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WOW me too. I feel your pain. I was prescribed Effexor XR for generalized anxiety when I was 16. I was taking 75mg capsules. When I was 19 I decided to get off of it. I withdrew with the electric shocks and other symptoms, which I was quite famliar with if I forgot a dose. Not even a year later I had a full blown panic attack and developed a panic disorder. I was having panic attacks left and right no matter what I did. I tried some other medications and decided that the Effexor was familiar. The doctor assured me that I would only have to take it for 6 months to a year to avoid a relapse in the panic attacks. I took it longer. I got off of it when I was 22. (I'm 23 now) I had another miserable time trying to quit it cold turkey. I spent about two weeks being extremely uncomforable, having the electric shock feeling everytime I turned my head. If I walked across the room the electric shocks felt like they were moving from the balls of my feet up to my head and out through my teeth. I was crying all the time, couldn't sleep, the panic came back with a vengeance, I had vertigo and felt like a crazy person. Now, after a year of struggling with trying to get my panic disorder under control without medication, I have given up again, but I told my doctor there was no way I was going back on Effexor. I am now taking Prozac 20mg. I haven't been on it long, but I already feel better. It's effects are much like effexor's were. I am a little speedy, a little less hungry, and calmer ("in neutural" as I like to call it) Effexor was a nightmare for me. I hope all of these stories might educate others to seek alternative medications.