 2 weeks. I was suicidal, exhausted, dizzy, and felt like my brain was being electrocuted. Within 2 days of taking my previous dose, the symptoms went away. My next attempt to get off was much slower. I decreased by 5 mg every month. I had to take my pills out of the capsule, shave a little off the pill, and put it back in the capsule. To get any kind of accuracy, you have to buy a scale."

• Not...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 5, 2020

Venlafaxine for Depression "I don’t have any symptoms of anxiety usually - but experienced what feeling anxious was like within the first few days of taking this medication, Effexor XR. For me, this was a good sign early on, and I trusted that the anxious feeling would subside within the coming days. The anxiousness went away quite quickly, however, I began averaging around 13 hours of sleep a day. I persisted despite the extreme lethargy, taking this medication for 4 weeks. I feel like I wasted a month of my life on this medication, I didn’t feel hunger, however, I still needed food to stay awake, so I didn’t enjoy eating as much but ate the same amount - if not more sugar to try and compensate for the tiredness. I was hoping for the opposite effect, so naturally, I was disappointed. It completely got rid of my sex drive. I have since switched back to Lexapro, which has helped slightly in the past. I am hoping to find the best combo for me in the future. I am seriously considering asking for Dexedrine at this point."