I was on Effexor for about three years. Once or twice during that time I forgot to take it and got a sample of a dreadful sensation that was unlike anything I had ever experienced. This caused me to look up and read about withdrawal problems people had reported. I was taking three of them a day and I began tapering by taking two-1/2 a day for a couple of weeks and then moving to two a day for two weeks and so on. Over the course of about three months I weaned myself off without once having any sort of withdrawal effect that I could recognize. I was happy to be free.