Effexor: Does anyone have good things to say about this drug?
Question:
All the stories I've heard sound like Effexor makes peoples' lives living hell.
Does anyone have anything good to say about Effexor? Did it help you? How did it make you feel? Tell your story here!
Answers:
I was on effexor for 3 years and I had the same reaction as all the medications. No positive only some side effects.
I was on Effexor XR for 4 or so years.
The pros were:
It worked, when three other antidepressants didn't.
The cons were:
- If I missed a dose by even an hour, I would have horrible headaches and wooshing feelings in my head that would make me want to crawl into a corner crying.
- Lowering the dose also gave me these problems.
After a lot of support, headache medicine, Omega-3s and a couple weeks off from work, I was able to get off the medication, but it wasn't happy.
I started taking Zoloft and it worked just as well, and I was so happy to no longer have the side effects.
Please don't take this medicine if you have any other choices. If you are desperate, it is better than having major depression, but many aspects of this drug will make a large percentage of people quite miserable.
Effexor is a drug people love to hate. The withdrawal is hell. The side effects tend to be worse than SSRI's. But reading the Internet is not a good place to to get info from people. Over 12 million people have taken Effexor. There are horror stories. But there are millions of very good stories.
Without Effexor my girlfriend would be dead. It has saved her life from depression. Very few side effects for her. Each drug effects each person differently. You will never know until you try.
I have been on a Low Dose of Effexor XR for over a year now. I have had nothing but Positive Results- I would Reccomend it to anyone.
I have been on other Antidepressants over the past 10 years - first Prozac-for a year and a half and then Paxil for 2 years with both of them it was all negative impact - I didn't feel I was myself with the prozac(erratic behavior) and the Paxil made me Numb to everything just did not care about a thing- It also caused quite a drastic weight gain.
So, I would definatly reccomend you give the Effexor a try- it has worked well for me.
I took Effexor a few years back. It helped my anxiety-- and I felt pretty good. The one thing that I remember that I didn't like is the "jumpiness". It would make me jittery.
I too am in effexor I am supposed to take 3 pills at 150Mg's but since my doctor has not been listening to me I've been doing that bad thing and that is adjusting it myself. BY THE WAY DON'T EVER DO THAT let your Doctor adjust doses.
I have been on it for almost 6 years and at first it helped me. But now I want off of it and try something else. I think I have come immune to it and its not helping me. The side effects do different things to different people and it is wise to follow instructions to the letter. The whooshing feeling is nasty and I have lost my lunch over it too but that's because I have the worst time remembering to take it so there for I think that's another reason its not helping me.
If your concerned about taking this medication TALK TO YOUR doctor and tell them they might try something else or keep you at a low does. My doctor wants me on 4 pills at 150Mg's. but I don't want that. Its telling me I need to try something else.
My wife was on this for three years. It worked to reduce her anxiety and anger. For much of the time we had no insurance and it was quite expensive. Sometimes we'd have to buy it one or two Weeks at a time, but it worked well. However, if she missed a dose by even four hours...she had incredible, migraine like head aches. This is a drug you just can't stop taking cold turkey...even your practitioner will tell you this. Also, my wife would be the first to say she gained ALOT of weight while on it.
She is currently taking Lexapro and we both feel it is working better for her than the Effexor.
She also had a stint with Welbutrin but that was ineffective for her.
I took Effexor for 5 years. It was very effective for me and I had few problems.
Missing a dose can cause some weird symptoms. Also, withdrawal is not pleasant. I sometimes feel like I could benefit from resuming treatment with it but won't because I don't want to go through the withdrawal again.
I've been on so many of these things that I can't remember what each one did.
I think Effexor was the one which caused major fatigue, sleeping 4 hours mid day.
Effexor, Zoloft, Remeron, now on Welbutrin which works well compared to the others.
this is a great drug when taken properly and it works with the serotonin in your brain they also have this drug in a extened release meaning it will work longer and you take less ...kara
Sorry to say I don't have a good thing to say about it, but I felt like sharing my experience.
I had depression for years, but only about a year ago did I go for medication. My doctor was not there, but the nurse practitioner gave me effexor. After a few days it began to work, every few hours I would feel an absolute euphoric feeling that made me incredibly happy(I was on the lowest dose from a starter sample pack.) Eventually, I moved up to the "standard" low dose. Within 2 days I had terrible chest pains that affect the entire left side of my body. I thought I was going to have a heart attack and even went to the emergency room, but they could find nothing wrong with me. I'm 22 and in well physical health, but these pains were that bad.
Returning to my doctor, he was angry with his practitioner; as he said "Effexor is something we give to people in the deep darkest abyss that they can't get out of." It's the STRONGEST for the SADDEST people. He gave me a prescription for a low dose of Zoloft, and within 3 weeks I was happy everyday and have been ever since.
I've read from people who thanked Effexor for saving their life when it seemed nothing else can, so obviously it's good to have it available for those truly in need. If you have mild depression, go with something else first. Effexor is the "last line of treatment."
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