@taylorwatkins13

I am so sorry you are going through such a difficult time. I cannot imagine the struggle you have with 2 young children and a husband who is gone so often.
First, did you start to taper off with the knowledge of your doc? If so, were you given a plan?
Regardless, it is IMPORTANT that you contact your doc to inform him/her about what you have done and how you are feeling. There might be something he/she can give you to help you along. Several people in the group who came off of Effexor, did so with the assistance of a doc who gave them something to reduce the withdrawal symptoms. Then, there are those who did it on their own VERY slowly taking months and over a year to do it.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE call the doc for help!!!!!!

Prayers that you get some peace....
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)

Hi @taylorwatkins13
I'm so glad that you found this group on Connect and that you reached out. You don't have to go through this alone. I quite agree with @grandmar that you should contact your doctor. Please take time to call the doctor's office today. Tapering of Effexor is difficult and you may have to taper even more slowly as you get done to lower dosages.

The Connect community understands that you are in a difficult place right now and we want you to know that we are here for you. This is a safe place to talk as you feel the need. I also want you to know about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline https://988lifeline.org that you can call or text any time for immediate help.

I look forward to hearing from you again. It's been a few hours since you posted. How are you feeling now?

Thank you for responding. I did go to my doctor in the beginning and he gave me a chart with a tapering schedule. I guess I just did it too fast? I don’t know. Woke up this morning with a pounding headache and so so dizzy. So I guess it isn’t going to be any better today. What could my doctor give me to help?

Hi
I am not sure. If you read through some of the posts you might get an idea or I am pretty sure someone will read this and give you some advice.
Just to be up front, I pnly tried to come off about 7 years ago but went back on. Ihave some heavy duty things going on so I won't try to come off now. When things calm down, it will be my turn. O will talk with my psychiatric doctor who monitors my meds. One thing O learned from before is to take it VERY slowly. My plan, is to take even a year or more, if needed.
Best of luck!

Hi, @taylorwatkins13 -- just wanted to let you know that I've had the experience before personally of tapering off of an antidepressant with a schedule given to me by the doctor years ago, and it turned out to be too fast. I ended up feeling super awful and knew I was in a bad place, and I had my husband take me to urgent care. I was given an anti-anxiety medication to take for the short-term over the weekend, and my tapering schedule was adjusted.

I think that my experience was no one's fault, as it was a common tapering schedule (adjusted for my dosage, height, weight, etc.), but I think that it just speaks to the differences in people's bodies and their metabolisms, etc.

So, your doctor could adjust your tapering schedule or add another medication for a bit, or perhaps another strategy. I'd certainly advise talking to him or her, as they would want to provide help if the tapering is not going well.