Posted by Gog on July 13, 2006, at 4:12:40
In reply to Re: Cymbalta withdrawal, posted by kparis on June 28, 2006, at 5:43:53
Thanks for all of your postings...I just spent the last couple of hours reading through them. I have been off Cymbalta for about 5 weeks now and am starting to wonder if the stuff I feel day to day will go away.
I had many of the same withdrawal effects that many of you did...and with time they subsided. But they completely sucked (as you all know). I have also had weight gain, mainly in my midsection too, which has never been an issue for me. Probably about 15 pounds.
Today felt like a withdrawal day, you know the ones that come after a day of feeling somewhat normal? I haven't felt good waking up in the morning since I went off of them. It feels like it takes me a few hours to get "warmed up". It is not nearly as difficult getting up in the morning as it was when I was on the cymbalta. But I actually feel a bit wired when I wake up. Not like I just had a good rest. I have pressure around my eyes a lot and have felt more physical aches and pains than normal. I have so many questions too...could the aches and pains be a sort of rebound pain from coming off the cymbalta? I took it for depression...but if it is used for muscle pain then could it have had a negative effect on me?
I did have edema too about a week ago, which freaked me out but seems to have subsided.
Has anyone used 5-HTP and St. Johns Wort together? Has it worked? I have purchased both but was too scared to take them.
The hardest part(and this may be why some people want to take it off the market)is that the withdrawal symptoms scared me so much that I am nervous about taking anything at all. I'm still on Klonopin 1/2 mg at night, but mostly that is because I'm not prepared to go through withdrawal on a second medication.
I'm irritable but can't seem to express to anyone what this is like because it is so hard to explain. Reading this forum has been like walking into a support group.
I have known this stuff inside and out for years (not the naturopathic stuff). I have a degree in biology, I teach health, I read like crazy (and proably a bit obsessively), but now I can't seem to figure out where to turn to. I know the pharmaceutical companies are making billions and lots of people hate them. I know that the medications I took (cymbalta was my fourth) may well have saved my life (along with psychotherapy). I know some people can heal themselves without meds. I know some people need the medication. I just don't know what is best for me right now. I don't know what is "normal" to be feeling. The headaches, neck pain, jazzed up feeling, anxiety are not severe, but I know that I do not feel normal right now. How did any of you feel at 1 month, 2 months or beyond?
poster:Gog
thread:466069
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060627/msgs/666610.html