[Blah]

Where to start, I am a 26 year old female with 5 children under the age of 7. Most say Im crazy for that... I originally was on Celexa 40mg then-30mg then-10mg then switched to Cymbalta 60mg by my doctor for post partum/anxiety disorder. going on 3 years on being on an antidepressant n I just dont want to do it anymore I asked the doctor what to do she says switching meds might help so does that mean im stuck like this forever, my children lose out because im eather tired or to anxious and miserable to do anything, my husband feels like I dont appreciate him when thats not the case sigh. anyways besides the normal symptoms of being irritable, moody, and anxious as if the world is out to get me. Ive decided I just want to try to be me without a drug... Day 3 of being off them I feel numb well my face to be exact, nauseous and pissed off at the world, and so emotional i cry at a drop of a hat. pls tell me this goes away??? I dont wanna be this person, I wanna be the person whos happy![/i]

[Jenni]

Hello
Yes, you are going to be fine (I have the same withdrawal issues - feels like my face is freezing, feel like I have morning sickness and I am going to faint). I have a question for you. Is your depression better? I am coming off Cymbalta bcs I feel sure my depression is better and so there is no point in taking a drug I don't need. Different drugs work for different people - lots of other ADs didn't work for me so Cymbalta was a bit of a wonder drug for me. If your doctor still thinks you are depressed, maybe another drug will work for you, help you get strong so that, one day, you are successfully drug-free. No point in yo-yoing up and down esp with the pressures of lots of small people. One option - and I know it involves taking another drug for a little while - is to ask your dr to switch you to fluoxetine. that was my specialist's plan for when/if I got pregnant: Just stop taking Cymbalta - no tapering off - and take fluoxetine for the third trimester. fluoxetine leaves your system slowly so less chance of severe withdrawal symptoms. You could talk to your dr about that. Too hard to take care of small people when you are going through all this.

I have to say that, while my husband is very supportive and taking on lots of extra chores/childcare stuff, he is pretty frustrated with the weaning off process right now. He just bit my head off because I had forgotten a (trivial) conversation we had yesterday even though he knows my memory is not good right now bcs of the upheavals in my brain.

You do need to slowly reduce your dose, not go cold turkey. Each reduction I have made (90 to 60 and then 60 to 30), I have felt lousy for about 10-14 days then fine. Then I have taken a little break (two weeks) at the new dose and then made the next reduction. Currently doing 30 to zero. My family doctor warned me this would be the most unpleasant and it is but, this time next week, it will be a memory and I will be finished the weaning process.
I have tried to be really nice to myself. GEt all the help you can with your kids and your chores. Eat little and often and keep hydrated. Not everyone gets all the symptoms so this may be as bad as it gets.

{{hug}}