"i first used effexor xr 75 mg at the start of 2016 to treat depression/ anxiety. side effects were things such as dry mouth, frequent urination, problems sleeping at night. after 2 weeks these reduced greatly and after a further 2 weeks my mood improved greatly and my anxiety reduced. my ongoing side effects were strange (not unpleasant) dreams and sometimes night sweats - neck and chest. i tapered off to 37.5 and then stopped october 2016. the withdrawals - head zaps in the main - lasted about a week and were not too bad. i stopped because i  felt so much better.
during mid 2017 i went down hill again and was back at the gp&#039;s sobbing my heart out and at home being a complete pain to my wife. i started 75mg again 4 weeks ago. much better!"