Personal experiences with Effexor

[Teddy]

I've been in a deep depression for about a year, which has manifested itself in different ways. Most recently (last six or so weeks) it's been typical depression--loss of energy, deep feelings of sadness, guilt, worthlessness, blah blah blah, y'all know the drill.

My pdoc had taken me off Seroquel because it just wasn't working anymore--I was crazy and depressed and started me on Depakote and has gradually raised it over the last six weeks from 500mg to 1500 mg.

My depression continued to worsen (suicidal ideation, thoughts of hurting self and others, debilitating anxiety) so she put me on Wellbutrin, hoping it would pull me out of the shithole. On Friday I saw her and said the Wellbutrin gave me nervous energy so she said discontinue it because the last thing I needed was any more anxiety. So she started me on Effexor, which I took yesterday.

I remember taking Effexor maybe 15 years ago so I remember nothing of how it worked or how fast or what the side effects were. So I'd like to hear some personal experiences with it. I know what the PI sheet says the side effects are but what side effects have you experienced?

I could swear it started working immediately yesterday. Like, two hours after I took it, I just started feeling--better. Like the real me was climbing up over the false, negative, depressed me. However, it made me extremely sleepy and I felt, well, contented. My husband took the kids to see his parents and I laid in bed the whole time just letting my thoughts wander, just feeling really contented and not having any bad thoughts.

So either I'm experiencing major placebo effect or it's actually helping THAT fast.

What is your experience with this drug?

[Parapluie]

I personally found that Effexor didn't start working until I got to 300mg, which is where I am now. It initially made me sleepy at 75mg but I find the higher doses activating. I had anxiety and irritability as a side effect while titrating up, and sweating, but that all went away in about 2-3 weeks. It took the full 6 weeks before I started noticing a marked difference in my mood, but even then it was really small, like a little boost. It was adding Abilify that made the huge difference in my depression, more than Effexor did. Effexor is still working for me though, so I have no complaints. I enjoy the activation.

When I forget to take Effexor though, it's hell. I get withdrawal symptoms within a few hours of forgetting my dose. I get vibrations all over my body, like my organs are vibrating, I get a head ache and the world seems like it's spinning. I feel very off balance. So, don't forget to take it! Effexor is known for it's hellish withdrawal symptoms.

I hope it works for you!

[Antigone]

Effexor worked right away for me, too. It has that reputation, though they say the whole six week thing like with everything else.

Withdrawal is hell. If I miss my dose by only a few hours, I go into the horrible withdrawal symptoms. The brain zaps and dizziness are overwhelming. I am NOT looking forward to titrating off of this after my hysterectomy. But I NEED to get off so that I might be able some day to feel any kind of sexual desire for my husband again (plus, I might as well be cut off at the waist these days. NO FEELING DOWN THERE. Houston, we have a problem!).

[Teddy]

I hope I don't get the anxiety/irritability that you mentioned, Parapluie. That's what I'm trying to avoid; although I suppose 2-3 weeks isn't too bad. Saturday I'm supposed to go up to 150mg. I already feel a lot less anxious thought it's affecting my sleep, which is ironic when you consider that it makes me sleepy during the day. I keep waking up around midnight and then am up for one or two hours before I can go back to sleep, although I can go back to sleep, which is good.

I've been taking it at the same time every day, around 8-9 a.m. but thanks to the both of you for the heads up about not forgetting a dose.

I can feel the activating effects already but without the irritability/anxiety that the Wellbutrin caused. Fingers crossed this does the trick. After only four doses, I feel so much less depressed and anxious. My husband says he can live with the lack of libido.

[TOT]

I don't remember the dosages i was on with Effexor. When i first started it i had killer nausea and almost had to stop.

I didn't get any relief for quite a while. Then they upped my dose up a bit, and i felt amazing. Of course, i'm bipolar, so i went manic - but hey, i had the best summer of my life, LOL!

My boss has been on several meds, and just started on Effexor and said it's working better than anything else.

[vandeeje]

I didn't get any relief for quite a while. Then they upped my dose up a bit, and i felt amazing. Of course, i'm bipolar, so i went manic - but hey, i had the best summer of my life, LOL!

I am starting Effexor today and I am Schizoaffective so I'm on both sides of the fence about becoming manic. It would be a nice change from this shitty depression, but bad things tend to happen when I'm manic, even if I don't realize it at the time. I've had that happen before, when I start something new and become manic. Hoping for good results with Effexor.

[ArtlessAesthetic]

I was on Effexor for four months, most of that time at 225mg, and it did absolutely nothing for me. Well, nothing good - worsened my poor appetite, worsened my agitation, gave me tachycardia, worsened my insomnia, although come to think of it, they all started early too, so it may just be a fast-acting drug. I think the issue for me might've been the fact that my depression is usually agitated/melancholic, so an activating antidepressant may not have been a good choice for me - I tend to respond best to meds with a sedative effect. I've heard of it working miracles for plenty of folk though, and I hope it works for you!

[vandeeje]

I've been on the venlafaxine for a few days now, am having majorly diminish appetite (which I love after gaining weight on Seroquel, then Fanapt). I'm also having anxiety in the morning and through early afternoon, which is weird because I get kind of drowsy at night. I'm already taking 50mg of benadryl in the am and that's not really helping with the anxiety. I guess I will see what happens when I switch to the 75 mg. Maybe I'll call my pdoc on Monday and he will have an idea.

[Gearhead]

I took Effexor XR briefly in 2000. That was one weird drug...I was in really bad shape at the time, and Effexor made me feel almost high. Just docile, and drifty...and it made my pupils dilate. It's the only med my husband has ever asked me to stop taking. Apparently it made me so childlike he was afraid for my safety if he wasn't around to watch me.

I don't really remember it making me feel better, just sort of bovine.

[AnxietyGirl74]

I was on Effexot XR and it was wonderful. However, once Effexor went generic, my insurance would no longer pay for it, and switched me to generic Effexor. For some reason, it did not work for me at all.

[CrankyMe]

I was on Effexor in 2004 and as others have mentioned, the roller coaster of withdrawal is hell if you miss a dose. Seriously, whatever you do, do not skip or miss a dose. At the time, I was pretty bad at taking my meds regularly and often forgot to take them, so as you can imagine...NOT the drug for me. I honestly don't remember how well it worked on my depression because the side effects for me (which were my own fault, admittedly) were so overwhelming.

[ArtlessAesthetic]

Mhm, I used to take mine at dinner time, went out for a a pub dinner one night, lingered over the meal and ended up taking them 5 hours late. I was already having withdrawal symptoms! Holy short half life, Batman!

[TOT]

Oh yeah, being late with it was terrible. And yeah, made my pupils dilated, too.

[Chiaroscuro]

I was on Effexor XR (Venlafaxine)for at least 4 years and I found it fine. I switched to it from Aropax (Paroxetine Hydrochloride)because it "stopped working".

I'm unusual in that I can respond very well to base doses of medication, but not respond or function well on a higher does, depsite my weight. I was good at the 75mgs, but got quite unwell and unable to function properly on the 150mgs (nauseous, dizzy, lethargic), despite repeated attempts to trirate up to that dosage over the years, as recomended by my Pdoc.

After a few years, we both decided that the base dose of 75mgs was working for me. I too would notice the short half life if I forgot to take it & would feel quite sick if I was late taking my dose (I took it in the morning).

Now I'm on Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine) which is kinda a cousin to Effexor. Once again I find I do well at the base dose, but I do notice the same issue of withdrawl symptoms if I take it late or forget to take it.

So overall, I've found Effexor (or Pristiq) works for me, and fairly quickly too, though the short half life does suck.

Edited cause I can't type!

Edited September 24, 2012 by Chiaroscuro

[ilovemusic123]

Hi,

I take the generic kind....300mg helps my OCD and GAD

Mhm, I used to take mine at dinner time, went out for a a pub dinner one night, lingered over the meal and ended up taking them 5 hours late. I was already having withdrawal symptoms! Holy short half life, Batman!

Damn that sounds crazy

[ArtlessAesthetic]

I think it's just because I took the whole dose at one time rather splitting it. I mean, it might well have helped to split the dose, but I take a lot of meds for physical stuff too, and I have a rubbish memory, so I'm more likely to remember if they all get shoved in my gub at the same time.

[kaflyboy]

I'm currently on Effexor ;generic) and lamotrigine. I'm 75 Effexor and 400 lomotrigine. I had a really bad pharmacy screw up. They gave me Effexor (generic) but not the xr (extended release). It made me so tired I couldn't function. Make sure you're on the xr if so prescribed.

I'm having to adjust my meds and it sucks. I have a whole thread on it if you would like to read. It discusses me cycling up on Effexor coming off pristiq. It's one helluva ride.

[Derek]

Effexor has saved my life, I'd like to maybe one day drop the dose down from 300mg XR, but every time I try to come off them, I just relapse.

[Teddy]

I've been on it for two weeks now and all of a sudden yesterday I was better. Literally, Saturday I was still deeply depressed and yesterday I wasn't. And today I wasn't. But last night I couldn't sleep.

It's too early to worry about mania and quite frankly, I'm feeling pretty sleepy and would love to take a nap but kid #1 is home with me.

I have agitated manias and agitated depressions; this was the first depression I've had in a long time where I was just "typically" depressed. I actually called my pdoc on Friday and asked if I could raise the Effexor and she said nope, too early. I'm glad she knows what she's doing because I'm afraid raising it is not in store for me, considering that lack of sleep always leads to mania for me.

The biggest problem, and it's not the Effexor's fault necessarily, is that I am completely unfocused and dopey. It's probably the Depakote. I remember how everyone said how stupid Topamax made you when it came out and I was on it and it DID make me stupid so maybe Depakote has the same effect but I do feel a bit "bovine" as someone said (sorry; I can't find the exact quote).

Since I've had my kids, the flavor of my BP has totally changed. I used to have manias and depressions, pretty typical, and rapid cycling. Now I just have agitated depressions and mixed manias (dysphoric manias) which basically means I want to kill myself when I'm depressed and want to kill everyone else when I'm manic. It's kind of nice to feel so dopey but I'm having a hard time getting things done or feeling like things that I used to think are important are important (like vacuuming).

Also the sleeping issue bothers me. I just haven't slept well since I started taking it but I hate to switch to something else. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for everyone's input. Since having kids, finding the right meds to keep me stable has been a CONSTANT challenge. To top it off, I have ADHD and am not being treated for that, at my own request, because I am trying to get and stay stable.

blargedy blarg...I feel like nothing I've said has made sense.

Edited to add: I just re-read it and it does make sense so disregard the above statement.

Edited October 1, 2012 by Teddy

[San]

I found it threw me in the opposite direction, straight into mania. I was taking 300mg a day. I started coming off of it (actually, not terrible) and the mania lessened. I am BP1 though, so this may not happen. I have mixed feelings about it. It did help with depression.

[Teddy]

I found it threw me in the opposite direction, straight into mania. I was taking 300mg a day. I started coming off of it (actually, not terrible) and the mania lessened. I am BP1 though, so this may not happen. I have mixed feelings about it. It did help with depression.

I am really beginning to worry about mania. I'm not sleeping well, first of all. My thoughts are racing, although last night I told myself (as I was laying in bed not sleeping) that my thoughts always race. Also, I took my morning meds a little late today, about an hour ago, and all of a sudden my heart is pounding. It didn't happen gradually. It was literally, all at once I felt kind of sleepy and was cruising crazyboards and thinking maybe I'd take a nap and all of a sudden, I feel like I'm going to freak out. Like my whole body feels like it's buzzing.

I'm only on 150mg. I've been worried about anti-depressants and stimulants for awhile now because while is used to be that I was more depressive than manic, since I've had kids, I'm more manic than depressive and it's not the fun kind of manic. It's the evil, raging, everyone else is a fucking idiot kind of mania.

I feel like I'm going to explode out of my body, like the ticking of the clock is too loud, like I can hear the blood in my veins and the typing of the keyboard is SO LOUD.

Okay, I am going to pop some klonipin and call my pdoc. This isn't good.

Am I overreacting? Mania is the scariest thing in the world to me. I have babies; they're not babies but I have children; you'll know if you've read my signature and when I'm manic I am a destructive force in their lives. I don't want to overreact but I am terrified of mania. Terrified.

[rowan77]

Effexor was a great Anti-depressant when I got to 300mg, unfortunately at that dose for a couple of days I became really manic. I don't think you are over-reacting at all....Mania is scarey and destructive so it is a very good idea to ring your pdoc.....hope the klonipin helps....

[Lurksalot]

37mg XR Effexor kicked it in under an hour, and I had forgot that I'd taken it. Accidental discontinuation at 150mg couple years later, after a surgery, masked by IV painkillers. Got home 8 days later and went through the roof! Manic, jabbering, no need to sleep. (Not unpleasant.) I had no idea, like through the looking glass. Bad adventures followed. So do beware. It got expensive!