Anyone taking Effexor XR? | ADHD Information

I'm taking it but not for ADD, for depression/anxiety. I am on 150 mg. For 2 yrs. I was on 75 mg, went off, went back on few months later--that was almost 3 years ago. I increased to 150 in september. Do not skip a dose, you will get serious withdrawal. Not a peronal experience, since I don't usually skip, just something I hear from others taking it and docs. I don't know if it's helping, and I may not even need it anymore. I might be switching to wellbutrin or prozac. I am still considered pediatric and effexor is not usually used in pediatric patients (usu. under 21-23 yrs. old) so my new doc wants to switch meds. It has some similarities to the stimulants, even though structurally it's more like straterra (it's an SSRI in low doses, SNRI in high doses-straterra is an SNRI). I wouldn't say it helps me with ADHD symptoms, though. Also--it's hard to come off of, my doc wants to decrease it slowly and increase the new one slowly once I start coming off it.

I hear better things from others about effexor than what I can say about my own personal experience--it's a pretty good med, but it's not the right fit for me. It helpful for some people with hyperfocus-type ADHD. Again, I'm not taking it for ADHD but I just started taking a stimulant in addition to it. Usually the atypical antidepressants--the newer ones like wellbutrin, cymbalta, remeron, the "atypicals" (the ones that affect norepinephrine and dopamine) are used off-label for ADD. It was hard for me to get an rx for stimulants because of my history of anxiety issues, but a typical way to resolve that is to take a stim with an antidepressant..that's what I'll be doing.

I'm not too responsive to antidepressants since my depression is more situational (family/living environment) but the worst I hear about this med is skipping doses or coming off it.

My doctor was hesitant on prescribing stimulants to me for various reasons so this is the first so called "ADD" med I'm starting with. 

Anyone have any experience with it they'd like to share?

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