"effexor xr treated my depression very well. it relieved me of the despair that kept me from leading a productive life. on the other hand, i felt an inability to feel strong emotion of any kind. i didn&#039;t get excited by anything, i didn&#039;t laugh in funny movies or cry in sad movies. i felt generally good, but also felt that i was missing out on something. i quit effexor cold turkey - not a good idea - and experienced terrible withdrawal symptoms. don&#039;t expect to come off this medicine easily, though it is possible. as a side note, i experienced intensely vivid dreams while taking effexor, dreams that made absolutely no sense. i gave up telling anyone about them because they thought i was lying."