• Indications
    EFFEXOR XR (venlafaxine extended-release) capsules are a prescription medicine used to treat adults with a certain type of depression called Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), or Panic Disorder (PD). It is not known if EFFEXOR XR is safe and effective for use in children.
  • Prescribing Information & Boxed WARNING
  • Medication Guide
  • Savings Sign Up
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT EFFEXOR XR

EFFEXOR XR is a prescription medicine to help treat adults with a certain type of depression called Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), and Panic Disorder (PD).
EFFEXOR XR may cause serious side effects, including:
Increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions: EFFEXOR XR may increase suicidal thoughts and actions in some children, adolescents, and young adults, especially within the first few months of treatment or when the dose is changed. EFFEXOR XR is not for use in children.
  • Depression or other serious mental illnesses are the most important causes of suicidal thoughts or actions.
  • Pay close attention to any changes, especially sudden changes, in mood, behaviors, thoughts, or feelings. This is very important when an antidepressant medicine is started or when the dose is changed.
  • Call your healthcare provider right away to report new or sudden changes in mood, behavior, thoughts, or feelings.
  • Keep all follow-up visits with your healthcare provider as scheduled. Call your healthcare provider between visits as needed, especially if you have concerns about symptoms.
Call your healthcare provider or get emergency help right away if you or a family member have any of the following symptoms, especially if they are new, worse, or worry you:
  • attempts to commit suicide
  • thoughts about suicide or dying
  • acting aggressive, being angry, or violent
  • acting on dangerous impulses
  • new or worse depression
  • new or worse anxiety
  • panic attacks
  • feeling very agitated or restless
  • new or worse irritability
  • trouble sleeping
  • an extreme increase in activity or talking (mania)
  • other unusual changes in behavior or mood

HOW TO GET BRAND-NAME EFFEXOR XR

1. Ask your HCP to write “DAW” on your prescription
When your healthcare provider prescribes brand-name EFFEXOR XR, ask them to indicate “DAW” (Dispense As Written)-or the language used in your state-on all your EFFEXOR XR prescriptions, as appropriate.*
*Language and requirements may vary based on your state's laws.
2. Check your pills
Be sure they're brand-name EFFEXOR XR-not the generic. And be sure to use the EFFEXOR XR Savings Card if eligible.
Sign up for savings
3. Verify your brand-name EFFEXOR XR
Some pharmacies may fill a brand-name prescription with a generic medication and are not required to notify you. Check to make sure your pills say “Effexor XR”; this tells you that you've received the brand-name medication.

Dosage strength of EFFEXOR XR

Talk to your healthcare provider and/or your pharmacist to ask if you should be getting brand-name EFFEXOR XR.

Check your pills for the distinctive shape and markings of brand-name EFFEXOR XR.

Dosage strength of EFFEXOR XR

SAVINGS ON EFFEXOR XR

With the EFFEXOR XR Savings Card eligibe patients may pay as little as $4 every time they get a 30-day fill of brand-name EFFEXOR XR—up to a maximum savings cap of $1,800 a year.
Terms and Conditions apply.
There are 2 ways to use the card immediately. Once you’ve activated your Savings Card, you can either:
  • Bring a printed copy of it to the pharmacy
  • Show it to your pharmacist on your phone
You can keep this card with you and continue to save on each fill for EFFEXOR XR.
To be eligible to use an EFFEXOR XR Savings Card, you must:
  • Be 18 years of age or older
  • Not be covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federal or state healthcare programs
To learn the full details of who is eligible, please see the full Terms and Conditions.
To get a Savings Card, register here and then download your card or have it sent to you via email.
You can use the Savings Card at any participating pharmacy.
The EFFEXOR XR Savings Card can only be used for new prescriptions that are filled after you have activated the card.
Yes, for reimbursement when using a nonparticipating pharmacy: Pay for the EFFEXOR XR prescription and mail a copy of the original pharmacy receipt (cash register receipt NOT valid) with product name, date, and amount circled to: EFFEXOR XR Savings Offer, 2250 Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 300, Morrisville, NC 27560. Be sure to include a copy of the front of your Savings Card, your name, and mailing address.
Yes. If eligible, we’ll reimburse you for the cost of your prescription over and above your eligible cost up to the maximum savings amount set forth in the Savings Card Terms and Conditions. Simply pay for your EFFEXOR XR prescription and mail a copy of your original pharmacy receipt (cash register receipt NOT valid) with product name, date, and amount circled to:
EFFEXOR XR Savings Offer
2250 Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 300
Morrisville, NC 27560
Please be sure to include a copy of the front of your EFFEXOR XR Savings Card, your name, and your mailing address. All reimbursement submissions will be processed within 10 to 14 business days of the date we receive your information.
Health insurance is a type of insurance that helps cover medical services (doctor visits, hospital stays, lab tests, and preventive care) and prescription medicine expenses (costs of the medicines you take).
Different types of health insurance include:
  • Private or commercial insurance: Offered by privately owned companies, often provided through an employer, the Affordable Care Act, or purchased on your own
  • Medicare: Insurance offered by the government for people 65 years of age and older
  • Medicaid: Insurance offered by the government for people in need of financial aid
People who are uninsured or without health insurance pay all healthcare expenses out of pocket.
Your health insurance plan manages your prescription medicine benefits (if offered) with a drug formulary. This lists the prescription drugs, both generic and brand name, that are preferred by your health plan. Drugs on the formulary are usually grouped into tiers, and your cost is determined by the tier that applies to your medicine.
To get brand-name EFFEXOR XR, your insurance will either cover it or have additional requirements, such as:
  • Step edit: Your healthcare provider or your medication treatment history must show that you tried the preferred treatment without success before insurance will approve another medicine
  • Prior authorization: Your healthcare provider must provide additional information (such as lab results or treatment history) before your insurance will pay for your prescription

TAKING EFFEXOR XR

EFFEXOR XR should be taken exactly as prescribed. Your healthcare provider may need to adjust your dosage of EFFEXOR XR until it is the right dose for you; do not change your dose or stop taking EFFEXOR XR without consulting your healthcare provider.
  • Take a single dose of EFFEXOR XR with food at about the same time every day, in the morning or in the evening
  • The capsule should be swallowed whole with fluid; it should not be divided, crushed, chewed, or placed in water
  • It can also be administered by carefully opening the capsule and sprinkling its contents onto a spoonful of applesauce. This mixture should be swallowed immediately, without chewing, and followed by a glass of water
  • If you take too much EFFEXOR XR, call your healthcare provider or poison control center at 1-800-222-1222 or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away
If you have questions about taking your medication, adjusting your daily dose, or discontinuing treatment with EFFEXOR XR, speak with your healthcare provider.
If you take too much EFFEXOR XR, call your healthcare provider or poison control center or seek emergency treatment immediately.
Take EFFEXOR XR exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to. Do not change your dose or stop taking EFFEXOR XR without first talking to your healthcare provider.

Suddenly stopping EFFEXOR XR may cause you to have serious side effects. Your healthcare provider may want to decrease your dose slowly. Symptoms may include:
  • dizziness
  • irritability and agitation
  • anxiety
  • sweating
  • seizures
  • ringing in your ears (tinnitus)
  • nausea
  • problems sleeping
  • tiredness
  • confusion
  • electric shock sensation (paresthesia)
  • headache
  • diarrhea
  • abnormal dreams
  • changes in your mood
  • hypomania

SAFETY & POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS

EFFEXOR XR may cause serious side effects, including:
  • See, “What is the most important information I should know about EFFEXOR XR?”
  • Serotonin syndrome. Taking EFFEXOR XR can cause a potentially life-threatening problem called serotonin syndrome. The risk of developing serotonin syndrome is increased when EFFEXOR XR is taken with certain other medicines. Stop taking EFFEXOR XR and call your healthcare provider or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away if you have any of the following signs and symptoms of serotonin syndrome:
    • agitation
    • seeing or hearing things that are not real (hallucinations)
    • confusion
    • coma
    • fast heartbeat
    • changes in blood pressure
    • dizziness
    • sweating
    • flushing
    • high body temperature (hyperthermia)
    • tremors, stiff muscles, or muscle twitching
    • loss of coordination
    • seizures
    • nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
  • Increases in blood pressure. Your healthcare provider should check your blood pressure before starting treatment and regularly during treatment with EFFEXOR XR. If you have high blood pressure, it should be controlled before you start treatment with EFFEXOR XR.
  • Increased risk of bleeding. Taking EFFEXOR XR with aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or blood thinners may add to this risk. Tell your healthcare provider right away about any unusual bleeding or bruising.
  • Eye problems (angle-closure glaucoma). EFFEXOR XR may cause a certain type of eye problem called angle-closure glaucoma. You may want to undergo an eye examination to see if you are at risk and receive preventative treatment if you are. Call your healthcare provider if you have eye pain, changes in your vision, or swelling or redness in or around the eye.
  • Manic episodes. Manic episodes may happen in people with bipolar disorder who take EFFEXOR XR. Symptoms may include:
    • greatly increased energy
    • severe trouble sleeping
    • racing thoughts
    • reckless behavior
    • unusually grand ideas
    • excessive happiness or irritability
    • talking more or faster than usual
  • Discontinuation syndrome. Suddenly stopping EFFEXOR XR may cause you to have serious side effects. Your healthcare provider may want to decrease your dose slowly. Symptoms may include:
    • dizziness
    • irritability and agitation
    • anxiety
    • sweating
    • seizures
    • ringing in your ears (tinnitus)
    • nausea
    • problems sleeping
    • tiredness
    • confusion
    • electric shock sensation (paresthesia)
    • headache
    • diarrhea
    • abnormal dreams
    • changes in your mood
    • hypomania
  • Seizures (convulsions).
  • Low sodium levels in your blood (hyponatremia). Low sodium levels can happen during treatment with EFFEXOR XR. Low sodium levels in your blood may be serious and may cause death. Elderly people may be at greater risk for this.
  • Lung problems. Some people who have taken the medicine venlafaxine which is the same kind of medicine as the medicine in EFFEXOR XR have had lung problems. Symptoms of lung problems include difficulty breathing, cough, or chest discomfort. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms.
  • Sexual problems (dysfunction). Taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), including EFFEXOR XR, may cause sexual problems.
Do not drive, or operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how EFFEXOR XR affects you. EFFEXOR XR can make you drowsy.
You should not drink alcohol during treatment with EFFEXOR XR.
The most common side effects of EFFEXOR XR include:
  • nausea
  • sleepiness
  • dry mouth
  • male and female sexual problems
  • loss of appetite (anorexia)
  • sweating
  • constipation
These are not all the possible side effects of EFFEXOR XR. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
It is important to be aware of the possible side effects when taking any medication. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you experience any side effects.
The most common side effects of EFFEXOR XR include:
  • nausea
  • dry mouth
  • male and female sexual problems
  • loss of appetite (anorexia)
  • sleepiness
  • sweating
  • constipation
These are not all the possible side effects of EFFEXOR XR. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.