I was prescribed effexor in the year 2000 & took it for 6 yrs at a dose of 75mg rising to 150mg per day. The withdrawl was a nightmare but even more scary is the fact that having finally come off the drug it is though a great mist has been lifted and the emotions and my ability to react to real live events have returned. I feelas if I was trapped in abubble, the drug was so controlling & surpressed all emotion making me desincitised. I was suffering in my marriage and firmly believe that this drug changed my charachter & mind so much that I could not recat to what was happenning in front of my eyes, I am sadly now divorced and feel terrible as I feel it changed my thought and mind processes, I was very moody & irritable which just got worse. since coming off the drug I am now experiencing emotions/sensitivities that were locked away whilst on Effexor.  Please has anyone else experienced these feelings? - feeling totally detatched from reality, whilst on the medication,  an inability to react to events, unable to show emotion or cry, feeling in a protective bubble in the knowl;edge that thuings around you were bad (in my case a marriage going thru a difficult period) yet I was oblivious to the gravity of the situation and felt in a different world.

All sounds odd I know but I fear I might not be alone as to how this drug managed to control/alter my mind and thoughts so much I was utterly desensiticed.

I have been on 225mg.of effexor for about 5 years.I am really upset that my doctors did not tell me about the withdrawal.At the time I had tried so my antidepressants that I would try anything.The nightmares are the worst.I can not make through the night with out a sleep aid.The very worst side effect has been my lack of good judgment.I have been laid off twice for making really bad decisions.I was not sure why I did them until I traced my actions back to the time when I started the effexor.Needless to say I do not feel in control.Has anyone experienced this problem?

Hey, not only you, there are so many. Sometimes Effexor is really troublesome for individual. This drug is not suitable for all. You may share your experience here:


http://www.ndri.com/forum/t29-need-help-effexor-causing-me-problems-i-think.html

http://www.ndri.com/forum/t136-looking-for-info-and-experiences-of-people-taking-effexor-with-paxil.html

Share with them, you might get a better way to talk to your doctor.