Effexor and libido

I have been on Effexor for about 5 years. I had to stop using it suddenly when I became pregnant and the withdrawal was HORRIBLE (the inside of my eyelids felt like sandpaper and I actually heard my eyeballs scratching against it). Immediately after I stopped breastfeeding my son, I started it again. Within a few weeks, I felt so much better, my house was cleaned regularly, I stopped biting my nails, I lost and kept the pregnancy weight off and my libido did not suffer one iota. Unfortunately, my medical coverage lapsed and I cannot afford to refill the prescription. The sandpaper eyelids came back, my nails are bitten down to the quick, and I have no desire to take care of anything. The pharmacies are giving out free antibiotics ... but people who cant afford much needed medication have to suffer. I would rather have the flu than deal with not having Effexor.

For me, nothing but good. I felt significantly better within days of starting it, and have had no unpleasant side effects at all, not one. No weight gain, no diminished libido, nothing bad. It's been absolutely fantastic for me. It's been 3 years for me.

I have fibromyalgia and started taking Effexor xr last fall to help combat fibro symptoms as recommended by my doctor. I am also prone to SAD. I have found that my fibro symptoms are worse if anything. I crave junk food and sweets. My doctor told me the drug could not be causing the cravings or the resultant weight gain. I finally five days ago told the doc I really didn't feel I was benefiting from the drug and she agreed that I should stop 'cold turkey'. Wellll! since then I am having nausea, chills, very vivid dreams, bordering on hallucination. I feel I have been sleeping for hours during the night and find it's only been two or three hours. I'm still not refreshed, but I can't get back to sleep. I find myself crying for no reason at all, feeling anxious, feeling angry at the least provocation. Chills, runny nose. While I was on Effexor my libido was non-existent. Now it's increased greatly. What is up with this drug. how long can I expect the after-effects to last? I had to stay home from work today for the nausea and tiredness and just general over emotionality.

Calgon take me away

Hi, I take Effexor, and have experienced many of the negative effects described here, however, my personal depression was such before I began that for me it was life-saving. During those periods when I've taken breaks from Effexor, withdrawal wasn't pleasant, nor was it quite as bad as some have experienced (I didn't get the brain-freezes or violent impulses). However, I did find an excellent post in another forum about tapering off, so I am cutting and pasting it here. (fyi, if you take 150s rather than 75s -- I take 150s -- you can use a similar schedule to open the capsules and shake a bit out rather than completely eliminating a dose):

In Response To: Re: New to Effexor (Sharon)

I'have been taking Effexor since one year and a half ( I take 225 mg per day). Before taking it, I was so worrying and panic that I could'nt do anything. It took me about 6 months before seeing a change in my mind. Now, I am very happy and I don't worry about everything anymore. It is a very good medication for me, though it decreases libido. I am reducing Effexor since two months this way : first week : after 7 days, I escape one pill (75 mg); then after 6 days, I escape one other pill and then after 5 days, one other, and so on. I wait about 2 weeks before beginning again for another 75 mg. It is the best way to get off of the med because if I try to stop suddenly, its horrible. Its the only disadvantage of this drug. I hope these comments will help you.

I was on effexor for a year to treat dysthimic depression and general anxiety disorder. My dose started low but was upped every few months until I was on 150 mg.

The side effects I experienced were:

- Dizziness
- Inability to sleep soundly at night (I would wake several times and have difficulty falling asleep again)
- Inability to stay awake during the day (probably as a result of the previous side-effect. this was so bad that i even fell asleep once while i was standing up!)
- A "fuzzy" mental state; everything looked cloudy, I had no concentration, poor attention span
- Frequent vivid nightmares
- This weird sensation that happened every couple of minutes. It wasn't quite like dizziness...it was more like my brain was doing a flip-flop in my head.
- I was ALWAYS exhausted
- My libido disappeared

The withdrawl affects of the drug were similar but also accompanied by twitching, nausea, increased dizziness, more frequent "brain flips", and occasional fainting or blacking out.

Worse was that I had to take the drug at the same time every day, or else I'd enter withdrawl almost immediately. If I took the drug at 7:00 AM every morning before school, and then slept in until 10:00 AM on the weekend, I would wake up in withdrawl, even though i was only a few hours late!

When I tapered off the drug, the withdrawl affects were almost unbearable for a couple of weeks, but eventually I returned almost to a normal state, except that it took over a year for my libido to return, and even though I've been free of the drug for a couple of years, I still have difficulties in that area sometimes.

I have been taking Effexor for around 2 to 3 years for depression. I am currenty taking two 150 mg at night, though I was told to take one in the morning and one at night... I found it easier to take them both at night. The only side effect I am sure comes from the Effexor is the reduction in my libido (and I am female). Effexor is the only anti-depressant I have been on, and I think I got extremely lucky in that I found the one that works for me on the first try. I also see a psycho-therapist, and between the two, I feel I have managed to get a better hold on my life. I am a thirty-five year old mom (married, and with a seven-year-old daughter) and I have "almost" nothing but praise for Effexor.

HOWEVER, I do know that the withdrawal side effects are terrible... I have missed it for up to three days when I went out of town and forgot my medication. I can usually miss one day and the side effects will most likely just be a bad headache, and maybe a little nautious. But when I missed three doses:

Missing one dose at night: I had a headache the following day.
After missing two doses: The headache became worse, I would occasionally get dizzy spellls, and I started getting very emotional - swaying between sad and cranky.
After missing third dose: The headache became worse still, and was aggravated by light - I wanted to just keep my eyes closed. I felt dizzy and nautious - nautious to the point I couldn't tell if I was going to throw-up (never did).
Oh... and I should add that the dreams while I was off the medication were incredible... like watching movies... so detailed and complex. I usually don't remember my dreams... but these I could recall... not in perfect detail... but they were amazing.

After I got back home and took my dose that night: I missed three days of work while being back on the medication. I was nautious, had a terrible headache, wanted to just stay in bed, I was no longer ultra sensitive emotional-wise - but I was ultra-pissed-off. I became very angry that I was on a medication that was addictive after having been told it was "not addictive". I was angry that I have never had an addiction before, but now suddenly I was addicted to a prescribed drug. I don't smoke, I only drink a couple of alcholic drinks in a month (socially), no canabis (pot... is that an out-dated term? ... everyone here says canabis), or any other illegal or legal addictive drugs... the only other drugs I take are allergy (Clarinex) and birth control (Nuva Ring), neither of which are addictive.

That whole experience was months ago, and now that I have had time to calm down and get a clear perspective on the situation... I wouldn't stop taking Effexor for just being addictive... and YES... it is addictive... I don't give a rat's ass what any "expert" says about it. If you can't stop taking something without your body freaking out... then IT IS ADDICTIVE.

I don't know that I will ever be able to stop the medication. I go back and forth as to how I feel about this. At times it bothers me being so dependant on a medication... but on the other-hand, I'm dependant on the allergy medication, and that doesn't bother me, so why should I let being dependant on an anti-depressant bother me? Who cares what everybody else thinks, right? - - Boy, that's loaded...

Effexor has helped me tremendously. My thoughts about death are very infrequent. I don't feel like crawling into a hole and disappearing all the time. I have found "my voice" with the help of this drug and my therapist to voice my opinions more often to help me from not feeling so trapped and helpless in situations. It does cut down on emotional sensations... I don't feel overwhelming sad at all the terrible things I hear on the news. And I don't cry at sappy commercials and movies any more (Thank you!). For the first time, I feel much more in control of my feelings and my life.

So, I can understand the anger in a lot of these postings, but I would like to add, that I don't think the people who have benefited from Effexor are posting here. They have no reason to be looking for this site. I found this site when I had been angry over finding out it was habit-forming. I believe Effexor has probably helped a lot of people - and it isn't an "evil" drug... it's just a drug. For some, it just isn't the right drug.

I should add, that I'm on here today because I've recently started experiencing night sweats, but I wasn't sure if it was a side effect of Effexor or not. I hope that it is a side effect of Effexor and not a symptom of menopause... cripes... I'm only 35! The first site that popped up after searching under "Nightsweats" was about nightweats being a symptom of perimenopause or menopause... ugh!

But if I have to weigh the benefits I have experienced using Effexor, with the downfalls: addictive, sexual side-effects, and maybe night sweats... I still am of the mind that it is a good drug for me.

I wish all of you luck in finding what helps you most to be happy with your life.

I went to my Doctor with a few complaints about some aches and pains about a year ago. He decided I was depressed and put my on Effexor 75mg.
At first I had no side effects from the drug. Then I forgot to take 2 doses. I was outside picking up leaves when I went into this terrible time of vertigo. I couldnt walk my whole world was spinning. I immediately thought it was because of missing the doses. The vertigo lasted 3 days. My Doctor told me it was no way caused by The Pill and that It was most likey an inner ear problem. I decided to cut the pill in half on my own. Even with that little of a dose, if I forget to take it I immediatley start to feel side effects such as a very heavy feeling in the top of my head. vertigo, confusion, low concentration, fuzzy eye sight and with any noses, or even if my husband starts to talk I get a jolt like feeling in my head. On an everyday basis while taking the small doses I have to be carefull not to go down to a laying position, or change my position to fast because I will have vertigo. Not to mention my libido is gone. No one told me of all these side effects, I wouldnt of ever started it!!
Today would have been day 3 of cutting my half of a pill in half but when I woke up I was having all of the side effects I mentioned above so I had to take the whole half which is only 37.5 mg!!
How Do I get off this nasty pill??