Effexor is the only med that really helps my depression & anxiety. I take 300 mg daily with no side effects. It is hard to get off of it, but I won't try to get off of it again. Both times I tried something cheaper I had a bad relapse.

One thing about Effexor that isn't as true for the other meds is, you can't go on and off it willy nilly. Every time you go off it you decrease the chances it will work if you try it later. I was lucky this last time that it still worked for me when I started back up, even though I'd been off it for a couple of years.

My depression can get pretty bad pretty fast without meds. I stopped trying to explain that to people. My family knows and that's all the matters. There is so much medication-phobia and judgment out there. People act like if you need a med you are weak or bad or something. That's just not true.