I still haven't been diagnosed with ADD, yet. I will going to Drs very shortly.

However, at one time about 5 years ago I was treated with a Effexor for depression and anxiety. I only took it for two months. It really helped me and I have never had my depression really come back. One thing I noticed at the time, was I was much more organised and was able to keep everything tidy. Since going off the Effexor I have noticed that my organisation and tidyness has got much worse. I would say much more worse than before I was given Effexor. Could it be possible that going off Effexor has made me less organised? Why would this be?

Also is Effexor perscribed for ADD? I'm just curious, because I found it amazing at the time, that I became much more organised.

I switched to Effexor from Clomipramine awhile ago and I can definatly say it works pretty good for ADD. It's unlike any other antidepressants in allot of ways because it is somewhat of a stimulant and it also works on norepinephrine which is what ADD meds increase. I find too it helps with impulse control which has always been a problem for me.

Effexor (and Effexor XR) are used off label for add. I don't know why the problem got worse than before the meds when you were only on the effexor for 2 months. Sounds like effexor was a good add drug for you. If it works for you ask the doctor about trying it again for your add. I never took effexor so I can't say from personal experience. sorry...

Hello, i am currenty on effexor xr and concerta for add/atypical depression. Why did you stop taking effexor? did you experience horrible side effects? Did you experience whidrawal symptomswhen you stopped?
I think Effexor is working great for me, it is helping me sleep a lot better.
According to what i have read, effexor xr inhibits neropinephrine reuptake as well as serotonin reuptake, so maybe your ADD is caused by something realted to neropinephrine, maybe you should consider switching to strattera which only inhibits norepinephrine reuptake, or wellbutrin haha well i am not a psychiatrist but i have been reading a lot about drugs and neurotransmitters.

I am somehow scared about the side effects and changes in behavior and personality reported by some people on the internet. I have not experienced any side effects besides anorexia, which is going away.
I am interested in knowing about people who are currently on effexor (and concerta at the same time too, i know there are some old threads about this but they are too old) and if they have experienced any negative changes in behavior, or something else that make them dislike this drug.
The awful comments about effexor that i have read so far are mainly from women, so i am not sure if they could be affected more than men.

I didnt mean to hijack your thread info !! But i was going to start a new thread with the same subject as yours
i am not sure if this is considered rude or not, i hope not

bye

Just keep in mind that effexor only starts to work on norepinephrine when the dose is over 150mg. Anything below that and it's mostly the same as normal SSRI's.

Some people might need up to 300mg for the full norepinephrine effect.

When you stop taking effexor just make sure you cut back your dose slowly as the withdrawal can be unpleasant. It never worked for my ADD very well.

Negative side effects I experienced on effexor:

increased sweating
loss of sex drive
more sleepy
lowered motivation
increased nervousness

The withdrawl was pretty horrible for me, it was like a really bad flu that lasted a few weeks.

Oh, and I'm male btw.

This thread is pretty old but I figured I would share my Effexor story in case anyone comes here looking for some Effexor advice/experiences.

I was prescribed Effexor when I was misdiagnosed with OCD. It did help with my anxiety, but it did nothing for my hyperactivity, memory, and volatile emotions.

I just want to let anyone considering getting on this drug know that coming down from it, coming off of it, or lowering the dosage will absolutely make you want to kill yourself. Just google it. You'll see i'm not the only one who thinks this. This drug can make you feel like hell.

I am still on Effexor even though my current psychiatrist feels I don't need it for my ADHD--I am also on Adderall. The only reason why I am still on Effexor is because if I try and get off of it I will be as physically ill as I have ever been in my life. For days. Eventually, if I want to have a child, and I do, I will have to go off Effexor. That concept scares me more than anything.

Just some words of caution. I would try other drugs first and use this thing as a last resort.

This thread is pretty old but I figured I would share my Effexor story in case anyone comes here looking for some Effexor advice/experiences.

I was prescribed Effexor when I was misdiagnosed with OCD. It did help with my anxiety, but it did nothing for my hyperactivity, memory, and volatile emotions.

I just want to let anyone considering getting on this drug know that coming down from it, coming off of it, or lowering the dosage will absolutely make you want to kill yourself. Just google it. You'll see i'm not the only one who thinks this. This drug can make you feel like hell.

I am still on Effexor even though my current psychiatrist feels I don't need it for my ADHD--I am also on Adderall. The only reason why I am still on Effexor is because if I try and get off of it I will be as physically ill as I have ever been in my life. For days. Eventually, if I want to have a child, and I do, I will have to go off Effexor. That concept scares me more than anything.

Just some words of caution. I would try other drugs first and use this thing as a last resort.
Good post, I found the withdrawal pretty horrible.

Something that made it way better was reducing the dose VERY SLOWLY. I think you'll be able to get off effexor if you try that.

you shouldn't feel sick at all with this method:
open up your capsule of effexor and you'll see lots of white balls in it. take 5-10 balls out of the capsule to start off with, keep doing this for a week or so..you can do this as slowly as you need!

next week take another 5-10 balls out of the capsules so you end up taking out 10-20 balls each day for the next week.

the week after do the same thing - take out 5-10 more balls on top of the 10-20 you did last week.

Keep doing this until you have no balls left :) if you start to feel sick go back to the last dose you felt comfortable on. It takes a long time to count out the balls but it's worth it.

If you do it slowly you can barely feel it. talk to your doctor before doing it. Just keep in mind most doctors don't even know about effexor withdrawal. Hope that helped a little bit I'd hate for you not to have a baby because of effexor.

good luck!

Going off Effexor is painful for someone without depression, so I'm sure it will be tough for someone with depression. That said, I thought that physically the only issue was the diarrhea. Mentally, I got a lot of benefit with adderall, which shuts off a good pctg of the thought processes that would mess with my brain.

One thing I will say: I really wish I knew what Effexor fed in my brain that I can't seem to find with anything else.

Effexor is sometimes prescribed off-label for ADHD, however, it's probably not the best choice. It's probably worth it if one has significant depression along side of ADHD, but it's not exactly the best norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor in the antidepressant category. As has been stated, it takes a significant dose to even experience these effects. Plus, adverse effects are typical with not-so-compliant medication compliance, which can often be true with those with ADHD.

In terms of off-label uses of antidepressants for ADHD, Bupropion and Desipramine are commonly used.

Actually, I thought that Effexor helped me with my org and communication skills in ways that dexedrine does not. That said, the Effexor had significant negative effects, including excessive drowsiness (that I had to deal with using excessive amounts of caffeine, which probably is not safe) and increased impulsiveness.

I think it's just one of those things that is different for everyone, but it seems that most people have the terrible withdrawal symptoms when trying to get off of it.

I have done the whole white ball removal thing and I still felt like hell. My new psychiatrist says he has some "tricks" for getting off of it. I'm anxious to learn what they are!

Count me as another who found withdrawal pure agony. The Doctors I have known give it out very casually, like nothing can possibly go wrong. But I hope this changes, and that a better disclosure of the benefits and risks becomes standard.

Most, if not all, SSRI's tend to have bad withdrawl - not just Effexor.

You just need to gradually wean off it and the withdrawl isn't too bad (I've been on almost every SSRI)

Info,

if it worked for you then talk w/ your doc about going back on Effexor :)

I withdrew slowly exactly as my Doc directed and it was awful...these are definitely meds that people react to very differently. I totally believe that for many it is very effective and withdrawal can be nonproblematic when done properly. It just aint me...

Effexor and Paxil I'm told are the 2 harder anti-depressants to get off of. You have to work very very slowly to get off of this medication.

I'm currently taking effexor for ADHD. It did work wonders in the classroom. My problem with it is that it brought back old depression problems i got over along time ago. I started taking them in Sept 07 then in Dec my depression started to become serious. Now it keeps getting worse each day. I'm planning to go of it soon. Keep in mind I'm anti meds and shrinks. I want to be able to live with my depression without taking a happy pill or having to see a shrink. I got my friends and family to support me through it. There better than the professionals. Your friends and family will or should know how to talk to you when your going through a "phase" or "spell". :)

Just posting my experience with Effexor 150. I was on it 10 years ago for about a year and went off of it and was fine! I just really went slow from what I remember. I have a friend who went off of paxil and it took 3 months or cutting the pill with a razor to wean off of it. It was a nightmare!

I am currently back on effexor and concerta (see my new introduction post). And because now I have read all those horror stories, when I need to go off of it, I will be opening up the capsule and taking out 2 beads a day or whatever. I don't even want to find out if I'll have a bad reaction this time!!

Too bad I'm not on a pill I have cut in 1/2 and then 1/4 and then 1/8 etc. That is much easier.
olivia

Did not read everything here just my exp. : increased reading and concentration, a lot of side effects, went up to 375mg and new doc said I could have gone up to 600 - specially heavy smokers don't feel it etc... enzymes bla bla