question regarding Effexor and vision problems

I really have no clue why my post would have been deleted. I'm trying to pass along information to help people going through the same c**p I went through, so howabout leaving it please???

Hi! I'm on effexor now and have been for several years. Last year, they raised my dosage and a week later I was experiencing double vision, they had to put me on something else, but didn't take me off of effexor.. In the last several weeks, I'm having more eye trouble, there is one dark line in my vision, on each eye and I can see it all the time. I have made a eye Doctor appt for March. Weight gain (YEP!!) I gained 50 pounds and they told me I was lucky because some people have gain anywhere between 50pd to 80pd. With this medication you can crave carbs and I had a heck of time getting it off. Take care; Karen Hope some of this info helped you

My daughter recently stopped taking Effexor. She now realizes that her failing eyesight began ten years ago, when she started taking Effexor! We're considering seeing a lawyer. If so, would you be willing to allow us to contact you?

I am also considering a lawsuit. I only took effexor for a few weeks and got off of it due to multiple adverse reactions. All reactions stopped when i got off the drug except my failing eye site. Its been 2 years and Ive already had one eye surgery and optometrist just informed me that i will be needing another one soon. I get labs drawn once a month and no other medical conditions can be found. I too am thinking about seeing a lawyer. Maybe we can join forces. They really need to be held accountable. I worry every day that one day I will not be able to see at all..

Thank you for replying! What kind of surgery have you had on your eyes? My daughter also experienced very high cholesterol while taking Effexor. She, too, is very worried about her failing eyesight.

I have been on Effexor for around 2 yrs. I have chronic dry eyes which make my eyes very sore. I used Restasis for 3 mos. but then that started hurting my eyes. I just don't know what to do. I have heard of lip-I-flow which is supposed to help but it is so new insurance doesn't cover it. It's a simple procedure but costs $1500! I can't afford this and there is no guarantee that it will work. All I know is that some meds can cause dry eyes, they don't say dry eyes, but blurry vision. Good luck.

I have a question, because I took effexor for about 3 months straight and then 3 more on and off and as soon as I did, the visual problems appeared. It's been more than 4 months I've been off of them and these visual problems still occur, I feel like I'm high all the time and I don't understand it. It bothers me so much and I wish someone would give me some kind of hope or answer to why or if it will go away.

Yes, things got better when I went off this drug - I had blurred vision, now it´s better- I think your problems are also connected with effexor and now I take St johns wort without any side effects :).

My husband has had continuos problems with his eyes, and weight gain. He s really worried that Venlafaxine is damaging his eyes. Doctors say it s anxiety but many people report the same thing so it s not coincidence!

Trying to get in touch with people who have noticed Venlafaxine might be damaging their eyes. Facebook would be easier. My husband s sight has detoriarated. he s worried his eyes are being damaged. Doctors do not listen. Many people are affected. Also getting off this drug is hell! Withdrawal effects are horendous.

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I am taking effexor and have really bad dry eyes. Light sensivity peripheral halos painful scratchy feeling eyes. Very debilitating. I use systane ultra eye drops. Help to a certain extent. I also seriously considering weining off effexor.

Your history with antidepressants is strikingly similar to my own. I began being prescribed anti-depressants in 1994 for postpartum depression. I too resolved to get off the drugs many times and no doctor really understood that my recurring "depression" was actually a natural part of the withdrawal symptoms as you ween. They again prescribed I go back on the drug each time, and this went on for many, many years.
Recently I received a poorly formulated generic of Effexor, for the second time in the past few years, and the withdrawal symptoms have insidiously occurred over the last couple of weeks. Having contemplated weening off the drug, and feeling the withdrawal already, a few days ago I decided to stop taking it altogether.
We are fortunate that the symptoms and the effects do not last. It is horrible including the need for extreme concentration to accomplish the smallest of tasks, what feels like misfirings in the brain, profuse sweating, and violent dreams. Did you use anything to relieve your symptoms?

You are not imagining the failing eyesight from effexor use and the withdraw symptoms can last up to a year according to some patients still going through it. Even with the taper down dosing.Don't know if this post will be left or not.Freedom of information should be a common courtesy but big Pharmaceutical companies rule the world don't you know? The withdraws that I am still having and the vision problems were not on the list of course or I NEVER would have taken it. There are no Fibromyalgia support groups where I live and lets just say it is a very big city and in the month of May all of the world watchs us.So not a small town. Not 1 support group .Sad that it is the highest suicide rate for this condition.Time to stand up and fight and share the info fellow sufferers we need Neurology not Rhumetology and where is the funding???

I have been on a very low dose of effexor for 10 years now - started when I was going through menopause. I now think, after reading all of this, that it has GREATLY effected my eyes! I started getting very very dry eyes about 10 years ago too but assumed it was one of the many pleasures of aging. But in putting two and two together = 10 years, how ironic! The eye situation has gotten much worse the last few years and I've been diagnosed with 'dry eye syndrome' wherein one of them is SO dry that it actually leaks tears down my face all day. So fun! The only solution to that is apparently getting a plug in the tear duct. Not there yet. After reading all of the above here, I think my eye problem is DIRECTLY related to the effexor and I guess my husband and others will just have to put up with me being a cranky b***h!! Had I known this going into it, no frigging way would I have taken the effexor.. Further, when I periodically have forgotten to take it, oh my goodness - Katie bar the door - my moods get horrible and I get dizzy and nauseous and cry. I will have to wean off very very slowly but off I will come! This is nuts. I work on a computer. I need my eyes for everything and they are miserable and yes I've had them checked and re-checked. When they are super dry, like mine, they are very prone to infection, which I'm currently experiencing, so no mas!!!!!! Thank you to all who've shared. Additionally, the insert from the pharmacy that comes with the medicine talks about various eye problems. Who reads those things unless/until you have a problem?

I am experiencing alot of eye fatigue..to tie point of exhaustion..just trying to keep my eyes open until l get off work..sensitivity gives me such pressure that I have grrat difficulty completing my charting..and I sweat like a pig..pouring..and Im trying to find a Physician to work with me to wean off..