@ashleyharris728 I had a life threatening reaction to Effexor. It sent me spiraling downward and I had a near miss and went to the hospital as a result. Most patients on it don't experience what I did. But it can happen and I think there needs to be more awareness of this. Also, the sheer number of people reporting struggles withdrawing from it here and elsewhere, a process that for some can take a year or more and sometimes ends in failure to stop taking it, indicates to me that it needs to be reexamined in studies far more intensively than it has been so far. I was fortunate to be able to get off of it quite quickly. But a lot of people aren't that lucky. It was initially prescribed by my general physician before the bipolar diagnosis, and I question whether it might be better to restrict its use for treatment to psychiatrists alone. I also think patients should be fully advised on the potential difficulties of getting off of it before a prescription is given. I wasn't. If I had known, I might have declined starting it in the first place.