Increasing Effexor after 20 years

Given my experience with Effexor I would have a very serious discussion with your prescribing physician about potential side effects as well as the potential difficulties you might encounter if you have to withdraw from the drug. And if it’s your general physician, I would consult a psychiatrist.

I don’t want to scare you off of it, but it does seem to show up on this forum far more frequently than any other medication that I’ve noticed. A lot of people report spending extended periods trying to quit using it because the withdrawal symptoms can be pretty extreme in some cases.

I had an unusually bad but known to be possible response to it and had to stop taking it. So I am heavily biased. But I have said that if I had been properly informed on how hard it can be to quit, which I don’t feel that I was, I probably wouldn’t have begun using it to begin with.

My advice is to be fully informed and proceed with caution.