New here - Effexor question

  • Hi there.
    I've recently been put on Effexor due to depression (a result of menopause, hypothyroidism, and loosing both of my parents last year). Unfortunately one of the side-effects I'm dealing with is sweating. I go for a 15 minute brisk walk on our 2-breaks-per-day at work. I used to perspire a little but now I have to carry a paper towel with to wipe my head and neck - yuck! Does anyone know of anything to ease this side effect? I would greatly appreciate it.
  • That has been my problem too, well I figure better that then the weight gain right?..lol
  • I've been on effexor for quite a long time. The only excessive sweating I have is (occasionally) in the middle of the night. It's obnoxious, and it often wakes me up, but it doesn't happen all that often.

    I have no idea how to stop it!

    (And as a little side note because there's often a lot of chat about meds + weight gain: I've been on effexor the entire time I've been losing weight, so -- for me at least -- it hasn't had any negative effect on my ability to drop pounds).
  • Quote: Hi there.
    I've recently been put on Effexor due to depression (a result of menopause, hypothyroidism, and loosing both of my parents last year). Unfortunately one of the side-effects I'm dealing with is sweating. I go for a 15 minute brisk walk on our 2-breaks-per-day at work. I used to perspire a little but now I have to carry a paper towel with to wipe my head and neck - yuck! Does anyone know of anything to ease this side effect? I would greatly appreciate it.
    Hi! Yep, when I was on Effexor I had major major sweats. It made for very interesting work environment to say the least! LOL The least bit of exertion and I was dripping and like you, had to carry around tissues or paper towels to pat myself dry. If I remember correctly this is listed as a possible side affect. Of course it had to be "the one" that I would least want! LOL I believe that most antidepressants do list this as a side effect, unfortunately.

    It's been about 5 months since I've been on it and I will tell ya, it's only been in the last 6 weeks or so that I've been able to notice that I no longer sweat profusely anymore! 6 weeks!

    Good luck! Maybe you'll be one of the few that gets lucky & it subsides!

    ♥danielle
  • Aaah - Thank goodness!! At least it sounds like there may be hope??? I'm reeeealy glad it's finally getting cooler outside - that has helped a bit - whew! Thanks for the info.
  • effexor knocked me for a loop when i was on it. i couldn't even get myself off the couch, so i never got a chance to do any sweating at all. i was in a complete daze and barely had the strenght to get up to go to the bathroom even.

    but then, it was a while ago, and i was still a teen, and i notice they make disclaimers now that teens should in fact not be on this medication. would have been nice if they had known that back when i was taking it.
  • Quote: effexor knocked me for a loop when i was on it. i couldn't even get myself off the couch, so i never got a chance to do any sweating at all. i was in a complete daze and barely had the strenght to get up to go to the bathroom even.

    but then, it was a while ago, and i was still a teen, and i notice they make disclaimers now that teens should in fact not be on this medication. would have been nice if they had known that back when i was taking it.

    The same thing happened to me! At 19, I was put on effexor, it got to the point with the sweating and pulse, I couldn't sleep!

    Girls, if you start to feel icky, talk to your doc - mine didn't help me - he prescribed sleeping pills, so I changed offices, was put on Zoloft for 6 months (and did counseling), now I'm not on meds at all.
  • i agree. i played the medication game.. it took three different tries to get me on the right one.. .and even that didn't wind up being right for me. finally drug free - though some days i think maybe i should be back on them.

    overall finding the right one can be a hassle but is necessary for a lot of people. it is however not a cure.
  • What I've found, and I don't know if this is a side effect of Effexor or something else weird, is that during the day I cannot stop yawning! I feel sleepy, but not tired, if that makes any sense. That is, I'm yawning and feel sleepy, but it's not like I can just go take a nap. And this occurs even though I'm getting the same amount of sleep I did before, 7-8 hours a night. Once on the weekend I slept 12 hours, until noon! I haven't done this in 10 years, no joke, unless sick. Before starting Effexor I was always up by 7 am latest, weekend or weekday, since I have to be up at 6 am for work. So, not sure if it's Effexor or something else, but weird.

    I'm probably going to talk to my doctor about switching, though. What I've found is that it works wonderfully on my generalized anxiety disorder. I love it for that, not feeling tense and on edge and slightly panicky most of the time. But it just doesn't seem to be doing much for my depression.
  • I am on Effexor and also cannot stop yawning. It is the weirdest thing. I also sweat all of the time. Thank goodness I go back to the doc soon. I hope all of this goes away soon!!
  • Quote: effexor knocked me for a loop when i was on it. i couldn't even get myself off the couch, so i never got a chance to do any sweating at all. i was in a complete daze and barely had the strenght to get up to go to the bathroom even.

    but then, it was a while ago, and i was still a teen, and i notice they make disclaimers now that teens should in fact not be on this medication. would have been nice if they had known that back when i was taking it.
    Same here!!! I slept for 3 days straight once on that stuff (I was only 17 at the time... ) I really wish they'd stop prescribing that stuff to kids! I'm 23 now and my doctors all agree that I probably never had depression, just teen angst.

    I hope the sweating stops for you! Side effects are no fun!
  • I have had to start wearing a sweatband around my head when I workout because I sweat so much - not practically for the day to day activities though.

    Overall I have to say I've been pretty happy with Effexor - I haven't had a lot of side effects. Good luck with it.
  • Effexor has worked really well for me and i have taked like 10 diferent depression drugs i think, maybe more. No side effects, well is hard to say, i take 4 diferent drugs but no sweating.
  • I'm the same way. I yawn all the time and feel sleepy, though I'm not physically tired. I think it's more of a mental sleepiness. Not sure. But luckily I'm going to talk to my doctor soon.