In my personal experience, I hated effexor. For me it did lift my mood quite a bit and helped with my depression but it came at the price of crippling nausea and dizziness.

With almost all anti depressants, they normally take 1 to 2 weeks to work fully. Also, most have side affects that also last about as long as they take to start working. I would give it a little time but don't get yourself thinking about it too much or you will put yourself into a full blown panic attack! You don't need that stress sweety!!! Big Hugs

I took Effexor until getting pregnant recently. It has worked really well for me. Like grammybear said all of this type of drug takes a few weeks to kick in and try not to worry about the side effects. Best of luck to you.

The below is not medical advice, just like to help when I can.

Ive tried 9 anti depressants. Well actually 11 if you count TCAs

Every SSRI increased my anxiety and did not touch my depression. I had horrible side effects far worse than effexor and when withdrawing the same brain zaps I get on every AD.

Im now on my second go at effexor. My first time I came out of depression and got back to work for 4 months. But then I got physically injured. That time I was on 150mg.

This time Im on 75mg and whilst its not had the same pronounced effect, its eliminated OCD and lowered my hyper vigilance from PTSD. Its hard to say about depression as I get that from so many sources I dont think at the moment it would be easy for any drug to help until Ive resolved a lot of physical issues.

Yes when I withdrew cold turkey last time I had brain zaps and the flu, for 4 days or so, but nothing as bad as I did on zoloft or escitalopram.

I also get tinnitus with it, but it is there some days and others not. And on higher doses I found it made me sweat, but that was during summer.

Personally Ill not bother with any other anti depressants unless something miraculous comes on the market.

Keep in mind neurotransmitters are part of a chemical process for transferring eletricity. I assume thats what the zaps are. I get them from my head to my fingers and to be honest I enjoy them, but most people hate it. Its kind euphoric but at first scary. Thats just my experience.

Just keep in mind you might have a horrid experience just like some dont on the drugs that I did. Until you try, you will never know.

Oh one thing, its supposedly faster acting, and I found that to be true. I felt change in days and real change in 2 weeks. most 4 weeks.

Just be careful keep eye out for serious side effects especially suicidal ideation etc. The same stuff they warn you about on all anti depressants. And take it slow. I didnt feel any side effects on the 37.5mg doses. 75mg just slightly and now tinnitus occasionally, but thats not with everyone.

They started me at 225mg...Im just really scared about going through what paxil did to me. I just want to be level headed enough to return to work. Its going on 3 months. Thanks for your feed back I will let you know in 4 weeks then how Ive faired on the Effexor. Fingers crossed.

I was in a mental health facility when my Dr changed my meds to Effexor. The reaction was immediate. I was hallucinating, hearing a marching band in my head, I could not figure out whether my children were real or just a dream. It was very scary. If you are not having immediate problems right now, I would give it some time. You know your body best, listen to it.

I would taper to that dose? I guess im not a doctor.

But at that dose it becomes an SNRI. Below 150mg I believe it just hits serotonin.

Some people think its a terrible drug but go to drugs.com and read the reviews. Very few people post good about things like ADs as well.

Also crazy meds reckons its one of the few that has a chance to pull you out of a deep depression.

So give it a try, just be careful with side effects.

My Dr gives me very small amounts of benzos when trying ADs because he knows i have a very sensitive CNS. but im not recommending them.

Ive been off work 5 years now, well actually 2 years ago, good diet, exercise and effexor got me back to work for 4 months, but I stopped taking it because I stupidly read the negative reviews and ignored the positive ones.

Only you can know what is best for you though. I wish you luck

It really is a different experience for everyone. Personally, Effexor is the only antidepressant that really seems to help me. I'm also on Lamictal to keep me from hitting the super lows. If I miss a dose, I do get the buzzy head and hate it. If I don't eat before I take it I feel queasy, but with food I'm fine. I'm on 225 mg. My friend is on the same dose for PTSD and anxiety as well as depression. It helps him a lot, and it doesn't seem to bother him if he takes it on an empty stomach. Give it time but don't overthink it. Gramybear's right, we don't want you having a panic attack.

Im upping my dose. Ive never been above 150mg because Im worried about norpinephrine, but we considering adding buproprion for the dopamine effect.

i like the brain wave thing, zaps etc. maybe thats just the addict in me. to me it feels like a shock of euphoria. sure its disconcerting at first. haha.

I've taken various doses of Effexor XR over the last several years, I've had no trouble with it. I too was on Paxil, that didn't go well. I'm bipolar/schizoaffective, so it sent me into a manic phase, never really had that problem with Effexor, except while on 300mg for about 3 months--was having trouble w/ manic episodes turning into states of agitation. Have been back on 225mg for 1 month, things are much better now.

I had ran the gamut of meds and then was finally put on Effexor and got to the right dosage and it saved my life.i have been on it for likely 18 years. give it a chance, if you do have side effects try and let it ride during the adjustment period or your dr. may lower the dose to start off. for me it has been a wonder drug.

nice one ann. could i ask what dose you got too?

is anyone in the above 150mg doses getting sweaty as a side effect?

it only bothered me in summer.

Ive noticed the sweats but only on my head and so much that my hair is actually wet. I guess its a small price to pay if in fact Effexor works. Im also glad to hear so many positive results...thanks everyone!!!

yeah its a really common side effect.

i use to go to work in a tie and my dress shirt would be saturated.

so i started wearing dark shirts :-)

but i was walking 1.5km from my car park to work in middle of summer.

i upped my dose today, a 75 and 37.5, plan to go to 150. will settle there and then decide about going into the norpinephrine side of things or talking to doc about trying to target dopamine more which i think is more my problem than Adrenalin action.