Venlafaxine withdrawal - did your doctor advise you?

I'm curious since there have been so many threads about the difficulties of withdrawing from Venlafaxine/Effexor, what has been the common experience among patients placed on the medication? Were you told by your doctor and/or pharmacist that if the medication failed to work or caused troublesome side effects and you needed to quit using it, that the process of weaning off the drug could be extremely difficult and unpleasant? I was never advised on this when it was prescribed or refilled, something that has bothered me since I stopped taking it.

I was fortunate in that when I quit it after many years, my side effects only lasted a few weeks. But they were miserable during the first two or three. For me it was severe nausea and vertigo during the early days, and relentless brain zaps that took about 4-6 weeks to resolve.

I've seen a lot of horror stories from others here and elsewhere about prolonged struggles that sometimes even turn into ordeals while stopping the drug. I don't know how common this is statistically, perhaps most people come off of it fairly smoothly, but there's no question that for some at least, it can be a life-consuming experience. I know in my case, for the first few weeks it distracted me from everything else and I had to take a lengthy break from work (I'm self-employed and work on contracts, so I was able to do it without concern for losing my job; I feel very fortunate about this, most people aren’t so well positioned or financially able to simply stop working for a spell).

Given my experience and what I've seen on forums here, I feel many patients need to be better informed about the potential downsides of the drug as well as what could lie in store if they stop taking it. I'm wondering if others feel likewise. I think it's something that should be stressed more in medical schools.

One thing I have learned from the experience is to ask questions of my doctor about long term concerns with prescriptions, and to look up studies for any pharmaceutical I’m prescribed before starting it, unless it’s something that needs to be taken immediately for a suddenly present condition (antibiotics for instance, which I needed for a severe bout of pneumonia last year). I make sure I know what I’m taking first. I am scrupulous about using credible sources, not social media or scare websites, but I do want a full understanding. Earlier this year I was put on a cholesterol medication, and before I had the prescription filled and began using it, I did look it up on PubMed and British Journal of Medicine, both of which found it effective and side effects quite rare. I think that’s an important step to take. If I had been better informed about the potential negatives of Effexor – which did work for me for several years but then began amplifying my depression – I probably would have gone back and asked about alternatives.