Effexor XR and memory problems

I have been on this horrific drug for just over two years and have wanted to be off of it since the six month mark...i am not on it for depression but for focus...FOCUS, i cannot begin to describe the memory problems that i have...i can be standing in front of a person i have known for years and i will not be able to come up with their name or how i know them...luckily it does not seem to cause problems with my actual work but it is rather embarrassing when your boss walks up and you have to think hard to figure out who they are...side effects...i have gone from being a so called gorgeous man to a frumpy 30 lbs heavier man, and i still run five to ten miles a day and i eat less than i ever have...try to explain that...it is almost like i am swollen...i have horrible dreams, i sweat, i panic, i shake and i have a constant feeling of having a heart attack...try and live thinking you are having a heart attack when you are not but then again do you really know...in other words what if i have been desensitized to thinking i am actually having a heart attack when i actually am, may i rest in peace if that is the case...

when i have actually tried to come off the pills i have been violent (i never have been before in life), irrational, can't sleep, double vision, electrical shocks just by moving my eyes, can't move and bruise to the point that i look like a junkie who has injected himself everywhere...

my doctor never warned me of any of this, nor can i find it on the wyeth website (with the exception of the memory issues, which was not there when i started taking the drug...

i am so very sad over all of this...don't become like me

I too was told to take Effexor 75mg a day because I was depressed. I disagreed, but took the medication to see if it would help. My husband said it did improve my mood; but what he didn't know was that I started having memory problems. Since about the 2nd month of being on this medication my short term memory became affected. I weaned myself off over a 6week period that started in February and ended in early April. While I felt fine during this time period my memory never improved and I feel strongly that this is the reason Iost my job - no short term memory = errors. I wish I would have found this site and the one at depression.about.com sooner because apparently I'm not the only one having these memory loss episodes.