Hi - I am also tapering off of Effexor. I'm sharing my story to add another voice to say that this is really, really hard and you are not alone. It makes me feel less alone to read all of your posts. Effexor was working for me but I didn't want to continue on a medication that had such miserable side effects if I missed just one dose. I had a particularly ugly experience after vomiting and not knowing whether I had also vomited up my medications, so I didn't take another dose. That was a horrible day. As I've gone off, I've ramped up on Pristiq and have been taking Lorazapam (Ativan) to help with the side effects. Even with the Pristiq and Ativan and talk therapy, it's been really, really hard. I have anxiety, insomnia, feel dizzy and lose my balance, feel loopy and have trouble concentrating. Trying to work full-time and parent and be a human while this is going on is rough. I went off it completely 2 weeks ago and had to go back on. So I'm holding steady at 37.5 mg for a couple (few?) more weeks, then alternating 37.5 every other day for ... I don't know how long. I've been taking anti-depressants for over 25 years and Effexor is by far the most difficult taper I've experienced. Hang in there everyone. We are not alone.