I took this anti depressant for over 4 years and spent over a year trying to get off it. I was only on 75mls a day. The withdrawal symptoms were awful. I tried several times but succeeded only recently by reducing my dose first to 37.5 a day then every other day then every 3 days. The withdrawal symptoms may have been masked the first few days of being off completely as I was feeling rotten with a heavy cold and spent a lot of time asleep. I have been off for about 3 weeks now. Does anyone know if there are any long term side effects after coming off venlaflaxine?