You acknowledge that you need to replace the Paxil you were taking for depression and anxiety—but right now it seems you're "putting the cart before the horse" and mostly worrying about how to get off whichever you try IF it DOESN'T help you.

Please remember that—
1) NOT everyone has difficulty getting off a drug; this site is for folks who ARE having, or DID have problems, so of course, it seems that quitting Effexor/venlafaxine is a nightmare. For some it is, but mostly because they're going too fast; quite a few here found "slow and steady" a successful strategy.
2) You learned something about tapering through your own experience getting off Paxil—that going too fast put you into a tailspin. Again, this reinforces the "slow and steady" approach to tapering if discontinuing a drug is needed.
3) You may learn very quickly that your post-Paxil choice IS, or ISN'T working. Usually, it is long-time use (or high dosages) that make discontinuing a drug difficult.
4) What drug will work for you is solely dependent on YOUR body—no one else's physiology, mental/medical issues, or past treatments are going to be like yours, so their experiences good, or bad aren't a prediction of yours.

You will set yourself up for success by reading up on how these possible next drugs work and for what conditions/issues they work best and having an in-depth talk with your prescriber. Good luck and much success going forward.

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