First of all, if you are having a bad reaction to Effexor, tel your doctor right away. That being said, I was on it for the best part of twenty years. It kept me very stable and happy. Lowered libido but that was the only negative effect. I went through a stage in my life shortly after my dad died and I thought I’d try to ween off of it. I had gone through “the change” and thought to myself that if I was fine before puberty, maybe I’ll be fine after puberty. (No such luck). So, after 6 months of crying several times a day and losing about 18 pounds from the anxiety, I’m back on Zoloft and Seroquel. (Not sure why the doc didn’t put me back on Effexor.). It’s working well for me and for that I am VERY grateful. And my family is grateful.

Turns out I could quite possibly be bipolar. Being on these two meds is keeping me stable. And, looking back, without Effexor, I definitely wouldn’t have had such a long career. (I just quit, but that’s another story. Not a bad story, just long. All is well and I’m happily in another job.)

Anyway, Effexor is not horrible - just not sure if I agree with prescribing it for hot flashes if al things! But it does a great job quelling anxiety and depression!

Hope this helped!