Effexor side effects

Hey all,

I have begun taking effexor now for 2 weeks. Week one I took 37.5 mg. with 5 mg of lexapro because I was winding down my lexapro which was no longer working.

Week 2, I have been taking 75 mg of effexor and just completed a full week at this dose. In the first week I was sweating but now I have been experiencing random chills, headache, a feeling of being separated from myself; dizziness and increased tinnitis (which I had to begin with). Also today I had a stiff neck and a feeling like I have swollen glands in my neck. I also had a difficult experience during the beginning of the second week where I was manic followed by a crash (that has gone away).

Has anyone else experienced these symptoms? Do they go away eventually? I remember when I first took lexapro I had some side effects that eventually went away. I have a call in to Pdoc to ask him about these symptoms. I did discuss the manic/depressive episode with him and he thought that I would be ok as long as I wasn't still experiencing this now.

Hi there! When I first took Efexor I had pretty bad side effects for the first 2-3 weeks then I started noticing them waning.

I started on 75mg, and noticed the sweating, dry mouth, tiredness, i'd sit on the couch all day and feel zonked. Also nausea and dizzy.

Side effects generally do settle down, see how it goes in another week i'd say.

I've been off Efexor now for 3 months, but they did help me, I just didn't want to live with the side effects that stayed with me - the nightmares, nausea etc.

I'm on effexor and find the side effects pretty manageable - I don't like the nausea, and dizziness, and I'm on a really high dose so it causes a slight tremor in my hands, but I'm kind of used to it now. I remember I got really bad headaches when I first started it, but that only lasted a couple of weeks. Oh and it completely changed my sense of taste. I used to love chocolate - now I can't stand it. Same with red wine and spicy foods. Very weird.

Stay in touch with your pdoc about your side effects - some might wear off, but some might be a sign that it's not the right med for you.

Good luck.

--splitimage

Thanks guys.

P-doc reduced my dosage back to 37.5 mg for now. The effects were tooooooo disconcerting. I'll stay on this lower dosage for a while I guess before trying to increase again.