Effexor

I just started effexor or 1 1/2 weeks ago. I find it has helped decrease the severity and number of my hot flashes (I also had total hysterectomy in June) I have been fuzzy headed, but have not cried every day like I used to. I'm waiting to see how well it helps. I'm reserving judgment for now.

I've been on Effexor since Jan and now take a 37.5 dose. No major SE and I think it's helping my depression following dx tremendousl

I have taken effexor for over 16 years for depression. It has been a life saver for me. It does have withdrawal side effects, so you have to be very slow with dose reduction, but it does not last long. I have only had a few brain zaps. Did not even relate that to effexor. I was blaming chemo for that lovely little new side effect. Infrequent. Don't forget that decreasing your stress is an important part of treatment. I have found effexor to be life changing over the years. Hope this helps. kelly

I have been on Effexor for three and a half years. I have moved between doses 37 to 75 to 37 to off and back on it after a couple months because it really evens me out. After my ooph last year I went back up to 75. I have not had any trouble weaning from it. I take out five extra tiny beads every five days until I'm at the dose I want. I think I am a nicer person to be around when I'm on it. I really like it. I do keep extra pills in my purse in case I leave the house and forget my meds. I get a tad dizzy if I am a few hours late taking it. That is the only thing I dislike about it, but will manage until I'm done with tamoxifen.

After beating postpartum depression and weaning off Desyrel, after 10 yrs. I’d heard that the SSRI Prozac was being used off-label for weight loss. My PCP was all in favor of prescribing it (she laughed when I told her I was depressed about my weight). It evened my mood, but didn’t control my appetite. So she switched me to the then-new Redux (which was a mirror-image molecule of the “fen” component of fen-phen without the latter’s stimulant effect), which also acted like an SSRI. Loved it, lost >20 lbs because it easily let me exercise both quantitative (appetite) and qualitative (food choices) disciplin. Then I was hit by a car, and while I was in the hospital word came down that it was being recalled due to it causing heart valve hypertrophy (which an echo proved I didn’t develop). To be safe, I was switched to Effexor, which I couldn’t tolerate--it did nothing for my depression (hey, if you were suddenly confined to a wheelchair and non-weightbearing for 10 weeks indoors, in a house with stairs, in the midst of a brutal winter, you’d be depressed too even if you weren’t already); and was so unpleasant I soon understood why it was nicknamed “side-Effexor.” I was then switched to Wellbutrin (an NDRI), which I am still on 20 yrs. later. It helps somewhat with carb cravings, but mostly keeps the demons at bay transparently. When I first found out my tumor was ER+, I thought, “oh no--tamoxifen means I can’t take Wellbutrin.” My shrink said he could try Cymbalta or Pristiq, but I should first see what my MO was going to prescribe. Turns out she put me on an AI, for which Wellbutrin is not contraindicated.

BTW, Pristiq (desvenlafaxine) is the mirror-molecule version of Effexor (venlafaxine). Both are SNRIs. Pristiq has the fortuitous side effect of lessening hot flashes, so is often prescribed (until recently, off-label) for that.

I sometimes get those “brain-zaps” (and have for >15 yrs) but only when I either have sinus congestion, pull an all-nighter, or get up before I’ve gotten sufficient sleep. I’ve been assured it has nothing to do with my meds.