I just met a friend who I hadn't seen in about one year and she was on Effexor XR for a while, so was I. We were both obese. I was on various meds. for over 12 years now, and she stopped taking the Effexor and continued exercising etc. and she dropped a lot of weight. In fact, when I first saw her, I did not recognise her. She said it was the pills, and told me not to blame myself. I have been wondering if I should stop my meds., but I have done it in the past only to start up again after about 3-4 months later when the meds had worn off. I would start to bawl and fight and scream and finally got myself back onto some other meds. I would sure like to be of a normal weight some day, but don't see how it is possible. Does anyone else have such a story, and what helped them to stop? This person stressed physical exercise, and that if she did not get enough she would become unwell again. Also, she just tries to deal with her emotions as they come or tries to take it easy on herself at those times. Is anyone out there also on Thyroid medication, and does anyone have Thyroiditis and Hypothyroidism? And have you been able to loose weight either by stopping meds or some other way?