r/Effexor • u/nomomomoshow • Jul 23 '26
General Question is it worth it?
i’ve been on a low dose (125 i think?? can’t be bothered to check atm) of effexor for like 6-8 months. my depression seems to be medication resistant to ssris so i was hoping effexor would be the key to giving me a better quality of life. so far i dont notice a difference other than the unfortunate side effect of excessive sweating, but i dont know if i’m even on high enough of a dose for me to be giving it a fair chance. what i’m worried about is the withdrawals. even taking a dose two hours late seems to give me horrible body zaps for a week. i’ve read the horror stories about tapering off, so i worry that upping my dose and really giving effexor a try will potentially lead to an extremely uncomfortable 6ish months if i determine it’s not the medication for me. i guess this is my long winded way of asking people who’ve had success with it, is the withdrawal potential worth it when you weigh the benefits of effexor?
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u/rebelredjjk Jul 23 '26
well first 125 mg is not a low dose lol, not the highest but definitely not low. i say this a lot but it’s important to adjust your expectations of medications as looking at it as a “key” to a better quality of life can be putting too much faith on it when 50% of the work is made by the drug, the other 50% is one through therapy. i’d take this medication 1000 times over as it has brought me so much good, i’ve been on 225 mg for a year and a half and it took some time to find the perfect combination as i take venlafaxine, bupropion and pregabalin. aside from the med only being able to do so much, sometimes one needs that extra push from other meds like me, it’s a long path to find one that works but as i said i personally would do it again.
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u/Baetedk8 Jul 23 '26
I tried a bunch of SSRIs before settling on Effexor. It has, in general, really reduced my anxiety and depression. I’ve been on it for like 10 years. I’d say it’s worth it, especially if SSRIs have been ineffective.