Fuzzy I understand your fears, I've tried Effexor and was freaked out by the list of side effects but I found Effexor helpful and it did brighten my mood. The trick with it is to increase the dose slowly and reduce the dose even more slowly. In the end I found one side effect unmanageable and came off cold turkey, not an experience to repeat in a hurry, but it didn't cause permanent damage either.

All meds have their pros and cons, basically it comes down to a choice of depressed or side effects, we all have to choose which we can manage the best. I couldn't manage side effects so I compromised on meds and now I feel I can't cope with depressed so I'm going to have to compromise on side effects. It is a horrible, scary place to be, especially as medics don't get how overwhelming the fear and reality of side effects can be.

Take it slowly, don't let your doctor push you on to a higher dose if you don't like the way the drug makes you feel. Remember we only tend to hear the bad things about meds, when did you last read a post that said "It's working"? We only want answers when something doesn't work so that's why we hear more about the problems.