Hey, Chicago, please keep reading and stay with us. Last thing you probably want to hear right now is to exercise and meditate, but it can help, if only a little. Also know that there are other medications out there that can help with depression. I can honestly attest that I successfully weened off Effexor - however, my anxiety and depression came back. But now I’m on seroquel and zoloft. I feel almost normal. I am very functional and am able to be a mom and wife. It’s sucks so bad having to be medicated just to feel normal. I would do anything to be as happy as some people seem despite not being medicated. I often wonder if it would have been better if I never started taking meds over twenty years ago. But what’s done is done. Please talk to a doctor or another doctor or nurse practitioner or pharmacist for something to help at least while you get yourself off Effexor. Perhaps even something homeopathic? Have you looked at any posts by Brightwings? CBD works fabulously for some folks! (Not me, but everyone is different). It’s worth a shot!

Stay in touch.

Are you tapering under the supervision of a doctor. It MUST be done very very very slowly.

@chicago1211

SLOWLY!!! SLOWLY!!! SLOWLY!!!
We’re talking infinitesimally small doses
If you taper slowly enough you probably won’t have any side effects whatsoever, although it is still possible but much less likely. if your brain hardly notices the difference in dosage you may very well nhot have any withdrawals whatsoever.
How much were you tapering at a time and how long had you been taking the medication prior to beginning your taper?
The longer you had been on this medication before the beginning of your taper the slower you’re going to need to go the longer you had been on this medication before the beginning of your taper the sloooooooooer you’re going to need to go. Some people have been taking this medication for decades but yet they want to get off of it in a matter of weeks are only a few months. That’s completely unreasonable and incomprehensible to me but virtually everyone goes off it t fast and comes back here and complains about their withdrawals.
If you believe you can do without the medication I hope you try it again but this time depending on how long you’ve been on your medicine reduce it by five or 10%. Don’t reduce by the same milligrams every time you decrease your dose and Stay on each does three weeks minimum.
Best of luck to you,
Jake

Hi, @chicago1211 - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Discontinuing some antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications can be like going through hell, so to speak, and make you feel just awful. I had one withdrawal from an antidepressant that was evidently too fast, and I finally had to sit myself in the corner of my kitchen on the floor to make sure I didn't say or do anything I didn't want to be doing and asked my husband to please take me to urgent care immediately. They had to give me an antianxiety medication to take over the weekend to smooth out my taper and the side effects I was experiencing.

I don't know how serious you are about saying you want to kill yourself, but I do want you to meet @jimhd, who may have some thoughts to share with you. I also want you to know that this is a safe place to talk, even about tough stuff that can happen during a taper. Others who may identify with what you are experiencing right now and be able to provide some support include @brightwings @sandij @laujenkins @cp6401.

chicago1211, if at any point you start to feel like you may consider hurting yourself, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline https://988lifeline.org for immediate help. Your safety is the most important thing to us.

Have you chatted with your doctor about your move off of this medication and how things are going? If so, what did she or he say?

How are you doing??