Effexor XR and zoloft

I hate Effexor XR. I don't really know how long I have been on this medicine because I have almost no short term memory since I have been taking it. I am so hot all the time it's just unbearable. I am sweating when my house temp is 68 degrees. I freeze everyone out of the house, out of the car, etc., because I am never comfortable. I no longer own a winter coat because I don't need one unless it is below zero. I don't own any long sleeve shirts except for a denim one in which I wear as my jacket. I wear short sleeve I have discussed this with my doctor whom always tells me he doesn't think the medicine is the cause of this. Although every time he increases the strength I'm taking, the sweating intensifies. I also wake up in the middle of the night gasping for breath, with an irregular heartbeat and/or my heart beat soaring. I have also experienced the problem with taste. Many things I used to love to eat or drink are no longer tolerable. Nothing tastes quite right. I too have had the dry mouth/cotton-throat problems. I have noticed my emotions are screwed up also. I can hardly cry about the most saddest things I have faced, but will cry about stupid things that don't truly matter. I worry about everything, and I DO mean EVERYTHING, luckily it doesn't last too long because nothing can hold my train of thought for very long. My doc has had me on Zoloft, Celexa and others and there were problems with those also. But I feel that Effexor XR is the worst one I have been on that has caused so many other problems while helping the depression/anxiety disorder. I think the bad outweighs the good, but my doctor refuses to agree with me on this and I have no health insurance to take my problem elsewhere. I have never taken Xanax, Valium or any other "controlled" substances because my doc is afraid of his patients becoming addicted to these drugs. Although Effexor XR is apparently addicting too since you have to be weened off of it. I wish I had NEVER begun to take Effexor XR, good luck to all of you that do! If I knew then what I know now, I would NEVER take it!

i was prescribed effexor xr by the mayo clinic in mn. while living there for a year. i had been on three other antidepressants before and this one has really given me a sense of peace. i have had to go off of a lot of medicines and quite smoking cold turkey so maybe i have a stronger tolerance. i haven't had one bad side effect. in fact, i have probably been healthier since it kicked in two years ago due to my mood and mind being in a better state. don't get me wrong, i still have low times but not any lower than the person who doesn't suffer depression. it also helps with anxiety but i do take another med for that called klonopin 2mg. i think it takes awhile for the person to find whats right for them. i suffered horribly through wellbutrin, thought my head was going to blow off when i didn't feel bugs crawling around. prozac put weight on me but helped, just made me a little to jittery and the other one i took was zoloft. i didn't have any side effects with that just didn't seem to keep me above a sadness level i needed so that is when they switched me to effexor. please just know there is help for all and bravo to those who can go without but i don't want to be sad and unhappy ever again to the degree of not wanting to get out of bed.

I'm on the 37mg capsule - If I miss a dosage even one day, that day my symptoms are: severe nausea, emotional mess, foggy brained and completely dysfunctional. I've been taking it for 4 years now (along with Adderall 40mg & Yasmin) and I don't know if it's just this medication or the whole combination, but I've gained 30 pounds!!! I've liked being on Effexor XR because before it I was on Zoloft and there was a huge mood swing coming down from Zoloft at the end of the day. This did not happen with Effexor. Except for the weight gain, I've been pretty happy with it otherwise.