Hives related to Effexor? (possibly from long-term use)

I have been taking Effexor XR in various doses for about 8 years now.  In the past 6 months, I have had serious breakouts with hives and also some facial swelling.  I have also been having loose stools, gas and some cramping.  I have seen an allergist, immunologist and GI specialist and no one can figure out what is wrong.  According to the tests, I have no allergies.  I also had an endoscopy and colonoscopy done and the biopsy results were negative for celiac disease, which I was thinking could possibly be my problem.  I have cut out the gluten anyway for about 6 weeks and am feeling a little better, but not completely.  I was thinking maybe I had early celiac or just gluten sensitivity.  Many of my symptoms and other chronic issues seemed to fit celiac disease.  The hives are still there in small patches, especially if I miss my meds.  I am taking allegra, hydroxyzine and zantac for the hives.  I also take effexor XR for anxiety and prilosec for GERD and Barrett's esophagus.  Levbid prescribed for IBS-like problems.

My mom just discovered today online that there are people who have shared their stories of having effects of effexor show up even after taking it for several years with no problems.  I am wondering if my body is just "tired of it."  I am having trouble finding much info about it.  Effexor has been like a miracle drug for my anxiety and I hate to have to go off of it.  And I know that the withdrawal is hell...been there, done that.  Also, my psychiatrist thinks my hives and bowel problems are from anxiety/IBS, which I don't believe is true.  I have not been any more stressed/anxious in the past few months.  I don't think she'll like the idea of changing my anxiety meds or going off them completley. 

Has anyone had experience with developing hives with effexor after long term use?  I did have to switch to the generic (per insurance company) when it came out in July, but I began getting hives in May. 

Thanks. The hives are not life-threatening and hives are listed as a side effect of the drug. I am just wondering if you could develop side effects even after taking a drug for several years with little or no side effects.

Yes.  I guess I don't think of them as severe because I don't have any throat swelling or difficulty breathing.  I will discuss with my psychiatrist, but she seems to think the hives are caused by anxiety, which I don't believe to be true.  I know they can be, but I haven't had any increased anxiety lately. 

Hi there,
I was on effexor XR for 6 months and then out of the blue one day I woke up with hives all over my body and they never went away. I stopped the effexor about 4 months into the hives and then continued to have hives and swelling (angioedema) and eventually anaphalaxis types of reactions for a total of 13 months. I eventually saw a nautropath and was able to get rid of the hives after finding what I was all of a sudden "sensitive" to. There is some correlation between effexor and hives, the colour FD&C Yellow #5 (in effexor) and hives, as well as once you've had hives - then being extremely sensitive to all things related to Aspirin, NSAIDS, Sulphites, etc.

Even though I stopped using effexor the hives did persist for a long time until I was able to clear them using an elimination diet for 3 weeks under the supervision of my nautropath. I'm still extremely sensitive to the yellow colouring, anything with tartrazine, NSAIDS and sulphites, and I'll have localized hives / swelling from those chemicals. I've done hours and hours and hours worth of reading online and it seems that a lot of people suffer hives after being on effexor for an extended period of time. Almost like it triggers that autoimmune switch to turn on.

Good luck - it's a miserable thing to deal with.

FYI - my nautropath had me follow the diet and supplement plan for the Thorne Mediclear product - I had to do about 4 weeks worth of the very limited elimination diet but I saw significant improvements pretty rapidly. I too also think gluten played a part in my hives - the elimination diet pulls out all gluten and that's where I started to see improvements. Eat gluten now without any hives.

I take buspar for anxiety and that seems to help - they kept trying to get me to take other meds but wouldn't listen to me that it was the frigging hives that were causing me anxiety and making me depressed!!!!

Good luck.

((from a supplement / herbal perspective, the nautropath also had me take Deep Immune tincture (by St. Francis Herb Farms), Querciten, Vitamin C and Nettle Tops to help balance the autoimmune response, and the Querciten / Vit C and Nettle to calm the itch.))

Hi, so happy to have found your post. I felt like I could have written it since this is just like my story. I have been taking effexor for anxiety and panic for 8 yrs. Six months ago I developed bad hives and angioedema which kept getting worse and worse. Have administered epipens to myself 3 times in past two weeks due to severe swelling in face and tongue with difficulty breathing not relieved by antihistamines or ventolin. So, after reading on line that long term use of effexor can cause angioedema, experimented by skipping my 150mg of effexor and symptoms subsided to very large extent. My Dr. said to cut down to 75mg but even 37.5 encourages hives and swelling. ( Ironic that experienced what I thought was panic as throat closing and suffocating which I now think was caused by the very thing I thought would help). Now, I can breath off effexor! I am staying on my gluten free diet for now which has helped in past 6 months. Worst part today is awful brain shivers/ zaps from effexor withdrawal with bouts of crying, anger, and freezing cold one minute and hot sweats the next. Hope my story helps someone else feel less alone. Will try vitamin B and gravol. Warmest best.