My experience with Effexor

Hi there,

I was diagnosed with major depression and (relentless) anxiety about 8 years ago. My psychiatrist put me on Effexor and a benzo (I think at the time it was klonopin). My experience with Effexor was not good. For the first two weeks, I became hyper-anxious and paranoid, and my benzo dose was increased to counteract. Once I 'settled in' to the Effexor, I would say it was 'effective' at settling my depression but at a great cost. I became narcoleptic and I gained a tremendous amount of weight in a very short time (from a health 180 pounds to 218 pounds in about 8 months.) Due to the side effects of weight gain and wanting to sleep ALL the time, I stopped. I believe I stopped cold turkey; I just didn't want to deal with it anymore and I wanted it out of my system. I have remained on a low-dose benzo regime since then which still works for me despite lots of reports that benzos become ineffective after time.

My psychiatrist no longer prescribes Effexor to any patients because of the many reports of unwelcome side effects.

Your experience may vary to mine (and I hope it does!) Effexor must be effective in some people as it's still in the top ten of prescribed drugs for depression.

Good luck!

[cj29]

I am glad that you are doing ok now.  I know a few people who have liked Effexor and a few that have not liked it one bit.  Medications effect us all differently; what is good for one may not be good for another.  How is your anxiety now?  Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

[Brenndy]

Psychiatrists from all over the world have coined the catch phrase "Side-Effexor" aka Effexor because of the MANY deleterious side effects of this drug.  

It's up near the top of the drug chain, but then again, look who you're wheeling and dealing with; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.  Any idea how much their total networth is?  And then there is the political wheeling and dealing.....I mean, come on people.  We are poisoning our bodies with this synthetic crapola.  Enough already.

IMO, if you don't have to go on this, don't.

[Paxiled]

Hey, they've just reinvented it.  It's now called Pristiq.  More patentable years. yay!