Venlafaxine (Effexor, Efexor)

I've been taking 300mg of Effexor. Plenty of people have side effects with it especially when coming off it. If is was dangerous it would not be allowed to be sold. Having said that you can develop serotonin syndrome which is life threatening but that is rare unless you take mulitple antidepressants or a very very large dose.

i've been on effexor for 3 years. i'm up to 187.5mg daily... but i do pop extras when i’m feeling particularly anxious.
it used to work wonders but now, i'm not convinced it's helping at all.
and YES it is a bitch to come off of. i've run out of pills a few times and the withdrawal is terrible. Nausea, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, i couldn't eat or sleep, i felt drunk, but not the pleasant buzz-drunk, the regretting those last 3 drinks, going to vomit-drunk... so yeah, don't run out.
i was always too afraid to call and make an appointment with my dr. so when i finally got the nerve to, i couldn't get in before i ran out. but i didn't tell anyone because i was afraid they'd think i was an idiot for not calling sooner or asking for a sooner appointment... i just didn't want to be an inconvenience to anyone.
actually, now that i think about it; i'm going to run out again in a few days and my next appointment isn't for 2 weeks... fuck me. this is going to be a great couple of days. (please note that last sentence is dripping with sarcasm)

effexor is kind of subtle, except when you miss a dose. side effects are small compared with other anti-deps. so far 3 years and no weight gain, even lost weight. hope this helps. good for anxiety,too. would take xanax for back-up situations, like, public speaking LOL!!!!!!!