crashcart9 replied: "I assume you're confident in your mental state to be able to handle going off of it, etc., so I won't bug you about that. I feel you on the addictive thing--I tapered off down to the lowest dose prescribable (37.5mg), and still was massively, massively ill for quite a while (more than a week after my last pill of the lowest available dosage). Unfortunately, I didn't do this with the Effexor, but I have done it with other pills--pop open the capsule and count how many little medicine balls are inside. Start with the entire pill like normal, but gradually take out some of the medicine balls and close the pill capsule back up (or just sprinkle the ones you want onto applesauce or something), decreasing every day. That's what's even better than pills about these capsules--totally controlable dosage. You'll have to guess on how quickly to decrease because everyone reacts to the drug differently (and it depends on how long you were on it, etc.), but if you take the time to count the number of extended release balls inside the capsule (it's time consuming, I know) and record everything you're doing, you'll be able to tell what's working and if you feel sick, be able to look and say "Oh, I decreased 5 balls this week, that was too much". Hint: if you ever do feel sick on the decrease, don't just slow down your taper--pause at the level you're at until you're used to the dosage before resuming cutting down. Or, you know, just go cold turkey like I did. But since you've got enough refills to last you, you should spread it out as much as you need to avoid discomfort. I won't lie to you, I know *exactly* why it's so hard for junkies to go without a fix now. That was rough. (Plus, I was only 14--not my best memory of the summer before sophomore year, LOL.) Based on the dosage I was at at the end of my doctor-controlled tapering (37.5mg), you'll definitely need to go more than halfsies on your pill before jumping to nothing. I'd try full pill -> 3/4 -> half -> 1/4 -> 1/8 (the last one only if possible--that's pretty hard to count out--but I remember the decrease between every step was hard but the last one was the hardest, so that should be the lowest possible)."

Lady T replied: "Your doctor would have mentioned it if that meant something bad."