I've been taking effexor (venlafaxine) xr with good results for about 2 years. i also developed asthma symptoms about 2 years ago. could they be connected?

Unlikely: This is not one of the common side effects of effexor (venlafaxine). When it was "the state of the art" and i was using a lot of it with my patients, i never encountered this. However, when i look online, i see commentary on association of asthma with too rapid a taper. This is theoretically possible, as, when you are coming off of a high dose, it is possible that previous subtle bronchodilation stops.