Has anyone taken Effexor for anxiety?

[Purple34]

Hey guys... has anyone ever tried Effexor for anxiety? My psychiatrist prescribed me it today and I’m a lil hesitant on taking it.

[wassie17]

I am on 300mg of Effexor. All I know is it is prescribed for me just for the depression. I do have Gad.

I get on with it, but I know others that state this is an horrendous drug. (Apparently hard to come off), again I never had any problems before weaning off it.

I take pregablin for Fibromyalgia but it is also helpful with anxiety.

I hope this helps

Sending hugs xxx

[Purple34 in reply to wassie17]

Thanks! For some reason I had mistaken it for lexapro which I heard good things about .. I got it filled and was like ok different drug than I thought.. I really don’t like the trial and error process so I usually don’t switch medications but I know there’s something out there that can help with my anxiety so I’m going to try it out for a month

[Believeinyourself123 in reply to Purple34]

It works for me but just don't miss a dose or two.

[Believeinyourself123 in reply to wassie17]

I heard it too that it's really hard to wean off of.

[Believeinyourself123]

I take it for both A and D. Along with Rexulti. Don't miss a dose I get horrible withdraws. Just a tip

[Benny3221]

I have it made my symptoms worst everyone’s diffrent though so give it a shot. Effexor made me feel like I was a robot with no emotions and that freaked me out. I couldn’t tell if I was actually alive or if it was just a dream. I mean I knew I was there, but at the same time I felt like I was in a dreamy state if that makes any sense. The worst part is that if you do come off of it it can worsen the symptoms too at least for me it did. Effexor is also one of those meds where if you do decide to taper off from it you have to slowly and gradually wean off of it because doing so suddenly can cause severe consequences. Another thing I had that sucked was feeling like I had heavy rocks stuck in my calves and in my head also. Like a block or something. Anyways don’t let that scare you because Effexor might benefit you who knows we all react differently to meds. Best of luck!

[Purple34 in reply to Benny3221]

You’re experience sounded awful! I’ve had some pretty shitty experiences on a few meds... I’m going to try it out though.. so do u think if I’m on it only for a month that I’d still have to taper off very slowly? I told my friends and family to let me know if they see a difference in me whether it’s good or bad!

[Benny3221 in reply to Purple34]

Yea Effexor is a strong med. I’m no doctor, but if I’m being honest I wouldn’t just quit cold turkey especially with Effexor. Lol I had the same thing too! I told my family to keep an eye out for me because from previous experiences with meds it made me severely suicidal. If you decide to quit Effexor please do it the right way or you’ll end up with a new nasty symptom that can be chronic like me. I said screw it went cold turkey on Effexor and now the anxiety in my legs is always constant whereas before I took them I was able to relieve the anxiety.

[Purple34 in reply to Benny3221]

Ok I’ll be careful... I did the same with neurontin... I had an eeg done and it came back abnormal and it suggested I was having a sensitive reaction to a medication which they believed was gabbapentin.. I heard horror stories about withdrawals but thought I could handle it and stopped cold turkey. I collapsed 26 hours in.. so I did it very slowly and I was fine .. but these medications are frightening

[Southpark in reply to Benny3221]

Benny is right. I had to wean by removing 1 more bead each day. There is no other way to wean off this drug. Never just stop taking it. Never! I took it for 12 years. But the weaning worked. There are other medications that are not as bad as this. Please google information about it so you will know more.

[nrubio2016]

I use Effexor pretty much as an upper to battle my depression

It’s my stimulant to get me through my day if not I’ll just be tired and sleep all day

[Purple34 in reply to nrubio2016]

Ok thanks! I’m on Wellbutrin for depression and I think that helps me with energy.. I really didn’t want to add another medication without getting rid of one but I hope this helps with my anxiety

[bippy]

Effexor is prescribed for anxiety disorder. I was put on it for both depression and anxiety. I must say Effexor pulled me out of a very tough depression many years ago. It also helped me with anxiety. Although Effexor is hard to get off ( Truthfully most of them are!) Give Effexor a try and a chance to work. It will! Good luck! 🙂

[Herz]

I wouldn’t recommend this one... Getting off this was horrible.

[Rungranny]

I'm on effexor for about 11 years now and I find it excellent. I take 150 and had a recent spike of anxiety and under my gp advice I have upped the dose with an extra 37.5 . That has helped and I'm feeling much better. The other thing which helps me hugely is running. I'm no athlete but if I gradually increase my running it's seems to literally use up all that cortisol which is in my system and I feel better after a run in the fresh air.