IMO, Effexor must be like going off heroin. It is brutal. I was on 225mg of Effexor that I wanted to go off of and tapering was not an option for me. That was ridiculous with the symptoms. So I studied the internet until I found the Prozac bridge. I told my psychiatrist that is what I was going to do. I did not ask. She helped me and I will tell you if you are down to 37.5 mg of Effexor, take 40 mg of Prozac and cut the 37.5 in half or quarters and take out a quarter or half every 4-5 days. It was easy enough to test if you are going off too quickly. The body will quickly let you know!! I eliminated the Effexor and stayed on the Prozac for awhile. and started stepping off of that which was very easy with the long half life. I had zero withdrawal symptoms or problems. I did that same type plan on the 225 mg which worked the same way with zero withdrawal symptoms. When at a 225mg dose, I was conscious of serotonin syndrome which for me, I believe shows up as diarrhea. I have no idea why this type of procedure isn't done always. No one has to suffer going off of Effexor and I was on it for 10 years.