Anyone else been on Effexor (venlafaxine)?

[DillJenkins]

I was prescribed this today and I would like to hear other people opinions of it.

I have tried and failed to respond to 4 SSRI's, Wellbutrin, Seroquel, and probly some others. So hopefully this works.

Also I am amazed at the cost, it is like 100$ for a months supply. This is nuts!!!!lol This stuff better work if I am shelling out that kind of money.

I was prescribed the XR version and perhaps IR is cheaper. I dont really know.

 

[Noca]

You dont want IR Effexor, its half-life is SOO short youll be going through withdrawals every damn day.

 

[SammyT]

Venlafaxine worked well for me ONLY during dose changes. I don't know why! Once the dose was stabalised I had no energy /no drive and little pleasure in doing things. I would recommend to see how it works for you. Make sure you see SOME improvement before increasing the dose, otherwise i'd try something else.

I discontinued Venlafaxine and started Ritalin. It turns out I had undiagnosed ADHD which wasn't being helped by SSNRIs - in fact they made that side of things worse.
The withdrawal of Venlafaxine wasn't too bad for me. I had help with Diazepam to come off. Also, starting the ritalin helped my motivation during the withdrawals.

Could be a similar situation for you, if you aren't responding well to anti depressants?
What's your diagnosis?

 

[DillJenkins]

Venlafaxine worked well for me ONLY during dose changes. I don't know why! Once the dose was stabalised I had no energy /no drive and little pleasure in doing things. I would recommend to see how it works for you. Make sure you see SOME improvement before increasing the dose, otherwise i'd try something else.

I discontinued Venlafaxine and started Ritalin. It turns out I had undiagnosed ADHD which wasn't being helped by SSNRIs - in fact they made that side of things worse.
The withdrawal of Venlafaxine wasn't too bad for me. I had help with Diazepam to come off. Also, starting the ritalin helped my motivation during the withdrawals.

Could be a similar situation for you, if you aren't responding well to anti depressants?
What's your diagnosis?

Officially I have SA, agoraphobia, panic disorder, and OCPD. The social anxiety causes all the other problems. If I can fix social anxiety, I will fix the others.

The effexor made me much worse and I was only on it for aboot 2.5 weeks. I am trying out Remeron now.

I am not sure if I have ADHD. I have always done well in school. I do process information slower than most people however. Like in school I would always be the last person to finish the test. Also, for math classes I had much difficulty in finishing the test on time and would often have to finish the test after class. The teacher would give me extra time to finish but I always did really well on the tests.

I have heard that stimulant have helped a lot of people with SA. Its possible I have that inattentive ADHD.

I have read aboot SCT... Sluggish cognitive tempo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It basically describes me somewhat...especially with processing info slower.

 

[Cynic]

I was on it for 5 years. It didn't really do anything for me, though I became dependent on it to stay normal...