[Sr564231]

I have been on effexor xr since april. I have GAD and had no relief on it. I have tried zoloft too. I am alittle less anxious these days, but how do i know if it is the meds or its just summer and less stressors. Its so hard to know if it is working? Any advice? I am twenty and knew to meds.

Originally Posted by Sr564231

I have been on effexor xr since april. I have GAD and had no relief on it. I have tried zoloft too. I am alittle less anxious these days, but how do i know if it is the meds or its just summer and less stressors. Its so hard to know if it is working? Any advice? I am twenty and knew to meds.

I'm not comfortable giving advice on that but I think that if I was taking a medication that wasn't effective I'd stop taking it. Discontinuing Effexor can be very difficult for some. There are some pretty good ways of dealing with that though if you do decide to stop and it becomes a problem.
Has your doctor ever mentioned any of the meds for anxiety? Benzos are good but at your age I'm not sure your doctor will want to prescribe benzos for GAD. Maybe something like buspar?
There are also therapy methods that are effective. Maybe someone will suggest a good one.
Best wishes.

[vvector0000]

I took Effexor XR for awhile (I've trialed 45 meds until I lost count), 9 months I believe. I was taking 450 near the end, and it didn't help at all, and made me sleep for 3 hours a night. I was suicidal shortly after this point and it didn't end well. Another crap drug.

The withdrawal from it was so bad for me that I needed to titrate with a syringe at 1mg -5mg intervals (once I got below 37.5). It was all vertigo and brain zaps.