"i was put on 150 mg daily of effexor after having a mental breakdown brought on by stress and severe insomnia. i did not find the medication helped at all other then to cause weight gain. worst of all, i experienced horrific withdrawal symptoms coming off it. i started to wean off it in may, reducing the dose to 75mg/day. i halved it to 37.5mg a month ago and my dr said i would be good to stop it after two weeks. within 24 hours of taking my last pill i experienced dizziness, nausea, insomnia, and brain zaps. i could barely function. turns out the &#039;half-life&#039; of effexor is one of the shortest out there. i had to take a short 2 week course of 10 mg prozac (much longer short life) to come off effexor. horrible!!"