"i have been on effexor for awhile now i would guess three years. i don&#039;t know if it works or not, to be honest. the passed few years have not been normal by any means. i had a lower back fusion in 2009 but bounced back fast and continued my life. missed a year though of baseball. then while playing i broke my neck, yes my neck. that ended up also getting fused. my ill advised comeback resulted in three shoulder surgeries and a broken arm. i didn&#039;t handle my dreams of being crushed well. super depressed that i was no longer an athlete. i have bad bad pain every day. i am married with two little kids and i became anxious every morning not knowing if i could play with my kids or not. still have bad anxiety and moderate depression."