I took Effexor xr for years. I loved it at first, and it helped me for quite a while. But then it just wasn't helping me that much anymore. Plus I felt tired all the time, I had disturbing dreams, and would get brain zaps when it got anywhere near the time for my next dose. I felt like I needed to either increase my dose (again) or go off it. I decided I wanted to clear my head, and I started tapering off the drug. I decreased my dosage slowly for about four months, and all was well, until I finally stopped altogether last week. I have gone off four or five other antidepressants in my life, and I had no reason to expect any difficulties, but boy was I wrong!
When I look at the list of possible withdrawal symptoms for Effexor, I have had every one except hallucinations. The two worst are that the brain zaps are almost constant unless I lie still with my eyes closed, and the nausea is so bad that I feel like I'm about to vomit all the time.
My nausea is a little better today than it was yesterday, so I have reason to hope. But I offer my experience as a cautionary tale. Everyone's body is different, of course, but my withdrawal from Effexor has been MUCH worse than any other drug I've been on -- even though I tapered off slowly, as recommended.
Since all antidepressants seem to "poop out" eventually, withdrawing from them seems like an eventuality one has to consider when starting on them. Had I known how absolutely AWFUL I would feel at this point, I'm not sure I would have taken it.