Has anyone tried Effexor/venlafaxine for perimenopause?

Posted , 6 users are following.

hi ladies, I have been having severe headaches daily for several months, along with anxiety, neck pain, back pain, head and ear pressure/ear ringing. I went to see a neurologist who suggested Effexor, he said it'll kill multiple symptoms with just one pill because he believes my anxiety is the culprit for my headaches. Has anyone tried Effexor or venlafaxine for anxiety, headaches? was your experience with it? Did it help? I appreciate your response and if you have any suggestions. thank you, love you ladies. you all are wonderful.

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Posted

    I was on venlafaxine for about 10 months,it was effective for the anxiety and depression, but I had a lot of excessive sweating while on this medication. It is very strong and I had an unbalanced feeling for the first few days. That eventually settled and when my medication was changed,I had to taper off venlafaxine slowly, I had 'brain zaps' when I tried to come off of it too quickly.

  • Posted

    I use venlafaxine 225mg a day for anxiety depression and i would not say that clears headaches

    all it does is make you still think about your problems and when you have something major going on they don't help at all.

    Anyway i am saying please don't take these as they are very hard to come off and if you forget to take them for a couple of days you start shaking and feel like you are withdrawing from drugs.

    I understand it's absolutely crap having the menopause as I've gone through the menopause and it's still hard something new all the time (for me its post menopausal bleeding which is frightening the crap out of me).

    Sorry for being so miserable but I've been on the drug 6 years and they don't help with any ailments.

    Good Luck with your decision and have a look at the Venlafaxine forum on this site.

    Heather x

  • Posted

    thank you ladies for sharing your experience with Effexor. yes coming off of it is my biggest concern, and all the side effects since I am very sensitive to meds. Maybe I am better off going through this phase naturally and let it run its course. My headaches are bad but here and there I do have some 'okay' days where I feel somewhat better, those are far and few but hopefully it'll get better soon. I wish you ladies all the best with your peri/post meno journey. Thanks again for your response:)

  • Posted

    HI I tried effexor for 3 or 4 days and stopped I had such an awful experience on it but everybody is different Id hate for you to not take something that may help you. It sucks because I know there are people that are helped by medication but now im afraid to take anything. I experience all of what you mentioned plus a lot more. I hope something works out for you:) prayers and hugs.

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