Effexor generic - for anxiety and panic attacks

I was prescribed effexor generic 37.5 for anxiety/panic and mild depression. Been taking it for 2 1/2 weeks... only take once per day. My anxiety is awful still. Will this med ever start working. I get so scared and aggravated. I don't know where to turn. My doctor has no idea anything about antidepressants I don't think. I also take low dose trazadone at night to help with insomnia. Any help would be appreciated. I took Cymbalta 30mg before and it worked great for me... I was actually back to normal with it... but my insurance will not pay for it anymore. Effexor (venlafaxine) is similar to Cymbalta in that they are both what is called SNRI type antidepressants. You are on a very low dose and it can take upwards of a month to reach maximum effectiveness. I suspect you will have to go up on the dose to get relief, but be patient and see what happens over the next week to 10 days. The other responses are spot on. Let me add that you should have doctor visit schedule 6 weeks after you started to evaluate your dosage level. It takes about 4 weeks for Effexor to titrate. The 6 week evaluation is to determine if the dosage is correct. At this point you need to hang in there. I know that will be tough. Changing medications is one of the most difficult problems in dealing with depression, anxiety and panic. You have my sympathy and my support. Insurance companies are a PITA. With some of the things we go through to get well it is overwhelmingly frustrating for an insurance company to say that we can't have the drugs that work because they think they know better than our doctors.. There, I feel better for you already.