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EFFEXOR

PBF

What do you think of Effexor?  

71 members have voted

  1. 1. What do you think of Effexor?

    • It helped me a lot
      29
    • It helped me a bit
      12
    • It didn't do squat
      1
    • It worsened me off
      2
    • It made me go completely nuts
      1
    • It felt like an acid bad trip but worse
      1
    • Getting off it was a horrible experience and was very weird
      4
    • The last four choices
      4

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PBF

PBF

Posted
Posted

Okay, I just had to ask about Effexor.  That antidepressant was one of the worst nitemares I ever lived in medland.  Yet, some people say it helped them.  Just trying to know if the freaky creeping adverse reaction I had to Effexor is something freaky rare or if it happened to others as well.  Took it for a month then discontinued because it was getting scary.

Thanx for input, I hope this poll is done correctly, first time I do one.

PBF

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RJG

RJG

Posted
Posted

Oddly enough.... Effexor XR helped me out a bit, and I also had ZERO withdrawl. I don't know if it would have neccasarily been that way if I had not gone to Cymbalta a few days after stopping Effexor, but who knows ;)

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Sme

Sme

Posted
Posted

i've been on effexor for 9 months now and at 300mg for about 6 months.  effexor helped me a lot.  it has kept me from feeling the hell i had felt before starting it.  only downside, if i miss a dose (4+ hrs late), i get all emotional and i get a terrible headache, neither of which go away after taking that late dose.  i usually don't feel better until the next day.  if i ever end up going off this wonder drug, i can see it being pretty damn tough.

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Min

Min

Posted
Posted

I really really like Effexor as a drug.  I'm bipolar and it works great for the depression.  Though Effexor alone is something I can't really say works in my position.  For a few months I was on the drug for just depression before my I switched psychiatrists and finally found out I was bipolar, then I had to go on something to block out the negative sides of the drug.  Effexor alone is NOT good for bipolar disorder, but having it paired with Seroquel (for a few months), Geodon (a few weeks), and now recently Klonopin, it's worked wonders.  It is a drug that that only works well for the depressive issues, for me at least.

Without a drug to balance it out I would become very aggitated/irritated and moody.  I would have odd and violent nightmares and hear/see things.  Perhaps you just need something to balance it out.

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Greenyflower

Greenyflower

Posted
Posted

I voted for "Helped me alot" but also wanted to vote for the withdrawal sucked option.  But, when it worked, it worked well and had very few side effects.

Yesterday, I went down another 37.5 and today I've got a headache from hell which could be tension, but advil and tylenol aren't touching it so in case it was the lower dose, I took the dose I was at the day before.

While discontinuing Effexor, each time I went down another notch of 37.5, I got the headache from hell. For me, they lasted two to three days and then stopped entirely, until the next dose drop. Like yours, no pain reliever helped.

Greeny

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Hellcat13

Hellcat13

Posted
Posted

I was titrated up onto 375mg effexor pretty quickly and it did bring me to the point of not wanting to kill myself every minute of the day.

Although now, I am getting terrible anxiety and pressure casue of external stuff going on and I feel like I am slipping on my grip of reality (whatever the hell that is anyhow).  As I type I am on the verge of tears and I just put up with it.

Anyhow you get that.

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NYPaintLady

NYPaintLady

Posted
Posted

Hmmmmmmmm...

I hadn't heard of Effexor affecting manual transmission abilities, but you never know... write Wyeth-Ayerst and see if they'll add it to their side effect list.

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Headaches. We hates them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, Greeny,

Next step down is tomorrow, I hope the rest of the taper down goes smoothly.

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PSmith4630

PSmith4630

Posted
Posted

I think I voted "helped me a lot" 2 or 3 days ago, more because of how I felt maybe 2 weeks ago than how I feel now.  My depression/worry/suicidal ideations are very situational, mainly coming from very low self-esteem and money troubles. 

I was hospitalized on 8/3 of this year (my 5th hospitalization in 6 years) and the pdoc at intake said she wanted to try something with a more "robust effect".  Also she wanted to explore the possibility that I was bi-polar because my mom is, and she said "if you're bi-polar, we'll know it because Effexor will put you into a manic state."  Until then, I had only been on Zoloft and for a short time, Paxil. 

Anyway, I noticed a difference (a BIG one) after 6 days.  It started with some really fun Matrix-like dreams, and then I woke up in a great mood; for all my trouble with worry and rumination, really had trouble thinking of anything that could happen that would really bother me.  This continued until maybe the middle of last week, when I ran out of Trazodone for sleep.  The pdoc at the mental health clinic where I go said "see if you can sleep without it, if you can't I'll write you a prescription for it the next time I see you."  I see him and my tdoc again this tuesday.  It's odd because I've been on Trazodone before (always for sleep) when I was taking Zoloft and never felt as good as I did for those 3 weeks or so in August.  And also because Effexor is supposed to be the really heavy-duty stuff, not the Trazodone.

I hope it's something as simple as the combination of Effexor and Trazodone is what accounted for my feeling so good for a while.  I can't think of anything else that is different between now and 1 1/2 weeks ago.  Anyway, Effexor by itself, at 150mg doesn't seem to be doing anywhere near as much for me as I originally thought, but I won't change my vote from "helped me a lot" just yet.  I'll see what happens when I'm back on the Trazodone for about a week.  I've always been very fortunate when it comes to side effects and meds though, so no complaints there, at least.

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NYPaintLady

NYPaintLady

Posted
Posted

Hmmmmmmmm...

I hadn't heard of Effexor affecting manual transmission abilities, but you never know... write Wyeth-Ayerst and see if they'll add it to their side effect list.

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Headaches. We hates them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, Greeny,

Next step down is tomorrow, I hope the rest of the taper down goes smoothly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My step down to 75mg went fine, no side effects.  But, it is pms week and those ugly symptoms showed up a few days earlier.  I lost my voice for 2 days after arguing with my 19 yo son and tonight I threw the cordless phone and broke it.  I figure that I did good since I didn't throw it "at" anyone.....

I will be stepping down to 37.5 this weekend....  I just wish I could sleep well at night and have some AMBITION to do something.... anything at all!  I have to do a clean sweep of my crafting supplies and just can't get the motivation to do it...  Send me some good vibes to get me moving, would you??

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Hellcat13

Hellcat13

Posted
Posted

Hey Donna

Are you on anything else?  Or do you have to get off the effexor and be "clean" from it for 7 or so days before being allowed to take anything else?

If so, its probably just the depression kicking in again and sapping all your energy.  Or maybe a cold, or hayfever is coming on.  Or maybe even a bit of PMS can make you very tired and lethargic.

Anyhow, I am sending you good vibes and if I was there I would come and help you. ;)

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Ingenieur

Ingenieur

Posted
Posted

I've been on pretty much every SSRI out there so I am quite familiar with the "discontinuation syndrome".  Effexor was effective for quite some time, but in the end I found the side effects got to me (total, utter loss of libido) and my symptoms worsensed.  I think one of the pitfalls with effexor is that it has a VERY short half-life.  I'd start to get the electric shock sensations if I was late by a few hours in taking my daily dose.

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Hellcat13

Hellcat13

Posted
Posted

Well to be totally honest yes there are side effects with Effexor but since I have no bf or partner of anykind - I am happy with the loss of libido.  I dont get the electric shock thing either.  Ummm I get the sugar cravings but that is probably more due to the seroquel or zyprexa.

Anyhow, I have heard that the longer you are on Effexor the harder it is to come off it.  Anyhow, just keep posting and we will help where we can.

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  • 5 weeks later...
clumsycrawling

clumsycrawling

Posted
Posted

I was on Effexor 375 mg for 11 years and had fewer depressive episodes than ever -- maybe 3 or 4 in that entire time, whereas depressive episode was my normal state for 20 years before I started crazy meds. It pooped out last year but I took a one-month break from it, tried Lexapro, and decided to try Effexor again. This time I'm at 525 mg, well beyond the max recommended dose, but starting to feel the positive effects of it once again. Adjuncts: Dexedrine 10 mg, Abilify 15 mg, Lamictal 300 mg. Thank god I'm fairly hardy as far as side effects go -- not much bothers me.

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Dixie_Amazon

Dixie_Amazon

Posted
Posted

I don't know which discontinuation was worse Effexor or Paxil.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Try tapering off Paxil and start Effexor. I didn't know whether I was coming or going.

I Put helps me a bit but it really isn't valid since I have only been taking it a little over 2 weeks.

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