Venlafaxine Hydrochloride Side Effects

• drowsiness
• weakness or tiredness
• dizziness
• headache
• nightmares
• nausea
• vomiting
• stomach pain
• constipation
• diarrhea
• gas
• heartburn
• burping
• dry mouth
• change in ability to taste food
• loss of appetite
• weight loss
• uncontrollable tremors of a part of the body
• pain, burning, numbness, or tingling in part of the body
• muscle tightness
• twitching
• yawning
• sweating
• hot flashes or flushing
• frequent urination
• difficulty urinating
• sore throat, chills, or other signs of infection
• ringing in the ears
• changes in sexual desire or ability
• enlarged pupils (black circles in the middle of the eyes)

There are more adverse and serious side effects of Venlafaxine:

• rash
• hives
• itching
• difficulty breathing or swallowing
• chest pain
• fast, pounding, or irregular heartbeat
• seizures
• unusual bruising or bleeding
• small purple spots on the skin
• eye pain or redness
• changes in vision
• fever, sweating, confusion, fast or irregular heartbeat, and severe muscle stiffness
• fever
• problems with coordination
• hallucinations (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist)
• coma (loss of consciousness for a period of time)
• overdose
• thoughts of suicide

  Venlafaxine has the potential to slow growth and weight in children.  Tell your pediatrician if your child is taking Venlafaxine.

Warnings & Recalls for Venlafaxine Hydrochloride

• Tell your doctor if you’re allergic to Venlafaxine.
• tell your doctor if you are taking a (MAO) inhibitor, such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar), and tranylcypromine (Parnate), or if you have stopped taking one of these medications within the past 14 days. Your doctor will most likely tell you not to take Venlafaxine.  If you stop taking Venlafaxine in order for you to start taking a MAO inhibitor, your doctor will tell you that you should wait at least 7 days before you start to take an MAO inhibitor.
• Tell your doctor what prescription medications and nonprescription medications that you are taking including vitamins and supplements.  Be sure to mention any of the following: anticoagulants ('blood thinners') such as warfarin (Coumadin); amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone); other antidepressants; cimetidine (Tagamet); clozapine (Clozaril); diuretics ('water pills'); duloxetine (Cymbalta); haloperidol (Haldol); imipramine (Tofranil); indinavir (Crixivan); ketoconazole (Nizoral); linezolid (Zyvox); lithium; medications for anxiety, mental illness, pain, seizures, or weight loss; medications for migraine such as almotriptan (Axert), eletriptan (Relpax), frovatriptan (Frova), naratriptan (Amerge), rizatriptan (Maxalt), sumatriptan (Imitrex), and zolmitriptan (Zomig); methadone (Dolophine); methylene blue; phentermine (Adipex P, Ionamin); ritonavir (Norvir); sedatives; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft); sibutramine (Meridia); sleeping pills; tramadol (Ultram); and tranquilizers. Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects.
• Tell your doctor if you’re taking St. John’s wort or tryptophan.
• Tell your doctor about your prior drug use including illicit drugs as well as prescription drug use. Also tell your doctor if you have recently had a heart attack and if you have or have ever had high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol glaucoma (an eye disease), high pressure in the eyes (a condition that can lead to glaucoma), seizures, or heart, kidney, liver, or thyroid disease.
• Tell your doctor if you’re pregnant or plan on becoming pregnant or are nursing. Venlafaxine may cause problems in newborns following delivery if it is taken during the last months of pregnancy.
• if you are having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you are taking Venlafaxine.
• you should know that this medication may make you drowsy. Do not drive a car or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects you.
• remember that alcohol can add to the drowsiness caused by this medication.

In March of 2012, the FDA launched a recall of batches of Effexor for hints of cross-contamination at a supplier station.  But as of yet, there hasn’t been either a recall of Venlafaxine HCl either by the FDA or a voluntary recall by Pfizer.  Given the nature of many antidepressants to be associated with a suicide risk, the FDA has put measures to reflect the fact that there’s a correlation between increased suicide risk with a drug like Venlafaxine and has stipulated that this information be available on the label of the drug.

Venlafaxine Hydrochloride Treatment and Use

Venlafaxine hydrochloride is used primarily to treat depression, general anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia and vasomotor symptoms.  Its drug classification is that of an antidepressant of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor class.  It was first introduced into the market by the company Wyeth in 1993 but is now marketed by Pfizer.  In 2007, Effexor was the Venlafaxine was the 6^th most prescribed antidepressant in the US market, comprising of about 17.2 million prescriptions written for this drug.

Doctors have noted the efficacy of this drug in other fields of medicine outside of the treatment of mental disorders and have started using Venlafaxine “off label” for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, migraine prophylaxis, to treat the severity of hot flashes in women with menopause.  It is worth noting that many patients prescribed Venlafaxine for depression also experienced dramatic weight loss, however Pfizer doesn’t recommend it for this drug.  It can also be used to treat cataplexy which is a form of weakness of the muscles, narcolepsy, OCD, orthostatic intolerance and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Other Names for Venlafaxine Hydrochloride

Effexor

Lawsuits & Legal Information for Venlafaxine Hydrochloride