New meds... anyone here ever taken this stuff?
 

My medication is being changed from fluoxetine (Prozac) to venlafaxine (Efexor), because Prozac didn't work for me, even at the maximum dosage, and because I was taking such a high dosage the side-effects were starting to build up and it made me more and more drowsy every day.

At the moment I'm being weaned off Prozac, and I'll be taking Efexor for the first time in about a week and a half, and I was just wondering if anyone here has ever taken it, and if so, what were your experiences with it? Did it work, how did it work, were there any side-effects etc?

Hi,
I've been on venlafaxine before and from memory didnt have too bad side effects (was awhile ago so don't remember everything) but I do remember that it helped with my moods, it made me brighter and more alert. I used to take it at about 5pm when things used to start getting worse and it helped me somewhat through that difficult time in the evening.
You do get quite a few side effects when you stop, it varies for everyone it wasnt too bad for me but it can knock you around a bit.
Good luck with it I hope it helps
xx

I'm currently on this but am just starting to taper the dose so that I can come off it. I didn't have any problems with side effects when I started it or increased it, however, I have tried stopping it myself cold turkey and it was awful. My psych though it was amusing that I would try once to stop cold turkey and then not learn my lesson and try again as apparently side effects from stopping are quite common. So tonight, I am starting my taper programme, which only takes a couple of weeks but will hopefully ease/prevent the side effects. Sorry, you probably want to know more about being on it than coming off it. I'm coming off it though through my own choice as I don't think I have benefitted from it despite being on it for 8 months.

You should try it and see how it works for you. If it doesn't work, you can always ask to try something else. I know that GPs often see Venlafaxine/effexor as a last resort but there are other ADs (and other drugs) that can be tried and just because one SSRI (in your case Prozac) hasn't been effective as hoped, doesn't necessarily mean another wont be.

Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble. If you have any questions, please pm me or post a reply.

I have taken it, but it didn't work for me. But I did have withdrawal symptoms when coming off it, was ill and then ended up in the mental hospital. That's all I got. I hope it works for you! :)

I've never been on it personally, but I've known several people who have been on it. It seems that people either hate it or love it. For the people who loved it they thought it was the best medication ever, and nothing had ever worked as well. For the people who loved it, it usually didn't work and gave them lots of side effects.

I say give it a shot and see how it works, it may really help you.

Its different for everybody
It might work great for you

but personally, I got insomnia and terrible realistic nightmares on this drug
and it didn't help the depression at all

I was on prozac and then on this drug
now I'm on Mirtazapine, which I found to be great

xxxxxxxxxx

I've been on it (amongst every other anti-depressant so it seems, heh) and it just didn't work for me, at all.

As the others have said - it may, or may not work for you, and some people may get side effects, some people won't.
It's a chance you have to take with any medication really.

It's a relatively "new" medication, the new ones tend to come with less side effects, so it's possible you may not get any problems at all.

Goodluck with it :)
x

Different medications effect everyone differently. I've been on venlafaxine and it did nothing. Not even any side effects. It was as if I was taking nothing at all. But I've been on prozac and it worked great. So yeah, different people different effects. So who knows? All you can do is try it and see what happens.

this was the first anti-depressant i was on and it worked very well and hardly had any side effects but after a couple years it stopped working so i went off it and got some withdrawal from it

Never been on it, but I know from a lot of people that it's bad for withdrawing from (makes you feel quite ill).

i just started taking it last week. not had any side effects yet, but it isn't really soon enough to tell if it is aany help either. hopefully it will be. i am taking it as a combination, with other stuff, so i dunno if that makes any difference to how it reacts and stuff.

I'm on it at the moment and find it works quite well, i've never come off it cold turkey so can't tell you about that but i havent found there to be any side effects for me :)

I was on it but only for a month before my psyc changed it. It was ok for me, i did have some side effects like enhanced suicidal tendencies and sh but that was it really and i didnt have too many problems coming off of it at all. Good luck, im sure it'll be ok and remember everyone is different

It didn't work for me, mainly because I need/ed a sedating anti-depressant, and it just didn't agree with my brain chemistry, really.

It's best to try it and see. :)

it worked for me for a couple of months but then my SI started to increase so i came off it cold turkey which was a terrible idea. i've heard it works wonderfully for some though.

My dad had a good experience with Efexor but if he didn't forgot to take it or took it a little off time, he felt awful. He eventually switched.

Effexor didn't work for me, to put it politely...(to be more blunt: it made me crazier than I ever was before on it)

Marte

yeh ive been on a moderate dose, but it was giving me headaches for 6 weeks and actually made me noticably worse! Was just the wrong med for me. Sorry i can't be of any help, Em