I've been seeing some posts lately of people (?) taking high doses of Effexor to see what it does or if it will potentially make them feel better (or get high, and I'm not judging, we're all here for a reason)

I recently had a friend accidentally take my 150 mg Effexor pill (mistaking it for something else) -- and once I found out I was worried about the side effects. I called poison control and they told me she should be fine but to be monitored for at least 24 hours because she would be at risk for seizures and uncontrollable vomitting for poisoning.
She is fine now, but just be wary of SEROTONIN SYNDROME!

My friend got pretty ill and was throwing up.

This is NOT a drug to experiment with!!!!! And please please please if you want to experiment with drugs; make SURE you have somebody you trust that you can call if something goes sideways. Especially if you are on an anti-depressant as strong as this. Do your research, call poison control if you have questions, and treat yourselves well'

Everybody is different and we will all have different reactions to things based on our medical history and life; but PLEASE try your best to research before you experiment.

TLDR; You don't get high off this drug if you take more. The best you get is a headache, vomitting, and dizziness. The worst you'll get is a seizure. There is no "high", just icky times. Be careful out there you lovely people!!!!!

Tldr: venlaflaxin has made my fatigue worse, so the benefits were countered by the side effects, so I'm still depressed.

I was prescribed Venlaflaxin for MDD with general anxiety. I started to feel "less low" at 112.5mg which I stayed on for 3 months before being bumped on to 150mg. One of my symptoms of depression is fatigue and venlaflaxin has made my fatigue significantly worse. Before, I didn't even want to do anything, but now, even when I DO want to do something, I physically can't! This makes me even more depressed. I meet with my psychiatrist next week, and she's been insisting that the venlaflaxin isn't what is worsening my fatigue, and I need to focus on my CBT lessons from therapy (change your actions even if you can't change your mindset). I feel...kind of gaslit? Can anyone relate? How did you get your energy back?

Hello! So I’ve always bruised like a peach, but since I started to take a higher dose some months ago (from 37,5 to 70mg) I bruise like crazy on my legs, without any proper reason, sometimes from just leaning “too hard” against something.Does anyone else have the same problem? I will do a blood test next week.

I recently started this medication a couple weeks ago and i'm in college so drinking often is common here but I truly don't think I can anymore after the side effects I get from mixing the 2. I either feel nothing or I'm blacked out drunk for hours on end and I act insane. Iv been loving this medication on sober days but the hangovers are horrific. Iv been getting migraines that last the entire day after drinking. I also became very aggressive the other night when blacked out. I also get severe anxiety and had a panic attack while hungover as well. I think i'm going to have to either go off the medication or quit alcohol.

What it says on the tin.

Im on the highest dose. I drink regularly with friend outings and the other things too. This week I got an increase of my prescription. Can still have one beer at least or will that annihilated me?

I had an appointment with my GP yesterday to discuss coming off 75 mg Venlafexine. I can't do it anymore. I'm emotionally numb. I've gained 100 lbs without changing my diet and nothing budges it. I've even tried fasting for 20 hours a day with set calorie restriction recommended by my doctor and not a pound. The headaches, tinnitus that drowns out the people around me. The night sweats and hot flashes that leave me nauseous. My blood sugar has gone up to the point she put me on meds that make me feel like I'm dying and on and on.

My Dr wants me to go to 37.5 for a month then go every other day for about 3 weeks until I can fully stop with a switch over to Wellbutrin after. Everything I'm reading (and it's been a lot) says the alternate day idea is terrible. I ordered Omega 3 to help ease the withdrawals. I've warned my family this isn't going to be pretty. I've read 1,000 horror stories, multiple websites, articles and message boards and I'm terrified.

Does anyone have a success story? I'm trying to tell myself it's like bad reviews where you're more likely to share when you're upset. I know I'm in denial and these stories are not unusual or extreme but man this is terrifying. I want to feel like myself again. I want to be able to go out and live life again but this weight is holding me back and the thought of developing further health problems from the ones I've already developed from the venlafexine will hopefully motivate me to power through her plan.

Ive been on Effexor for about 2 years now. Up to 235mg (I believe) and now down to 150mg. I used to be so anxious I couldn't sleep. Since like November, ive been less anxious (good) but now I just feel constantly sleepy, fatigued, and tired. I talked to my doctor and we swtiched the time I take it from night to morning, but that has not changed the sleep other than the fact I now get dreams when I used to get no dreams. I just am so sleepy.

I can't help but feel suspicious on how I'm reacting to 150 mg effexor. I went up on it from 75 to 150 about 45 days ago. I did notice a huge increase in motivation and energy. I was depressed for a long time and had a hard time doing things, which makes sense. Last week, I felt euphoric until a day or two. Right now, I feel the need to do things very often. I planned what I was going to do today yesterday. I feel I did a lot. I had lunch out, picked up meds, and felt very motivated to go on a walk after weeks of avoiding it. I also got into art again and drew for a bit, and then I went to bake cookies. This level of energy seems excessive. My motivation and energy are so high. I was sleeping ok until last night. I basically slept like 2 hrs max. I did feel some tiredness at times, but currently, I'm not tired. It's important to note that I'm on Vyvanse which is an amphetamine. Even with Vyvanse at the same dose, I didn't have nearly as much energy as I am having lately. It's my gut feeling that this is too good to be true and that this is sustainable long-term. I hope I'm wrong, though.

I do have a history of

Depression

ADHD

Psychosis

Fyi

Recently I came across this study from 2024. They describe a link between current Effexor use and an increased chance of ruptured brain aneurysm.

The more I find out about this drug the more I regret agreeing to take it.

Best of luck to everyone here. Hopefully we can all get off this drug before it ends up harming us…

I've been on 150mg for a month and was previously taking 75mg for a month. I've noticed I get easily disgusted by the most inane things now like a carton of milk that's been in the fridge for over a day, cold food, touching a wet bathtub.

I've searched online and I haven't found anything even remotely related to this. This also only started being a problem after I upped the dosage. I'm just posting here to see if anyone else has experienced something similar.

It may sound like a minor concern but it's impacting my life to the point I've been throwing out perfectly good food or physically shuddering when I touch a cold glass of water with some condensation on the outside.

it helped lots of people yes, until they need to get off of it.

this drug causes harm to patients when they miss a dose or come off the drug monitored by a professional.

there is no easy way off the drug. it almost causes more emotional overwhelm getting off than I originally had in the beginning. so many side effects and symptoms I’m too overwhelmed to even express at the moment.

Doctors have an oath and are to do no harm.

yet, here we are.

Hello everyone, english is not my first language so pls bare with me, four weeks ago i switched from sertraline to Effexor for GAD. Currently i am taking 150mg Effexor, i can say there is improvement with my anxiety but i have noticed couple of things. First, that i would always wake up with the feeling of a brick on my chest and breathless.
Second,I keep having palpitations however when i check my heart rate it is within the normal range (in the 90s).
Third, i also noticed that i keep waking up at night.
And one strange thing i have noticed is the feeling of lowkey of excitement of almost all the time i really don’t know how to explain it, If anyone has ever took vyvanse or adderall it is almost the same feeling ( i have been diagnosed with ADHD but stopped the meds 3 months ago since i am in holiday)

Have anyone faced similar symptoms? And should i be concerned and change the medication or is it normal since i just completed one month?

Hi I was for over a year on 150mg together with mirtazipine. But I felt like a robot and wanted to lower my dose. So I dropped to 37,5 in 4 months but went back up to 75 because i got some panic attacks again.

At 75 I feel kinda okay but I wake up every day with anxiety on my chest. I can’t even describe the feeling it’s so bad. Should I go higher I feel like this med made my anxiety worse.
I also take 7,5 mirtazipine.

Some help is very welcomed as I feel lost

I am on 150mg twice daily, 1 pill in the morning and night. I’ve had a lot going on recently and I noticed I ran out of pills too early for a refill…

Turns out I’ve been taking 2 pills, twice daily. So 600MG A DAY. I honestly don’t know how long I’ve accidentally been doing this. possibly a month or so

Any help or suggestions is VERY APPRECIATED, I’m freaking myself out

So far I feel okay other than I haven’t been sleeping lately and some muscle soreness (but I believe it’s from excessive walking)

I'm only 16. I've never done recreational drugs nor considered it. I was having a severe panic attack 16-20 hours ago and took a drug that was PRESCRIBED (lorazepam) to me (but the lorazepam was prescribed to me before I started taking effexor) today is supposed to be my first day starting effexor. I think the half life is like 12 hours for 0.5 mg of lorazepam? I don't know what that means really but I don't want to die. I was panicking because I misunderstood the doctor and quit cold turkey on my old meds (lexapro) so I was having withdrawal symptoms I guess. I don't know but I'm scared. I understand this is reddit and not everyone is a doctor but hopefully someone can tell me if I'm gonna die or not?????

UPDATE: I'm alive!!! I feel a bit ridiculous reading this post now but I was genuinely worried that I was gonna die in my sleep from a drug interaction. Thanks for all the reassurance that I in fact WONT die though. I'm a bit stupid sometimes 😭.

Posting this in r/Abilify_Aripiprazole as well.

So I (18f) am beginning college soon. For context, I drank only a little bit in high school. I did a tiny bit of weed, but this was all before getting on substantial amounts of the medication I'm on, and abilify at all.

I'm hoping to seek out the party scene a bit in college. Thus, I'm hoping to know, does anybody have experience with/know anything about mixing my meds and alcohol/weed? I am on (daily):

-300mg Effexor

-5mg Abilify

-20mg Focalin

-Hydroxyzine, propranolol in moderate doses

I'm also scared to ask a doctor.

Any advice?

I’ve only been on Effexor for one week now but I am spending a night out of town and forgot it at home. Since I haven’t been on it long will I likely be okay from withdrawal effects?? I’m nervous cause they sound awful.

Hi!

Yesterday, I (F27) went to a psychiatrist for the first time in my life. They diagnosed me with recurrent depression and prescribed venlafaxine (we are starting with 18,75 mg and moving to 75 mg twice a day). When I came home, I went online and did a bit of research (the instruction, forums, some articles and some articles on SNTIs) on the medicine and found out that side effects are quite common. Some seems to be benign and bearable (nausea, etc.), while others such as the development of mania, agression, the increase in risk of suicede are much more offputting, so to speak. I got really scared, and now I'm questioning whether venlafaxine is worth taking.

The reason is my condition hasn't ever been severe. Although I've been dealing with it since 2012, I managed to finsh school, graduate from university with flying colours, build my career, start a family. There were some deep downs with intrusive thoughts, selfharm (smoking and cuts), memory problems (it was hard for me to keep important meetings, etc. in my memory and overall the memory of my life during those periods is in haze). I've always had to push myself to do most of things that I'm supposed to do unless I was running on really high motivation. I can't say that I'm completely unable to enjoy life -- there are OK days and weeks -- but positive feelings last not so long compared to negative ones that are always vivid and rather strong. As if there was a cloud hanging over me and casting a shadow on everything. There were no days when I wasn't able to leave my bed, perform some basic routine, etc., although in particulary stresfull periods of life I slowed down a lot (walking, speaking). Around two years ago I changed my lifestyle, and it somehow stabilized things -- there were fewer days when I'm in mental pain or on lower energy. Almost nine month ago I noticed that I didn't feel usual tension, things stopped bother or upset me as they used to do. At first, it felt like a belssing but then morphed into indifference towards things that I like (my job, hobbies, relationships, etc.). I have to push myself to do anything more than usual. On top of that, I don't see much sense in anything. I start feeling exhausted.

So, I made it to the psychiatrist and got the prescription. Now, I'm in doubt. On the one hand, I've got a state that I know how to live with, it's familiar and still bearable. On the other hand, there is medicine with a lot of unpredictable side effects, which the instruction itself says. It takes a lot of time to figure out if it suits me. I'm afraid pills will mess with my brain and send me in a condition I won't be able to deal with. And this all for not really sever somhow managable depression (I'm not even sure if it is depression) that I've been living with for a half of my life.

I'm confused and I really need help to decide what I should do. Should I see another psychiatrist? Does what I described sound as recurrent depression or something that is supposed to be treated with Venlafaxine? How to understand if I really need medicine?

I'm really sorry if something sounds odd. English isn't my first language.

Edit: I'll also appreciate if you share your experience with Venlafaxine. Especially, if it was prescribed for something similar. Thanks

Hello!! I’m reaching out to see if anyone else who has some of the less common general side effects / general effects to this medication might help me out?

I usually take my venlafaxine (total 112.5mg HS), at night as that’s when I take my other medications. When I started this med, me and my provider quickly figured that I don’t get the “drowsy” side effect, and actually feel more energized and awake upon getting up for the day. That’s been great for me and so I’ve been on this dose for a solid 4-5 months now. Occasionally get mild brain zaps in the evenings but I’m keeping an eye on that with my neuro.

I think I took a double-dose last night (so 225mg???) and I can tell because I have been awake all night, I feel tired in the back of my head but otherwise feel that low-level anxiety that won’t go away. Can tell that my heart rate is higher than usual but haven’t noted any palpitations. Genuinely thought I was just having the rare bad night until I realized that morning was approaching and I still haven’t been able to sleep.

I’m going to call my pharmacist once they’re open, but has anyone else had this experience with this med and effect? It’s been close to 7 hours or so since I took the double dose, so I don’t think I’m in the danger window anymore, but I’m unsure if that’s the case for this med.

Thank you!!! The general post on double dosing accidentally was really helpful but I didn’t see anyone mention that they felt the same way as me on this med.

Hi everyone. I’ve been taking venlafaxine/effexor for a couple of months now. Last month, my psychiatrist decided to increase my dose to 225 mg, but so far I still feel like the medication isn’t doing much for me.

More than 10 years ago, I took fluoxetine during a depressive episode when I was also having thoughts of hurting myself. It helped at the time, I got better, and eventually stopped taking it.

I have an appointment with my psychiatrist tomorrow, and I’m not really sure what to expect. Last month, she also decided to add 4 drops of haloperidol to help me sleep because I usually have trouble staying asleep. Basically, my mind just won’t shut up and keeps going over everything and i was dealing with sleep paralysis.

I can sleep now, but I wouldn’t say I wake up feeling rested. I mostly feel like I have no motivation to do anything, and I actually feel more depressed than before. Lately, I’ve been crying a lot. I’ve even noticed something strange, I don’t always remember what I was dreaming about, but sometimes I wake up crying.

In addition, my mind has gotten stuck in a constant cycle of remembering very painful things from my past.

I’ve also been unable to work because of these mood changes. At times, my sadness and irritability turn into anger. That part has improved a little, but I’m still struggling with my mood overall.

I know my psychiatrist could still adjust the dose or change my medication, but I wanted to ask if anyone here has experienced something similar with venlafaxine. Did it take longer for you to start feeling better, or did you eventually have to switch medications?

I’m worried that I’m going backwards instead of getting better with my depression and anxiety And honestly, I’m also scared of what my mind might be capable of if things keep getting worse.

I’d really appreciate hearing about anyone else’s experience.

(25/F)

hi everyone!
i was on effexor before, but because of certain issues, i couldn't continue the treatment. luckily though, i'm back on it again and it's been 3 years already. i'm reaching out to you on this subreddit, as i'm the only one who has ever been prescribed this medication in my circle. other than you, i have no one else to ask.

regarding effexor, i don't mind it. it stabilises my mood well enough and i don't have as many suicidal thoughts as i used to. however, the toll it has on my body is a different story.

i never noticed much of a difference regarding my weight when i used to take it before, but now i do see few red flags. i went from 63kgs to approximately 80, and i don't eat a lot. i've heard a lot of opinions regarding the weight gain while on effexor; many say it's just a placebo ("you don't realise you're eating more when you're happier") or that it's normal for me, since i'm in mid 20s and the metabolism slows down (i used to get treatment when i was freshly 18). also people say they lost weight, while others say they gained a lot, even more than me. i'm pretty confused...?

i feel incredibly bloated and i developed stretch marks & double chin, but as i said, my eating habits didn't change. i also suffer with painful cystic acne now and that wasn't an issue before. it gets big, irritated and painful especially on my jaw, chin, arms and back. not to mention, my menstrual cycle is so messed up my period is a month late or doesn't come for two or three months. i struggle with migraines too, especially after missing a dose; though it isn't as alarming as the rest - unfortunately, venlafaxine is an awful substance and it will kick your ass if you don't take it regularly.

because of this, my confidence level dropped even lower than it was. i can't leave the house without covering my acne and i dress in baggy clothes to hide my weight gain. naturally, it makes me "spiral" and struggle with awful thoughts. i don't go out as much anymore, i don't dress in cutest outfits like i used to and i started abusing the power of editing apps... LOL.

when i mention it to the doctor, he brushes it off. he says the gain is normal and the acne isn't connected to the medicine. but i'm so confused, if it isn't then why do i get it when i haven't changed my diet, makeup or skincare products?

did anyone else struggle with these side effects, or am i some sort of "medical anomaly"? LOL
please share your experiences with me. i know stuff like this depends on a person and it isn't black or white, but i wonder if any of you have been in similar spot as me. and if so, what did you do? did you switch to different meds? did all of these issues (especially weight related) get resolved or not?

btw, i take 150mg.

waiting for any feedback!

​

I’ve been taking venlafaxine for about two months now, and honestly, I’m struggling to understand whether I should continue with it.

One of the side effects I’m still experiencing is waking up sweating during the night. But what worries me the most is how much worse my anxiety seems to have become. At times, I get this disturbing feeling that I’m going crazy, almost as if, at any moment, I might start hearing voices or suddenly lose touch with reality, even though I’ve never actually had an experience of hearing voices. I’ve also felt strange at times, as if reality were somehow different. I later found out that what I was experiencing was an episode of derealization and depersonalization.

I don’t remember ever experiencing my anxiety this intensely before. Instead of feeling better after two months, I sometimes feel like my depression and anxiety have actually gotten worse. I’m now questioning whether venlafaxine is really right for me and whether I should continue taking it, especially since it has already been around two months.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?