1. Understanding Depression Slideshow
2. Take the Depression Quiz
3. Benefits of Depression Treatment

What happens if I miss a dose (Effexor, Effexor XR)?

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. Skip the missed dose if it is almost time for your next scheduled dose. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.

What happens if I overdose (Effexor, Effexor XR)?

Seek emergency medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222.

Overdose symptoms may include vomiting, fast heart rate, blurred vision, extreme drowsiness, or seizure (convulsions).

What should I avoid while taking venlafaxine (Effexor, Effexor XR)?

Avoid drinking alcohol, which can increase some of the side effects of venlafaxine.

Venlafaxine may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert.

What other drugs will affect venlafaxine (Effexor, Effexor XR)?

Before using venlafaxine, tell your doctor if you regularly use other medicines that make you sleepy (such as cold or allergy medicine, sedatives, narcotic pain medicine, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, and medicine for seizures or anxiety). They can add to sleepiness caused by venlafaxine.

Ask your doctor before taking any medicine for pain, arthritis, fever, or swelling. This includes aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), diclofenac (Voltaren), indomethacin, piroxicam (Feldene), nabumetone (Relafen), etodolac (Lodine), and others. Taking any of these drugs with venlafaxine may cause you to bruise or bleed easily.

Tell your doctor about all other medications you use, especially:

• cimetidine (Tagamet, Tagamet HB);
• ketoconazole (Nizoral);
• linezolid (Zyvox);
• lithium (Eskalith, LithoBid);
• haloperidol (Haldol) or risperidone (Risperdal);
• tramadol (Ultram, Ultracet);
• tryptophan (sometimes called L-tryptophan);
• warfarin (Coumadin);
• almotriptan (Axert), frovatriptan (Frova), sumatriptan (Imitrex), naratriptan (Amerge), rizatriptan (Maxalt), or zolmitriptan (Zomig); or
• any other antidepressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil), amoxapine (Asendin), citalopram (Celexa), clomipramine (Anafranil), desipramine (Norpramin), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), imipramine (Tofranil), nortriptyline (Pamelor), paroxetine (Paxil), protriptyline (Vivactil), sertraline (Zoloft), or trimipramine (Surmontil).

This list is not complete and there are many other drugs that can interact with venlafaxine. Tell your doctor about all medications you use. This includes prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal products. Do not start a new medication without telling your doctor.

Where can I get more information?

Your pharmacist can provide more information about venlafaxine.

Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Copyright 1996-2012 Cerner Multum, Inc. Version: 11.02. Revision date: 12/15/2010.

Your use of the content provided in this service indicates that you have read,understood and agree to the End-User License Agreement,which can be accessed by clicking on this link.

Need help identifying pills and medications?
Use the pill finder tool on RxList.