I have pretty severe social anxiety and panic issues. I was put on Zoloft at first which seemed to work for the depression but didn't do anything for anxiety (went up to 100mg). So my Dr. switched me to Effexor XR. I am currently on the 75.5(?) dosage. It actually is seeming to make my anxiety worse.

Has anyone been through this with meds? Will my Dr. just try another A.D. or will he go to something else like a benzo? I don't really want to get onto a benzo unless its a last resort, but I am so tired of all the time that it is taking to find some relief. Its very frustrating.

Any advice?

yes, I've been through it all when it comes to medication. Not all SSRI's work for all people, so it's a trial and error method that the doctors use. You'll go on one for awhile, if it doesn't work, they'll up it, until they feel like it may not work for you, or you get sick and tired of it, then they'll switch you to something else. This process will go on until you either find one that works for you, or you really get sick and tired of the whole mess and say, enough and stop taking them all together. Then...you're anxiety may increase again, and decide to go back to the doctor and he'll try again to find one that works for you.

You do need to know that ad's take awhile before they fully take affect. It can take anywhere from two to eight weeks before they work and most times in between that time, your anxiety tends to get worse, that's when the doctor will give you some sort of benzo to take the edge off until the ad starts working.

Good luck to you...once they do work, they work great, it's just a matter of finding one that works for you.

Thanks. I haven't been on this ad for very long (2 weeks) and its an snri instead of an ssri like before so I guess i should give it more time. I have a dr appt in two more weeks. I am just anxious about it working, lol.

I was on Effexor and Xanax. I took the Effexor every day. It took about a month for it to kick in so that I could tell it may work.

It took us about six months to get the right dose.

The Xanax was for break-through panic and I didn't take it every day. But I had it in case I needed it.

Once the Effexor took effect I could really get a sense of hope again, which I had lost.

So I was able to work very hard in therapy and that made all the difference. It takes a lot of work, but it's worth it!

Good luck!

I would give it a little longer. It may work. Effexor worked well for me. I started out at 37.5 and then was upped to 75 where I stayed for a long time. Effexor pulled me out of a dark place but it made me really lethargic. I am not on it anymore. Coming off of Effexor is a whole other story.

So give it a little more time and hopefully you'll see some benefit.

75mg is the minimum therapeutic dose for Effexor... it also takes at least 4-6 weeks for the AD meds to kick in; even if you start feeling better after 3 weeks the full effect takes longer. I also had bad anxiety when I first started Effexor, it went away after a while. I started at 37.5mg, then went to 75mg and now I'm at 112.5mg.

My Dr. said that in her experience, anxiety patients respond best at 150mg. If you're still experiencing anxiety after 4-6 weeks I would follow up with your Dr. to get your dosage adjusted. Hang in there.