12 replies to this topic

[tmouse]

been off this poison for 3 1/2 weeks now, after tapering from 60 to 30 to 30 every other day for two weeks.i cant take it any more.cant eat ,blurred wision, dizzyness,poor concentration, and just generally tired.i try to get out of the house and drive somewhere but only make it a few blocks then have to go home cause i cant concentrate.my body hurts all over and cant even get confortable sitting down. ive had back pain before but it increased increadably while coming off this stuff.taking me forever to write this because i cant sit still. i just found out today that my daughter, [shes a nurse] is moving out to live with her boyfriend 2 1/2 hours away.she said when she moved in a month ago she would help me thru this, but decided she has her life to live. i live alone with no emotional support for what im going thru and am thinking of starting back on cymbalta just so i could function again. not that being on it was great, i still was very sad,depressed and numb to everything.but at least i was somewhat functional. has anyone restarted with any problems then quit later? or does it get better? i hate feeling like this.it seems ill have a good day and then a row of bad ones.and the bad ones really suck. sometimes i cant wait for the day to be over so i can try to sleep at least for a couple of hours. sorry for venting but any support / ideas would be helpful.

[jean]

tmouse--
You are not going through this alone we are all here for you. But I understand it isn't the same as having someone to talk to in person. Do you belong to a church? Is going to church something you would consider? Sometimes a church with a somewhat small membership can be kind of like an extended family. Or is there a depression support group that you could join? Also, I noticed that you were on the Cymbalta every other day, I am not there yet as I am still tapering off from 120 to 60 but many have said that an every other day method does not work because Cymbalta does not remain in the body as long as drugs such as Prozac. So what you get is one day on the drug and one day off the drug. No tapering effect. That is why some have found that adding Prozac can help. You might want to visit with your doctor about that. Good luck to you and keep writing us. We are here for you. Jean

[tmouse]

havent started the cymbalta yet- im afraid to.i see my p doc on friday to see what she says. but im having the worst panic attack ever now. took a zanax-took the edge off of it but still having difficulty breathing. maybe because i had abad day yesterday visiting family.no one gets what im going thru, plus i couldnt focus on what anyone was saying at the table.i want to go to church or join a support group but cant drive because of the blurred vision and confusion i experence.anybody have these symptoms? i just kept running out of the house for a cig.tried to quit smoking but cant to much anxiety! thanks for listening.

[Attorney_Victim]

Tmouse,
I know you are miserable now, but you are getting through this!! I know what you mean about the confusion and dizziness...there were times I probably should not have been driving!

You've come a long way, so don't give up. Take it minute by minute if you have to. You will start to feel better, and then you will see what a strong person you are to have survived this ordeal!

It does get better!!

[jeff3298]

T Mouse
I had trouble too, I went from 90-60-30 then to 15 and could not handle it. I had to do the slow Catherine taper schedule. I went back to 30mg for a week or so then started the taper slower. The good news it worked in the long run. Please hang in there, no matter what you do you are a fighter and you WILL WIN. You are NOT defeated if you go back to 30mg, there are other ways to get off this killbalta.
I reviewed the Catherine taper and modified it a bit and took out 6 ganuels a day I think is what I did. If you cannot take it consider doing it slower, some of us have to, not all are able to do cold turkey and doing the rotation likeyou are is not good becasue of the half life of the drug.

IM or email me if you want, I am here to help
Jeff

[tmouse]

i feel like im in a long dark tunnel . i cant see whats in frront of me and i cant remember what was behind. thanks to all of you for being there.

[jean]

Tmouse--
You may not be able to see what is ahead. But we are right there with you holding your hand. Can you go for a walk even in your back yard when you are feeling your worst? When I was having symptoms that sometimes helped. Even just sitting on the porch and staring at the lawn or flowers helped. I will be calling my doctor tomorrow and starting to reduce down from 60 mg to 30 mg. I took 2 weeks of the 60 mg because of family responsibilites but think I am stronger for it. I needed the extra week to get my symtoms under control. After reading lots of the posts on this site it seems that although we share many of the same symptoms there is no absolutely correct way to taper off. Maybe you need to go slower too. It doesn't matter if you do as you are still making progress. Jean

[debp06]

Don't know if it's just me, but Effexor has helped me with withdrawal symptoms a lot!! Explore sites about Effexor, as I'm told it has a similar mechanism to Cymbalta, but I've been on it before with nothing like the crap I've seen here. At least it has a generic that's cheaper than the highway robbery for the Cymbalta...

[tmouse]

talked to my pdoc today. she and her coleages never heard of cymbalta withdrawl symptoms! she told me to drop from 50 mg zoloft to 25, and start taking 30 mgs cymbalta.the withdrawls seem to be getting worse. dizziness, blurred vision, lack of focus, anxiety etc. any thoughts?

[tmouse]

i want to get off this drug forever but i feel now the timing isnt right. with my daughter leaving me, im afraid id just go nuts sitting in this house alone, wondering what symptom will pop up next. i had such a panic attack yesterday that i thought i was having a heart attack.can massive panic attacks cause heart damage? i just went food shopping and was so anxious i started sweating andrushed thru the store, couldnt wait to get out. i want to try the step down approach as mentioned on other postings. one was the catherine method, know anything about it? and how do you count those tiny granules? im thinking of just stepping down the zoloft and waiting to see how i feel. i read online that zoloft can have some side effects simular to cymbalta withdrawls. i wont tell my pdoc this because she wont believe me anyway.

[jeff3298]

Tmouse
Take your time and stable yourself first. Then get a plan of action.
Most Pdocs have no clue about cymbalta withdrawl because the reps say there are none. They believe the reps before they will believe the mass amount of user data on this website.
you can and you will beat this drug, not today but you will beat it.
Jeff

[tmouse]

hi everyone. my biggest problem right now is the dizzyness and the foggy brain.i know i could ged out of the house more often if i could just rid of this damn dizziness.i had a bad episode yesterday when i was watching a movie and it seemed like everything was out of focus and spinning- like i was drunk. i had to get up off the couch [during the movie, which took all my energy to focus on anyway] and start pacing the room to try to get my head together. i took up model car building to get my mind off of things [which is hard because it takes a lot of concentration, which i dont have.] and seemed to help for a while. [id start, get up ,start pacing, and try to go back] the minute id go back to the movie id get dizzy again.scary. any good ideas about stopping this? i want to get out of the house but cant drive because of the dizziness.i go out, even when i shouldnt drive,but i have to get the groceries and cigs. make it out for a half hour then have to go home because the dizziness becomes to unbearable.[ i only take familiar roads so i can get home].tried to get to a store in an area i wasnt to familiar with [ i used my gps system ] an i still got lost! [ thank god for gps systems , just punched in home and followed the directions without even being able to concentrate and got home. [panic attack!] i just moved to philadelphia after living in the burbs of jersey for 53 years, and its frightning trying to get around.i want to explore the city but not like this. i feel trapped.any words to the wise? thanks for letting me dump.

[tmouse]

hello everyone. i had to start taking cymbalta again[even tho i hate it] due to my situation at home. i just wanted to know...i read on these posts somewhere that starting cymbalta again [i was off 4 weeks] that the side effects get worse. is this true? i have been back on it for a week now[30mgs] and i feel very dizzy and have blurred vision,confusion, sweats. i also take 25 mgs of zoloft in the evening. i started back on this crap because i had to function and get out of the house[ i live alone] and i couldnt take the withdrawls at this time. im going to try again when it gets colder[who wants to leave the house in winter?] but these side effects are as bad as withdrawl.help please! life suks like this.