Venlafaxine
Shares rank 8 of 11 antidepressants by recommenders
Prescription antidepressant that people say lifted mood and eased social phobia and fears where other medications had failed. One person reported blood pressure rising to emergency-room levels.
Prescription antidepressant that people say lifted mood and eased social phobia and fears where other medications had failed. One person reported blood pressure rising to emergency-room levels.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Improved mood and fears
“I think it has been an enormous improvement in my life on nearly every axis”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Doctors are finally learning to manage antidepressant withdrawal” “both my social phobia and my fear of dark almost vanished on venlafaxine”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Doctors are finally learning to manage antidepressant withdrawal” “it literally allowed me to smile again”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Doctors are finally learning to manage antidepressant withdrawal”
Other antidepressants people recommend
The four most recommended other antidepressants, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 11 antidepressants, rankedWhat people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it literally allowed me to smile again”
“I finally found a medication, venlafaxine, that actually worked.”
“I think it has been an enormous improvement in my life on nearly every axis”
“both my social phobia and my fear of dark almost vanished on venlafaxine”
“it raised my blood pressure to the "go to the ER" range”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.