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I am having these symptoms: severe fatigue, flu like symptoms, soar throat, constipation, feel like the food gets stuck between the esophagus and stomach. The flu like symptoms are very annoying. Are you getting these symptoms?
What can I do/take to diminish my flu like symptoms? Since it is not the real flu, I guess flu medicines do not help

[cez]

First post after reading the forum for many week.

Severe fatigue, had it, flu symptom, had it, sore throat, had it, constipation, did not have it (just the opposite).

Also had manic periods in between the severe fatigue plus a few panic attacks and a few unjustified rage outbreaks.

The final symptom is mild brain buzzes.

What dose are you on now? Are you weaning off SLOWLY or did you just stop?

I went from 120 to 90 to 60 over the period of two weeks per my doctors instructions. The symptoms hit the fan at that point and I started looking on the internet to see if I was going crazy. I found this site and was shocked that the flu and fatigue that I was having were withdrawal symptoms. I talked to the doctor about it and he said it wasn't so. "There are not withdrawal symptoms reported"

Due to the site I slowed down my trip to zero C. I still went to fast however. I dropped to 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5, 0 taking a week for each step. I wanted to get it done yet try to minimize the symptoms.

Each week I had three days of flu, diarrhea, and fatigue. The last two days of the week would be the manic phase and I'd get a heck of a lot done at work and home. Dizziness was a constant. Then I'd drop and start it all over again.

I am 5 days Cymbalta free. It has been 5 days of very mild flu, dizziness, mild diarrhea, vivid dreams, mild anger outbursts, etc.

Because of this site, I have hope the issues will slowly get better.

Were you on Cymbalta for pain or for depression like me?

I read the book "Mood Cure" suggested elsewhere on this site. I have been taking 5-HTP, GABA, Fish Oil, and Tyrosine. I think these have really helped stabilize and reduce my symptoms. If you go this route, take small doses initially and understand what each does and when (meals or no meals and time of day) to take them.

Others have suggested Prozac. My doctor put me on Zoloft to help with my imaginary symptoms. I did not feel the Zoloft helped.

Read this forum and ask questions. Good luck. I am hanging in there hoping it gets better soon. Hang in there, we are here for you.

Clark

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Hello Cez /Clark:

Thank you for your response, I see that you´ve had similar symptoms.
I´ve also had the manic and rage episodes.

I was on cymbalta for depression. I have taken it for almost 6 years. I have weaned slowly for a year. I am down to 2mg (from 60mg).

It seems that you decreased in a short period, coming from a high dose.

I see that you are already off the medication. Keep me posted on your progress, so I´ll know what to expect.

I have tried the fish oil with good results. Haven´t tried 5-HTP or the other supplements you mention.

I want to have an alternative plan for depression, what do you plan to take to deal with depression?

[cez]

I reduced faster than I should have because I am a tough guy that can handle pain well. OK, actually I am just impatient.

I was on Cymbalta for a long time, can't fully remember if it is 2,3, or 4 years. My brain seemed pretty much fried which is why I insisted on coming off all drugs. With the withdrawal symptoms, it is like being fried times 20. I have to really concentrate to get any work done at my job. At home I shut down during the fatigue phase (completely passed now)and go into autopilot mode during the manic phase (yes it is now 5:00 am on a Sunday morning and I am typing this?)

The depression has not returned which why I was on it to begin with, along with Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro, and just about everything else. Of course I started off in the 80's on only one. As time went on, I moved from one to the other as they stopped working. My new doctor likes the combination thing so I went from one medication, to two, to three. I just started getting the feeling that the Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, Zoloft combination was approaching the "too much" category. Of course if it said I was feeling down, there would be an increase dose or a med change.

I basically was feed up with not being able to think and being numb to everything.

I read an article in the Men's Journal magazine a few months back written by a guy that had come off all medications and he described it as the best and worst thing he had ever done. The depression was back, but at least he could feel something. It frightened me and inspired me both. I needed to feel something again, even if it was negative.

Finally, to your question on how to keep the depression away. I am betting on the nutritional and supplement advice from the book I mentioned. It seems that the 5-htp, Tyrosine, and GABA are all precursors to neurotransmitters. According to the book "The Mood Cure", these have become missing in our modern disaster diets. Some of these were also used to treat depression before Prozac hit the market.

The idea is to take these or some alternatives they list to provide the body what it needs to supply the brain with its chemical stew. The idea is to take them for a short while (maybe a month or two) and then stop taking them because your diet will (and likely needs to) improve and start supplying these naturally.

Too many people just start taking them without understanding what they are for or how much to take and just make things worse.

The 5-htp provides the precursor to Serotonin. Kind of sounds like most of the drugs listed above. However it is an essential part of the diet that we are no longer getting naturally. It helps to to calm you down if you are anxious or cannot sleep. It needs to be taken mid afternoon and evening on an empty stomach. Taking too much will just make you groggy. Follow the recommendations of taking 50 mg and seeing if it helps. If it does not then go up to 100 or 150. Anything over 150 is too much. If it makes you feel worse then stop taking it and look at the list of alternatives that may work for this purpose.

Tyrosine basically is a natural substitute for caffeine. Caffeine is BAD BAD BAD for the brain. Combine that with Aspartame in diet soda and it its a brain killer. How do I know this besides the book? Well I was addicted to Diet Soda until it just got to be too much for me. I was hitting the 2 liter mark plus a day. Now a diet soda causes my face to go numb my brain to spin even more than it does with the withdrawal symptoms. I had just one last week (yes I am still an addict) and within 10 minutes I was felling really bad. That did not stop me from finishing it however (did I mention I was an addict).

Back to Tyrosine, it provides the building blocks for the Catecholamines that work to give you the fight or flight response. Basically our adrenal glans are worn out by all the stressors in our modern life. We have no reserves and that leaves us worn out, without energy (lethargic) and unable to handle the next emergency that comes along. Taking Tyrosine in the early morning, mid morning, and mid afternoon gives you the natural boost in adrenaline that you should be experiencing but used it all up last week. Again Tyrosine is a natural part of the good diet, deficient in our modern diet. I'll have to check the dose, but the book recommends starting low and working up. The common 500 mg pills are a little strong for me. It was the only one's I could find on short notice in the local drug store. I take 1/2 a pill three times a day between meals. I tried the 500s for about two days but thought I might vibrate into another universe. For me the 250 mg dose gives me enough drive to get out of bed and get on with life without giving me a "high". The main reason you take these between meals is to not have the other food compete. Again there are alternatives and if you have any bad reaction STOP taking them and or reduce the dose.

The GABA acts as a balancer of other chemical processes in the brain and helps to reduce anxiety and induces relaxation and sleep. It was suggested taking 250 mg mid afternoon and late evening and working up if needed. TAKE THE FIRST DOSE AT HOME IN CASE IT MAKES YOU TOO SLEEPY TO DRIVE!! I only found 750 mg in the local GNC. I am splitting the capsules to lower the dosage until my mail order lower doses come. If you are weaning off Cymbalta you know how to take apart and re-assemble capsules.

Other essentials are a good multi-vitamin, the molecularity distilled fish oil with a minimum of 300 EPA/DHA at meals and Vitamin D if you don't get any sun or if it is winter.

Again, read the book or one like written by credible people that have been using these to treat depression, anxiety, etc for years. Stop taking them if there is a bad reaction, improve your diet (the hard part for me).

Since my brain is buzzing, it was hard to absorb all the information presented, but I kept at it reading, rereading, taking notes. I still need to go back in and reread it again. It is not hard reading by any means, my brain just cannot absorb lots right now.

I have only been doing this for one week. I can feel the difference in energy level (much more constant), reduced anxiety, and much better nights sleep. My brain is still spinning due to the Zero C condition. I do think the supplements will help me get over the issues quicker and easier plus set me up to deal with the likely to reoccur depression.

This coming winter will be harder in some respects (looking at light therapy)but I will be able to feel anyway (hopefully both good and bad). I am also in the works of moving from Minnesota to Palm Springs next spring. That should kick my winter blahs right out the door. Here in MN we get three sunny days all winter. In PS, they get three cloudy days all winter. There is the summer heat and the San Andreas fault, but I am willing to put up with that as a trade off. It is like coming off of the drugs, I know there will be difficult times ahead, but I am willing to put up with the trade off. I know I can always move (get back on drugs) if it doesn't work out, but I am motivated to give it a good try.

I hope all of this helps. Just lots bottled up.

Clark

PS, I am also not a new age, vegan, holistic kind of guy. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I am an engineer and a scientist by training and for me to embrace this supplement based/nutrition based cure for depression is out of the ordinary. However once I looked into the logic behind these supplements, the evidence, and the results of my 20 year journey of brain numbing drugs, I was willing to give it a good hardy try.

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Hello Clark:

It is curious because 6 years ago I was diagnosed as Depressed. 6 years later after the medication, I started experiencing manic episodes. Now my doctor tells me I am Bipolar.

You are lucky your depression hasn´t returned. Being on 3 medications sounds like too much. I was also numb for the 6 years I took antidepressants. I started to feel once I started tapering.

Thank you for the information on 5-htp, Tyrosine, and GABA

I don´t take diet sodas anymore.

Sunlight is very important to fight depression. So moving from Minessota to Palm Springs will be of much help