Effexor and lexapro

I have been on effexor for about 6 months now and I love the way it makes me feel. After my second child I we diagnosed with PPD
I have been on paxil, lexapro, zoloft,and now finally effexor I have gained 40 pounds on it. I am not a lazy person by any means I am an animal trainer, have 3 kids, and 110 acre farm, so I live a very busy life, I have considered going off it, but my withdrawal periods with my other medications, I went through hell my doctor tells me to just increase my cardio activities, his nurses believe otherwise. Anyone have any ideas?

I started taking Effexor 3 years ago. My doctor had put me on Wellbrutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Paxil, and probably a couple of others without great results. But Effexor did work for me with some sideffects. I have gained over 40 pounds since I have been on Effexor, have had no energy, over slept a lot and had the most vivid dreams. If I missed one or two doses by accident I would feel shitty. I have now quit since 3 weeks ago ( somewhat gradually). Right now I feel pretty angry and wound up most of the time. I also have a cough that won't go away.

Hello! I went off of Effexor 75mg @5 days ago. The withdrawl symptoms came back with a vengeance. I have tried 3 other times to get off of this drug with no success. Not because of depression, but the physical withdrawl sypmtoms were terrible. I immediately experienced dizziness, "zapping" in my head, nausea, extreme fatigue; all the very next day. I had tried in the past to taper off, same effects as quitting cold turkey. This is day 6 and still have the same syptoms. It's very hard to function at my job and driving is a chore also. I am determined to "not" go back on this or any other drug like this ever again (Lexapro, Celexa, etc) I will say I felt fine while on it, but I'm sick of not being able to lose the 30 lbs I gained while taking it. I want to be able to handle lifes curve balls as they come without any drugs. I will keep you all posted as to how long this goes on. Take care all, and we have to hang in there!!!!!

I have not yet started to take Effexor yet, just trying to see if I can find some reason to take it first.
I have read a lot of these side effects and I have had all of these side effect like symptoms and have never even take this drug.
I have taken Wellbrutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, and Paxil and all of them cause bad panic attacks. I am not sure what to do about anything. I have also tried a natural pill called Seredyn and it works pretty good at night to sleep but causes me to feel uneasy during the day and obviously it would be needed during the day.
The ONLY thing that helps is Ativan and according to doctors and pharmacists it is very habit forming. So I cannot get anymore of those.
Has anyone taken anything for Anxiety that helps?
I am not a depressed person and do not need anything for depression.

I have been taking effexor xr for about 3 weeks now. Started on 37.5 and then a week later went to 75 mg. I was taking lexapro prior but freaked out one day on that stuff....so my dr. changed me over to effexor. I have taken everything from prozac, paxil, celia, lexapro, zoloft, & buspar. So far the only side effect I have experienced has been a headache the first week and a half, which subsided. I take it for GAD and social anxiety......I was very timid about taking it after reading all these horrible things, but with any drug you have side effects and what works for one may not work for another, you just need to listen to your body and give the drug the appropriate time to get into your system and do what it is supposed to. I plan to continue to take it, so far so good!

My doctor just increased my effexor dosage to 3 75 mg capsules a day because I was have thoughts of dying all the time. My side effects seem to be lightheaded, tingling sensation in my face. I still have thoughts of wanting to die, just not as much as I did before the increase. I have been on several different meds: lexapro, zoloft,cellexsa, now effexor.

Early in November of 2004, I was switched from Lexapro to Effexor HR. My dosage was increased to 300 mg. per day since I was supposedly severely depressed. When I started taking three (75 mgs) daily, I started having quivering in the right side of my head. I followed my Dr.'s instructions and increased to four (75 mgs) daily. I tried it for two weeks, and dropped back down to three. When I started the Effexor HR, I noticed that I had no preception of time. Now its like I get up and then its time for bed. I have terrible pain in my face, head, and neck. I have had tremors and can't seem to do anything physically. It's like I become spastic. I can't remember what I have done the day before and still cry every day.

I was switched to effexor after 80 mg of Lexapro produced no results for my depression. My Dr. slowly increased my dosage from 150 - 225 and then to 300. Supprisingly, I had only one side effect which was a ringing in my ears, only noticeable at night when I went to sleep. Unfortunately, I had no good effects. After 4 months, I decided to get off of it... and weaned myself down 75 mg a week. Only had a few of the zaps in my head, but really no problems otherwise... I feel even more depressed, because my doctor said this was his "big gun" and that it would work. Since it didn't work... what now?