[Lundeliz]

I have been tapering from 60mg for 16 months. My tapering was pretty random, according to

how I was feeling and what was going on. I took a few breaks from tapering, like during Christmas

holidays, my daughters wedding. I am only down to 39mg. I have never made any big drops.

Just a few beads at a time, and always stablized before I made another drop. For 10 weeks, I dropped

down 2 beads a week, and all was going well. Then 2 months ago, I got very sick, with horrendous

nausea, and constant headaches, rather mild anxiety, and just very spacey. Also, my blood pressure

has skyrocketed. I haven't dropped any since then, and can't seem to stabilize.

I'm totally confused as to why this would happen . Sooooo discouraged,

I just read an article on MSNBC about a girl who cannot get off ADs. She is resigned

to taking them the rest of her life. I don't think I will ever feel healthy until I get off this. Help!

[cookie]

Dear Lundeliz:

As you know, I tapered very slowly (during 1 year). Even the last stage I would take just one bead out every week. I always made further drops when I was feeling ok. I got very close to the end (0,7mg). I was feeling fine one day and suddenly I got severe nausea, dizziness, sensitivity to noises and light. Then bam, I collapsed.. Also had seizures, vomit, severe fatigue, brain fog, wasn´t able to talk or comprehend written or spoken language. I never felt this bad prior to the medication when the initial illness hit. The worst thing is that even updosing I still had those symptoms, so I had to be given –another- medication. Which I am not happy about. I not only haven´t been able to quit cymbalta but I am given an additional psychotropic medication.

Lundeliz, I know how frustrating this can be. I feel that I fell into the ADs trapp. Now that I am feeling better, I will try to keep dosages as small as I can, and try to complement treatment with acupuncunture, nutrition and exercise. Two things that have helped me a lot have been B vitamins complex and cod liver oil.

I guess there is a certain dosage in which each person feels well. Under that people starts experiencing withdrawals. Do not make further decreases until you feel better.

[Lundeliz]

Dear Cookie, Thank you for your kind response. It sounds like you had a very difficult time.

I'm glad you are feeling better now. I'm not giving up yet. I'll do what I need to do to feel

better. First of all, I made an appointment for tomorrow to see about my blood pressure.

Hopefully, if I get that down, I will feel some better. Then I will see where I stand with tapering.

I think you have a very good attitude. If I could manage to keep my attitude good, I think

I would do better. I hope you continue to feel better, and thanks for your encouragement.