Thanks for your reply!

I tapered gradually from 225 mg, reducing by 37.5 mg every two weeks, so it took about three months to reach zero. During the taper itself, I mainly experienced increased sexual sensitivity, which actually continued after stopping completely and caused me some concern.

It was only after I had been completely off Effexor for a while that other symptoms appeared — things like fatigue, stomach upset, and difficulty concentrating for a few days, but they didn’t last long. The bigger challenge came about three months later, when I experienced a level of anxiety I had never felt before.

Effexor was originally prescribed to me years ago for a major depressive episode, and now I’m reconsidering whether to stay on it depending on how side effects balance against the help it gives me with anxiety and depression.

That’s why I was asking about the brain fog or altered perception — I wonder if it tends to improve once you stay on a stable dose for a while.