There is a generic Immediate Release Effexor available, not the XR. I am currently trying to come off this drug. Here is what my psychiatrist told me, but I haven't completed it yet, so I don't know if it will work. So, I was on Pristiq (by GP, not Psych), my psychiatrist switched me to 150 mg effexor instead...they are equivalant. So, now, I am dropping 37.