@jaev69 Quitting Effexor (venlafaxine) cold turkey is not a good idea. Read article posted by grandmaR about changing/withdrawing from antidepressants — https://www.healthline.com/health/mdd/switching-antidepressants

@jaev69 do not try cold turkey! I accidentally did last Xmas. I was at a friend's house and stayed over longer than planned. So after two days without my meds, I thought I was dying. I had to beg my friend to drive me home on Xmas day because I could barely move. I didn't even quite realize it was withdrawal - I just wanted to die in my own place. Cold turkey should not be considered an option unless you're down to at a tiny dose, certainly not at 150mg.

Save yourself a lot of suffering and taper down slowly.

To @jaev69. I have experienced withdrawal from Venlafaxine, though I was on it only for 3 weeks, 75 mg. for 2 weeks, and 150 mg for one week. It was by far the most horrible experience of my life. Taking Venlafaxine sharply increased my anxiety. I became so restless that I could not even sit down calmly. When I told my psychiatrist about this, he told me it was only a passing phase and I would be OK in a few days. And instead of stopping the Venlafaxine, he increased the dosage to 150 mg! Then my condition became so bad that I told him I was stopping Venlafaxine against his advice. I had become suicidal, and would have committed suicide if I had not taken matters into my own hands. I stopped Venlafaxine Cold Turkey. But the next two weeks were horrible. I suffered severe anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Finally, after two weeks my condition started improving gradually. That was more than four years ago. Today I am fine on a cocktail of drugs.

Since you have taken Venlafaxine 75 mg for around 10 years and 150 mg for 6 months, and you want to stop taking it, please make sure that the taper is very very slow, over a period of many weeks or months. Please don't stop Cold Turkey, otherwise, your experience may be worse than mine, which was unbearably bad. It might endanger your life. If possible, please do your taper under the supervision of a good psychiatrist, who understands Venlafaxine. Mine didn't, and so I almost reached the brink. Hope this helps. God bless you.