PatientsLikeMe : Effexor XR (venlafaxine) Treatment Report

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What is Effexor XR?

Effexor® XR is a brand name for the extended release preparation of the drug venlaflaxine, a prescription medicine used to treat depression, generalized anxiety disorder (also called "GAD"), and social anxiety disorder in adults. Read more...

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Depression	295	67
Treat my mood condition(s)	176	40
Anxiety	75	19
Other	39	5
Major Depressive Disorder	31	6
Fibromyalgia	31	6
Mood swings	10	2
Nerve pain (neuropathic pain)	6	1
Fatigue	5	4
Emotional lability	5	0
psychotic symptoms mostly, anxiety depression a whole tons of fear	5	0
Support another treatment	5	1
Hot flashes	4	0
disease-related symptoms	4	0
Don't know	3	0
Pain	2	1
General health	2	0
Treat Parkinson's	2	0
Obsessive compulsive disorder OCD	2	0
Symptoms of menopause	1	0
Stress	1	0
Migraine Headaches	1	1
Depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety	1	0
Headaches	1	0
Bipolar, mixed episodes	1	0
Attention Deficit Hyperactivty Disorder ADHD/ADD	1	0
Depression, Anxiety, Mood Swings, Fatigue and Emotional Liability	1	0
chronic pain	1	0
Anxiety and Depression	1	0
severe anxiety	1	0
physican states it helps the effects of the lyrica	1	0
Improve cognition	1	0
Anxiety and mood swings, it's amasing how well effexor is working for me!!!	1	0
Bipolar Disorder	1	1
relieve depression	1	0
low energy	1	1
major derpession disorder	1	0
Mild depression	1	0
Major Depressive Episode	1	1
Sleeplessness	1	0
RAGE	1	0
Insomnia	1	0

See all 42 reasons taken ▼

See all 574 patients currently taking Effexor XR

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	15	11%
Moderate	32	24%
Mild	40	31%
None	44	34%

Most commonly reported side effects

Weight gain	40	31%
Agitation/restlessness	22	17%
Drowsiness	22	17%
Jittery feeling	20	15%
brain zaps	18	14%
Depression	13	10%
Suicidal thoughts	12	9%
Panic attacks	11	8%
High blood pressure (Hypertension)	10	8%
Teeth Chattering	9	7%
Sexual dysfunction	7	5%
Nausea	4	3%
Constipation	4	3%
Sex drive (libido) decreased	4	3%
Vivid dreams	3	2%
sweating	3	2%
Decreased appetite	2	2%
Headaches	2	2%
dry mouth	2	2%
withdrawal effects	2	2%
increased sweating	2	2%
excessive sweating	2	2%
feeling hot	1	1%
Sleep problems	1	1%
Low blood pressure (hypotension)	1	1%
"Lucite Encased" Head	1	1%
awful withdrawal within 36 hours of last dose	1	1%
No other negative side effects for me! YAY!	1	1%
Jaw clenching	1	1%
sensitivity to light	1	1%
hand tremors	1	1%
crying for no reason	1	1%
Dizziness	1	1%
Delayed Orgasm	1	1%
Psychosis	1	1%
Emotional numbness	1	1%
Itching skin	1	1%
Excessive Thirst	1	1%
Fainted / Blacked out	1	1%
Headaches and neck pain	1	1%
severe tremors	1	1%
Loss of sex drive (libido)	1	1%
sweating a lot (upper body); lower body didn't sweat at all	1	1%
Ejaculation delayed	1	1%
Insomnia	1	1%
Flu-like symptoms	1	1%
Withdrawal begins w/in 36 hours of last dose	1	1%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 47 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Effexor XR. See all 23 dosages ►

daily	1 mg daily	37 mg daily	37.5 mg daily	75 mcg daily	75 mg daily	100 mg daily	105 mg daily	112.5 mg daily	125 mg daily	150 mg daily	175 mg daily	185.5 mg daily	187 mg daily	187.5 mg daily	200 mg daily	225 mg daily	250 mg daily	300 mg daily	375 mg daily	450 mg daily	487.5 mg daily	900 mg daily
8	1	1	54	1	132	2	1	6	1	199	1	1	1	3	1	72	1	83	8	8	1	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Effexor XR (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Side effects too severe	49	36%
Did not seem to work	44	33%
Doctor's advice	33	24%
Other	27	20%
Expense	17	13%
Personal research	6	4%
Not indicated	3	2%
Course of treatment ended	1	1%

See all 131 patients who’ve stopped taking Effexor XR

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Effexor XR

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
2	9	18	48	59	146

Stopped Taking Effexor XR

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
12	19	13	19	21	46

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	108	82%
Usually	20	15%
Sometimes	0	0%
Never	3	2%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	11	8%
Somewhat	15	11%
A little	28	21%
Not at all	77	59%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	1	1%
$100-199	4	3%
$50-99	17	13%
$25-49	28	21%
< $25	38	29%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 131 patient evaluations

mountabora

Sex: F

Depression: 1

Emotional: 2

Compulsion: 0

Anxiety: 1

Mania: 1

Physical: 0

External Stress: Moderate

25 F

Function: Moderate

Distress: Low

See profile
mountabora

75 mg daily

since May 19, 2002
Efficacy None for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects Severe
See full evaluation

jmscout

Sex: F

Sensation: None

Overall: Mild

Cognition: moderate

Vision: none

Speech: none

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate

See profile
jmscout

daily

since Aug 22, 2008
Efficacy Major for Depression
Side Effects None
See full evaluation

skater

Sex: F

Depression: 1

Emotional: 1

Compulsion: 0

Anxiety: 0

Mania: 0

Physical: 0

External Stress: None

35 F

Function: High

Distress: Low

See profile
skater

37.5 mg daily

since Aug 23, 2008
Efficacy Major for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects Mild
See full evaluation