@cupcakevonsprinkle A friend of mine who was a heroin addict in her 20s and was on Effexor in her 40s said getting off of heroin was easier. That, for me, was pretty shocking to hear.

I'm in the same boat as you. Never again will I take an antidepressant. In my case Effexor made me suicidal, a rare but known side effect. I stopped cold turkey, something I don't suggest because it can be dangerous to do so, but I was desperate. The withdrawal symptoms were miserable and persisted for weeks. And based on what I've seen on this forum from others, I feel like I got off easy. And, again like others here, I was not told when it was prescribed how difficult it could be to stop using it. I too wish I'd done more research. It's unlikely I would have begun taking it in the first place.

Patients need to be seriously cautioned about Effexor. Too many aren't.

After my experience and what I've seen here, I question whether it should even be on the market. My impression is that there are as many posts on this forum discussing difficulties with it as there are for all other medications that appear here combined. That's a huge red flag in my opinion.