I took effexor 150mg for 18 months. the med in general, worked well, but I couldn't handle the side effects. Since it has a short half life, if I missed a dose, I would feel so rotten. I'd get flu like symptoms and feel so sick. I was taking so many days off work because of it. I switched to Fluoxetine, which is working well. If the effexor didn't have so many side effects, I would probably still be taking it.