My husband has been on effexor for maybe 6 years,and i can not imagine him being taken off of it.first let me give you a little back ground about us we have been married for 15 years and i am 30 he is 32 we have 4 children 13,12,6 and a 3 yr old.he has ran out of his meds on a friday and i wasnt able to get them filled till monday and he is on 75mg 2 times a day.He was unable to function! crying and mad and withdrawn all at the same time.he had that popping feeling in his head.he has been on the gambent of meds,zoloft,prozac,paxil,welbutrin and nothing helped him untill effexor but i fear the day he would have to stop taking it.its like they have handicaped him by helping him.