I\'ve been on Effexor for over a year. I\'m terrified to go through the withdrawls. Anytime I\'ve missed a dose, I get very ill feeling and have those electric shocks in my head. My depression is so bad that I have to be on some kind of antidepressant for life. I was going to kill myself many times before I went on Effexor. Previous anti depressants stopped working. So far this is the one that\'s \"healed\" me and kept me from harming myself. I guess I should thank my parents for the lovely genetics. Good luck to all going off it. I hope you find something to treat your original problems that you started taking Effexor for. I also took it while I was pregnant with my OBGYN\'s OK. My son was born just perfect.