I am thinking about trying to go off of my 150 mg Effexor XR and 2 mg abilify. The reason that I considered this (given that these meds have helped a lot with my anxiety and depression) is that while they do help me a lot, I feel like they give me some side effects such as less physical strength, some degree of fatigue or lethargy, sexual problems, and loss of appetite. Furthermore, I occasionally have not taken my meds (usually by accidentally forgetting) for up to 3 days. When I did this I felt just as good if not better because I felt like I had much more energy, vitality, and reduced sexual problems, even in the span of being off of the meds for these few days. This would persist until I would start to experience minor withdrawal effects such as headaches, and I would quickly go back to taking my meds.

I have two questions:

1) have any of you taken Effexor long term and then gone off of it? What was your experience during the weening process and thereafter?

2) Do any of you experience any of these side effects from Effexor as well? If so, how have you dealt with or mitigated them?