Hi Sundance,

I can only talk from personal experience with effexor and effexor XR(had them both-both work the same in my mind-currntly on effexor XR).

It really did help with the depression side of things for me.No highs of any sort just takes away the depression really.The other bonus(which is primarily why I went on to it in the 1st place) is that it relieves anxiety and stress( really does help with this).The only 2 'side effects' I had really were mini seizures(really dont happen that often and only happened when I lay down to rest-nothing to worry about!).The other I found is that If you skip a days med I had withdrawal symptoms.The only 2 small prob's I have.

All in all I would say its a good anti-depressent.Good luck which ever you end up getting!

Crawf.