I too feel for your pain and can relate: last fall after taking 150mg Effexor ER for 6 years it stopped working (originally prescribed it because after taking Lexapro for six years it too stopped working and a year of withdrawal became unbearable). I've read this happens to about 30% of people. 4 months of tapering and after stopping the same withdrawal symptoms many have described plus the most unsettling: an alien feel to the flow of consciousness, like a familiar song played a bit out of tune. Went back on it, 112.5mg. which hadn't been so bad on the way down, but now able to get only basic things done. I see my doc next week and will ask about a bridge med. Did some of you find a low dose of Prozac helpful?