r/Viibryd

Hi friends! I have been on 30mg for a month, with positive changes towards my mood but the same amount of considerable chronic fibromyalgia/EDS pain. I am starting 60mg tomorrow. Should I expect similar side effects from when I first started again? The only lasting negative side effect I have is that my heart rate always seems fairly elevated and increased physical activity (especially in the heat) makes my heart rate sky rocket/makes me dizzy. Thanks everyone 🫶🏼

Hi all!

To start, I am 27F. I started taking Vilazodone 10mg in Feb 2026. I had little to no side effects. My prescriber upped my dose to 20mg in March, and end of May I started getting horrible nightmares and night sweats. I have terrible health anxiety (this medication does not help my anxiety) so this was pretty jarring. Mid-June we decreased my dose back to 10mg as my prescriber thought this was most likely due to the dosage. I don’t wake up drenched as often, but if I’m sleeping on my back, my back will be sweaty when I wake up, for example. In general I can’t tolerate heat at all.

I want to know if anyone else has experienced this before? I feel like it’s not as common to experience night sweats on this compared to SSRIs. I am exhausted from worrying about it.

I started Wellbutrin this weekend to try to help with my motivation and focus, and then hopefully I can ween off of the Vilazodone. I like it for most things, I do wake up happier, but my anxiety and lack of sleep/waking up sweaty is not ideal.

Any similar experience would be appreciated!

TY in advance 🫶🏻

Ok so I was prescribed this medication to help with my depression. I know duh but I just wanted to state that. I took it with food like my doctor suggested and within 2 hours I violently threw up everything that I had eaten. I threw up so hard that I pissed all over myself. I know ew I just wanted to describe how violent the vomiting was. This was my very first dose and it was only 10mg. Has anyone had this kind of reaction? Should I try it again? I want to give it another shot but I don’t really want to vomit and pee on myself again.

I recently weaned off, but noticed while I was taking it I didn’t have any physical pain. Anyone else notice this? Now that I’m off all of my physical ailments are back.

I’m a rather sick person which has left me with medical anxiety. I have a bad gut that left me traumatized with constant nausea for the past few years (which is just now improving), then I experienced a back injury which spiked my anxiety even more, now I’m going through a divorce as this has ruined a lot for me. Now I’m left with crippling anxiety and depression and a fear of medication and side effects. Should I just suck it up and expect nausea and assume I will pull through in a few weeks? I’ve taken off of work for 5 days so I can tough it out, but are there any tips and tricks to make the side effects not take me out?

Hi everyone! So Viibryd is in my green list of GeneSight test results. Thinking of starting but am scared to death of the startup phase. How bad is it and how long does it last? My anxiety is already through the roof and I’m not sure I can tolerate an increase from meds. Thanks in advance!

Hi All,

I've been on Viibryd for ~3wks and am experiencing dissociation thoughts/episodes. I've had passing 'Is this real?' thoughts in the past but these are way more intense, vivid and distressing. For example, I'll be walking around my house thinking 'How am I navigating in this 3D space because it doesn't seem real?' Kind of hard to explain accurately in words. Things close up look more real than items faraway, like mountains on the horizon which have a 2D aspect to them. They last for only a couple seconds but they are happening more often since starting on Viibryd.

Anyone have similar experiences on Viibryd? I'm thinking about switching SSRIs as a result.

How long did it take you to feel less hungover after stopping viibryd? For context, I only took it for three days, but had unbearable GI side effects and had to stop. The last dose was 72 hours ago. I know MMV, but I have to be through the worst of it now, right?

Edit for typo.

I started this medication a couple of months ago, and I’ve recently been having episodes of tremors in my head and hands. I can’t figure out what’s causing it. Has anyone else experienced something similar? I’m not sure if this medication is causing it or if it was because of Botox for my migraines. I noticed the tremors developed after I started both so it’s hard to pinpoint.

I’ve been on Viibryd for about 3 or 4 months now I think. I feel better and am not sobbing everyday anymore, but I think I have emotional blunting. When I talk to people my head feels kind of empty and I don’t really have anything to say. I care a lot less about other people so I’m faking my way through conversations, but I just don’t have anything genuine to say. I still feel ups and downs emotionally and can experience joy (i think), but care less about interactions with other people for some reason. By myself I still have the normal amount of thoughts, but again it’s like my brain gets empty when I talk to people. I still care about and can talk to loved ones, I just struggle with friends and acquaintances.

I’m talking to my psychiatrist next week so I’ll bring it up, but am wondering if anyone else has experienced this!

I switched from Zoloft to Viibryd (20 mg) in early May and also take Vyvanse 50 mg. ( I have been on vyvanse since middle school).

The biggest positive is that my libido came back, but I feel like my anxiety is higher than it was on Zoloft. My brain doesn't seem to shut off at night, I overthink everything, and I've been having trouble sleeping.

My psychiatrist thinks Viibryd may be contributing and is having me switch from taking it at night to taking it at lunchtime. Has anyone noticed that changing the time they take Viibryd helped with insomnia or racing thoughts?

Hoping to start trying to conceive in October, so we're trying to avoid adding another medication if possible and instead figure out whether Viibryd is the issue.

I'd love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience or if changing the timing made a difference.

A little backstory....I have PTSD, GAD, PMDD and MDD. A little over a year ago, my significant other was involved in a near-fatal MVA and since then my anxiety and depression have become much more difficult to manage.

For a while, my anxiety became so overwhelming that I was experiencing constant physical symptoms, so my doctor started me on propranolol, which has helped. I was also started on Zoloft and gradually increased over the year. It has done a decent job of stabilizing my anxiety and depression.

However, I feel emotionally numb all the time. I have no libido. I've gained a significant amount of weight. I've fallen out of love with the person I used to be and the things I once enjoyed. I have very little energy for my children, I'm struggling to keep up with school and work, and I just feel like I'm existing instead of living.

My doctor recently prescribed vilazodone and wants me to taper off the Zoloft. To be honest, I'm terrified. Just thinking about changing medications is giving me anxiety.

Has anyone here tapered off Zoloft while starting vilazodone? What was your experience like? How did you feel during the transition? Were the side effects manageable?

How do you handle this transition while being a mom/spouse/employee/student etc.. I just feel overwhelmed and could really use some reassurance or advice from people who have been there.

I hated antidepressants for a long time still do actually but never really thought I needed them because I wasn't depressed. I struggle with severe anxiety and panic episodes that are debilitating and they refused to give me a benzo. I ended up just sourcing them through a Dr in mexico anyways and I get whatever I'd like shipped right to my front door :). I never really had a reason to be depressed until a HFD EMT punched and knocked my front teeth out in the back of the ambulance so now I basically have no social or dating life and I will more than likely finish out my 20s that way since I've came home from Ukraine I have yet to land a job even with my exceptional resume. So I can genuinely say I am not happy and my thoughts feel so confined I struggle with my vocabulary and forming intelligent sentences in conversations it's almost like the most severe brain fog possible/my mind is just stuck? Here's my cure for everything pill history

Zoloft- minimal affect possible seizure

Prozac-panic attacks left and right the first few days so I stopped

Lexapro- left me under a psych eval by authority

Prestiq- destroyed my desire to get intimate(not like it fuckin matters) and made getting an erection basically impossible. Emotional dullness in every way. I will say the day after I took my first dose was very nice! I was happier and a lot more social But after that it all returned to the same. My memory has suddenly like disappeared im on like Day 6,7, or 8 of cold turkey and I'm still experiencing withdraws? Lingering affects?

None of these meds helped my anxiety nor did they boost my energy or make me feel more optimistic or less depressed to be fair I really didn't give 3 of them the chance to work considering the side affects and I felt like that was pretty reasonable.

have: depression, anxiety, ADHD and CPTSD.

after many years of only using medication that addressed my anxiety (prozac, cymbalta etc) and feeling overall happy/steady but extremely fatigued with no motivation, my new doctor and I decided to wean me off of cymbalta 600mg and get me on viibryd/vilazodone 40mg. I've been using it in tandem with my vyvanse 20mg, which I mostly only use on weekdays.

the good news: the energy problem has been resolved, I have not felt this energized and capable in a longggg time. feels good to be back

the bad news: I am constantly getting flashbacks of my past, ranging from severely traumatic memories to inconsequential but cringy/shameful moments. it has destabilized me completely, and I feel much shorter with other people and harsher on myself. I sometimes wake up and immediately cry, because I am overwhelmed with all these thoughts and memories flooding in. I also have a very hard time falling asleep, and once I wake up, I cannot get myself to fall back asleep even if I need it.

what am I supposed to do? has anybody had a similar experience? my psychiatrist has recommended going down to 30 or even 20mg of vilazodone while highlighting that 40 is generally a good amount for most people. she has also prescribed m quetiapine/seroquel for falling asleep and flashbacks, but I am really nervous about morning grogginess, weight gain, and overall messing with my delicate balance. I do not feel good and need this to stop, I cannot live a life constantly having these terrible flashbacks. but I also really appreciate the energy after a lifetime of sluggishness.

Can vilazodone worsen anxiety?

(48F) I take Viibryd for anxiety (and depression), and also 300 mg of bupropion (Wellbutrin, for depression) but bipolar runs in my family. I may have a touch of it, not sure.

I have increased night sweats since taking Viibryd. I take it in the morning around 9:00 A.M. So, overnight at least twice, I wake up sweating, then after about 5 -10 minutes the sweating stops and I go back to sleep. I also get the sweating during the day a few times. I sometimes get them while eating a meal. I also feel hit from the inside periodically during the day, and my hands feel hot, without sweating.

I want to stop taking Viibryd due to these sweats AND the sexual side effects (impossible to orgasm). The doc says the sweats are NOT from the Viibryd. Does that sound right?
She says if the sweats were caused by Viibryd I would be sweating all night, and also sweating at lower room temps during the day than I did before I took it. Does that sound right?

Since I told her I don’t want to be on it due to sexual side effects (and the sweats) she prescribed Lamictal, I haven’t started it yet. She said to add the Lamictal and increase the dosage over time, and once I’m up to speed on Lamictal then I can taper off Viibryd. Anyone have experience with this?

I wish I could taper off the Viibryd and then after that add the Lamictal, but apparently adding Lamictal and THEN tapering off Viibryd is common?

Hi! I started Viibryd 10 days ago and today is day 3 since I upped my dose to 20mg and the nausea is unbearable.
I’ve been taking Zofran daily I feel like I’m going to faint all the time and so so nauseous. I haven’t been able to do much this past week, I even had to leave work early because I was feeling so sick.
I also have been noticing heart palpitations every time I get up or walk.

Does it get better? Should I call my doctor? Do I keep going? Thank you

To the people who have gained weight while on this medication in a way that didn’t involve eating more (maybe a metabolic thing?), did you manage to lose some of the weight while still on this medication? I’m getting hopeless. I’m gaining weight and I am not eating more than before. Help me

Hi everyone,

I’m about 3 weeks into taking Viibryd/vilazodone, currently only 5 mg because I’m very sensitive to medication. I’m also taking Wellbutrin XL 300 mg.

I’ve been on a bit of a journey with SSRIs over the last several months and I’m feeling really confused and discouraged.

My medication history:

I tried Prozac, but it made me extremely tired.

Then I switched to Zoloft, which honestly felt like the best fit mentally. I got up to 50 mg and felt like it helped, but when I went up to 75 mg, I developed hives. At the time we thought it might be the Zoloft, so I stopped, but now I’m not even fully sure the hives were from Zoloft.

Then I tried Lexapro, but it made me incredibly sedated and sweaty. I felt like I could barely function.

Now I’m on Viibryd, and even though I’m only on 5 mg, I’m still feeling tired, kind of depressed, and not totally like myself. I’ve also felt a little confused/forgetful at times since switching. I know 5 mg is a tiny dose, but I’m surprised by how sedating all of these meds have felt for me.

I’m getting genetic testing/bloodwork soon to see if I metabolize SSRIs weirdly or if there’s some reason I’m reacting this way.

I guess I’m wondering:

Has anyone else been really sensitive to Viibryd, even at a low dose?

Did the fatigue or depressed feeling lift after a few more weeks?

Did anyone do better increasing the dose, or did increasing make side effects worse?

Has anyone had better luck with Viibryd after Zoloft worked but caused possible hives?

I know no one can give medical advice, and I’m working with my psychiatrist. I’m just looking for lived experiences because I feel so tired of switching meds and trying to figure out what’s a side effect, what’s depression, and what’s just my body adjusting.

Thanks in advance. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who had a rough start but either improved or decided Viibryd wasn’t the one.

When I was on Zoloft, caffeine hardly affected me at all. But since I’ve been on Viibryd, caffeine can almost cause the reverse effect where my OCD is almost worse. Has anyone else noticed this specifically around Viibryd?