PatientsLikeMe : Venlafaxine Treatment Report

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What is Venlafaxine?

Venlafaxine is an antidepressant in a group of drugs called selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSNRIs). It affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause depression. It is used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety, and panic disorder.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Treat my mood condition(s)	246	57
Depression	135	50
Anxiety	48	16
Major Depressive Disorder	32	7
Other	17	1
Anxiety and frustration	4	3
Support another treatment	4	1
Bipolar Disorder	4	2
General health	2	0
Don't know	2	0
Obsessive compulsive disorder OCD	2	0
Symptoms of menopause	1	0
Depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety	1	0
Bipolar, mixed episodes	1	0
Panic Disorder	1	0
Peripheral Neuropathy	1	1
Anxiety and Depression	1	0
severe anxiety	1	0
Fibromyalgia	1	0
relieve depression	1	0
major derpession disorder	1	0
Irritability	1	0
Major Depressive Episode	1	1
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD	1	1
RAGE	1	0

See all 25 reasons taken ▼

See all 393 patients currently taking Venlafaxine

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	19	16%
Moderate	31	26%
Mild	39	33%
None	31	26%

Most commonly reported side effects

Agitation/restlessness	26	22%
Weight gain	25	21%
brain zaps	21	18%
Jittery feeling	20	17%
Drowsiness	18	15%
Suicidal thoughts	13	11%
Depression	11	9%
Nausea	10	8%
Sex drive (libido) decreased	9	8%
Teeth Chattering	8	7%
High blood pressure (Hypertension)	6	5%
Panic attacks	6	5%
Sexual dysfunction	6	5%
palpatations	4	3%
Constipation	4	3%
Vivid dreams	3	3%
Insomnia	3	3%
sweating	3	3%
withdrawal effects	2	2%
Hand tremor	2	2%
Loss of appetite	2	2%
tired	2	2%
Dizziness	2	2%
bruising in legs	2	2%
Blushing/Flushing/Overheating	2	2%
excessive sweating	2	2%
No Lows/Highs	1	1%
Temper tantrums	1	1%
awful withdrawal within 36 hours of last dose	1	1%
Shaking	1	1%
headache	1	1%
Withdrawal begins w/in 36 hours of last dose	1	1%
feeling hot	1	1%
dizziness/ "spinning"ness	1	1%
Decreased appetite	1	1%
Hearing voices	1	1%
Cluster Headaches	1	1%
Headaches and neck pain	1	1%
"Lucite Encased" Head	1	1%
sweating/hot flashes	1	1%
Flu-like symptoms	1	1%
heavy sweating	1	1%
hypomania	1	1%
hand tremors	1	1%
Weight loss	1	1%
Excessive Thirst	1	1%
Delayed Orgasm	1	1%
crying for no reason	1	1%
Sleep problems	1	1%
Shortness of breath	1	1%
No other negative side effects for me! YAY!	1	1%
Jaw clenching	1	1%
Sweats	1	1%
no power in legs	1	1%
sweating a lot (upper body); lower body didn't sweat at all	1	1%
Sleepiness	1	1%
night sweating	1	1%
Muscle Fatigue	1	1%
sensitivity to light	1	1%
Headaches	1	1%
Emotional numbness	1	1%
Loss of sex drive (libido)	1	1%
Itching skin	1	1%
increased sweating	1	1%
dry mouth	1	1%
severe tremors	1	1%
Excessive daytime sleepiness (somnolence)	1	1%
Psychosis	1	1%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 68 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

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

18.75 mg as needed	daily	37.5 mg daily	25 mg daily	37.5 mg daily	50 mg daily	75 mg daily	78 mg daily	100 mg daily	105 mg daily	110 mg daily	112.5 mg daily	150 mg daily	187.5 mg daily	200 mg daily	225 mg daily	275 mg daily	300 mg daily	337.5 mg daily	375 mg daily	450 mg daily	487.5 mg daily	900 mg daily
1	2	1	3	30	1	88	1	6	1	1	5	116	4	2	56	1	64	1	8	9	1	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Venlafaxine (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Side effects too severe	54	42%
Did not seem to work	43	33%
Doctor's advice	32	25%
Other	28	22%
Expense	11	9%
Personal research	6	5%
Course of treatment ended	6	5%
Not indicated	1	1%

See all 124 patients who’ve stopped taking Venlafaxine

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Venlafaxine

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
4	8	16	39	35	66

Stopped Taking Venlafaxine

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
16	25	12	19	19	35

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	97	81%
Usually	18	15%
Sometimes	1	1%
Never	4	3%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	14	12%
Somewhat	21	18%
A little	25	21%
Not at all	60	50%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	1	1%
$100-199	6	5%
$50-99	12	10%
$25-49	20	17%
< $25	45	38%

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

Patient Evaluations

See all 120 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

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

FlipFlop

Sex: F

Depression: 1

Emotional: 2

Compulsion: 1

Anxiety: 1

Mania: 0

Physical: 1

External Stress: Severe

32 F

Function: Moderate

Distress: Low

See profile
FlipFlop

since Nov 11, 2005
Efficacy Can't tell for Depression
Side Effects Severe
Advice/Tips Have a trusted friend or family member help you monitor yourself. See full evaluation

See all 120 patient evaluations

Forum

See 27 topics tagged with Effexor

See 2 topics tagged with Venlafaxine

There are 990 posts in our forum about Venlafaxine. Join now and see what people are saying.

Report created on November 20, 2009.

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Venlafaxine Treatment Report