Posted by moesje on August 28, 2007, at 1:32:33
In reply to Re: Cymbalta Withdrawal -- Take ACTION, posted by Troy Tempest on August 27, 2007, at 18:36:38
if i could have thought straight when i wrote my posts on withdrawal, what you wrote is what i would have said!
hang in there, it does get better. make sure you're on vits and water to help your system flush the drug out.
and remember, all the problems you had before are still there, they didn't just leave. so when you are feeling better, check into counseling if you can afford it, if not, get and read some self help books on handling stress and what not. if you have a support system, LEAN ON THEM.
it took just over 2 months for me to feel like a human being again, with all the problems that entails being a wife and mother of 2 teenage daughters. so hang in there . ..
> I am going through my second period of SSRI / SNRI withdrawal, first off Effexor, this time off Cymbalta.
>
> Effexor withdrawal was 10 days of hell, mainly due to the brain zaps. Utterly debilitating. I was unable to do anything for a week - just as well I was off work anyway due to the severe depressive episode that the Effexor was supposed to be helping. The fact was it didn't and I had to get off it before starting on Prozac. I think the only good thing about Prozac was that it seemed to mitigate the Effexor withdrawal symptoms.
>
> Cymbalta was the next one my consultant suggested, and it did seem to work for the depression - I was able to return to work, and after 2 years I seemed well enough to start reducing the dose from 90 to 60 to 30 - this over about 6 months. No problems so far. Then I started alternating 30 / 0 each day, and that was OK, but getting completely off it has been horrible again.
>
> I ought to mention that I'm stopping Mirtazapine (Zispin) at the same time, again going from 45 - 30 - 15 over a similar time frame.
>
> Here's a list of symptoms so far (I've compiled a list of all those that apply from a number of sources) in alpha order, not severity order:
>
> anxiety, balance problems, blurred vision, brain zaps, concentration impairment, crying spells, depersonalization, diarrhea, dizziness, electric shock sensations, fatigue, flu-like symptoms, highly emotional, impaired speech, insomnia, jumpy nerves, lack of coordination, lethargy, headaches, nervousness, sensory & sleep disturbances, severe internal restlessness (akathasia), stomach cramps, tremors / shivering, tinnitus (ear ringing or buzzing), tingling sensations, troubling thoughts, vivid dreams / nightmares.
>
> It's 2 weeks now, and I'm still getting the zaps (although the voltage seems much reduced!). I still feel weird - stoned / out of it / unreal - which is more worrying, as I'm unable to take my work seriously. My sleep is all over the place - I feel as if I am in a different time zone every day.
>
> I think that I have to tough it out, as I cannot bear the thought of any more medication - I've had 3.5 years of the stuff. I know I've done it before and so I hope I can do it again, but my confidence weakens with each day that I continue to feel so strange.
>
> TT
>
>
poster:moesje
thread:466069
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20070419/msgs/779248.html