Hey, all.

First of all, let me just give you a quick bit of background on my smoking before I get to my main concern. I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, mild mental symptoms of Tourette's and for the last year I have been suffering from panic/anxiety disorder (I'll have panic attacks just lying in bed). Pot has always helped me cope with these issues. Although, admittedly, lately, with the panic/anxiety, it's been more of a toss-up and, like with most, drugs, I believe it all depends on "set and setting". These days, I smoke about once a week or, most times, once every two weeks. As of today, I haven't smoked in about 3 weeks.

Anyway, I started taking Effexor 2-3 months ago and didn't notice any change in smoking. However, I was just prescribed a higher dosage of 187.5 mg and I believe my doctor plans on possibly raising this again (possibly to 225 mg). Of course, I'm not a fan of being on Effexor to begin with, so this frustrates to no end.

Anyway, I'm wondering if this new dose a) will/may interfere or cause any reaction with pot and b) if pot will/may effect the effective operation of this new dose.


Thanks for reading. I'm pretty fucked up these days (or more than usual LOL), so having one less thing on my mind would be a great relief.

My uncle takes Effexor.. used to take 225mg now down to 175mg.. he didn't seem to have a problem at 225mg and has had no problems taking cannabis 175mg combined with all the other things he takes...

if you're taking it already and are doing fine... than i don't see why a mild or medium increase would make that much more of a difference.. my suggestion, get used to the higher dosages first before smoking if you're uncomfortable with the idea..

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hey read "smoking and anxiety" in the main forum... effexor is a horrible drug

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hey man you gotta joint?

Weed is an antidepressant. It will exacerbate the antidepressive effects Effexor. Which would be: somnolence, dizziness, insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, tremor, dreams, nausea, constipation, anorexia, diarrhea, vomiting, dyspepsia, dry mouth, flatulence, vasodilation, hypertension, tachycardia, abnormal ejaculation, impotence, urinary frequency, sweating, rash, prurities, headache, asthenia, infection, chills, and chest pain.

While I appreciate your input, that's just your opinion. Some people hate Effexor and some have benefited greatly from it. I really can't tell at this point.

Hmmm.....Well, that really doesn't make sense seeing as how I'm on Effexor to help control the anxiety, nervousness etc. in the first place.

weed is an antidepressant?? lol

i have been on a 175mg dose of effexor for a few months now and i smoked weed almost everyday and the two didnt really afect eachother at all

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Actually, it's an antianxiety drug that's used to for anxiety associated with depression.

The exact mechanisms of action may not be understood, but, the main sites of action may be the limbic system and reticular formation. It increases the effects of gamma-aminobutyrate, an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Anxiety blocking effects occur at doses well below those necessary to cause sedation, ataxia.


Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult
hippocampus neurogenesis and produce
anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects
http://www.jci.org/cgi/reprint/115/11/3104.pdf

2006 study:
Largest-Ever Study of Marijuana, Depression Finds Fewer Depressive Symptoms, Better Mood
http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr20051117.html

ok, but remember me when youre trying to quit...good luck

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hey man you gotta joint?

Mystik - it's hard to answer your original question, as meds affect each person differently. I have health issues as well, the biggest being fibromyalgia, which is one of the main reasons I smoke. However, I also take 337.5mg of Effexor - I've had no side effects from this med, and my depression and anxiety are completely under control. For me, it's worked great. When I talked with my doctor about continuing my pot use, she told me to try it, and if my reactions were still good, to go for it.

Conclusion - you won't know unless you try it, but I have no problems.

i smoked while on effexor but i was on a low dose so it was ok. All i know is when you get off effexor you get the shocks..

I used to be on Effexor xr (300mg), but that and smoking a gram a day=16 hours of sleep.

I no longer take the Effexor, and I would not recommend it to anyone. If I missed a dose, I might as well not get out of bed. But that was me...everybody is different, try it out and see what it does do you.

if you had just anxiety they would put you on Xanax..

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not exactly .. xanax is a tempt fix just like ativan ..

ive been dealing with some anxity and couple minior panic attacks here and there, and just started effexor 75mg once a day yesterday...i smoke and am hoping there are no effects with the two, i smoke about 2g of premium quality herbs with a volcano most of the time (this is coming from 5 years of blunts and pipes) .. anyways anyone smoking and taking effexor or just effexor i wish ya luck to your recovery, ill update ya guys if anything different happens ..

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Mystik, you've got enough psych stuff going on I'd advise you to follow the doc's advice on your Effexor usage. I was prescribed 150 mg. a day in response to post brain tumor surgery depression. I started at a quarter dose and only got to 75 mg. a day before I knew that was enough to get me out and busy. I grew concerned about the negative effect it seemed to be having on my short term memory, and it gave me a bit too much goofy energy. I was smoking a little along with the Effexor, but in June my doc allowed me to stop since it was such a small dose, and because my smoking had become a daily regimen (wake and bake, one lungfull each morning....that's it). I just started feeling a bit lethargic a week ago and have resumed the Effexor at 75 mg. every other day. Saw the doc today and he approves. It's a good drug for when you need it, although it doesn't have the instantaneous results that cannabis does. Good luck to you, but bottom line I think you have to trust your doc. As for the cannabis usage, moderation is the key. I take just the one hit every morning and am fully functional.

Hi Cannabis.com! This is my first post!

I have been using Venlafaxine for about a year due to suffering of depression. At first 225mg, that has recently been upped to 300mg. Before this I used Efexor(can't remember the dose) for a couple of month before switching because of lack of progress on Efexor.

Anyway, I have been smoking more or less on a daily basis the last six months or so. I have heard people(my mother among others) saying that Marijuana use can actually restrain the effects of Venlafaxine. I have yet to seen any sources of this, I have asked my mom about this but I haven't seen one from her yet. I therefore started Googling a bit about the subject and found this thread, but I have been unsucessful in finding the concrete info I would like. If this turns in to a debate with my mother I would like to know something about the subject

Has anyone had any experience with this?

I am sorry if this should be posted anywhere else, but since this thread treated the use of Venlafaxine and Cannabis I thought it'd be a good place.