14 replies to this topic

[NOLONGERfightingforsanity]

I have been on Cymbalta for years and it was only a few months back when I recearched it's side effects when I was blown away with the answers. I have been suffering so many side effects just like the ones others are listing:

 

- Vivid disturbing dreams/nightmares that make me scream and yell outloud

- weight gain

- apathy

- withdrawing from family 

- vicious mood swings

- awful sweats & hot flashes/flushes

- crying at everything

- rage

- odd urine odors

- terrible joint pain everywhere

- muscle aches everywhere

- terrible concentration

- having trouble carrying on a simple conversation

- memory loss

- irritable

- terrible anxiety

- fumbling up words when I talk

- impatient

- ridiculous impulsiveness in spending

- constricting type of pain in my throat - painful & makes me want to scream! (had every nasty test possible and there is nothing 'there' and I didn't have this before I went on the med)

- absolutely no tolerance for heat

- dizzy

- inability or desire to do things I used to enjoy

- lightheaded

- wicked insomnia or sleeping for over 12 hrs and waking up feeling like I wish I was dead

- constipation

- not caring what I look like when no one is around - forcing myself to 'tidy up' when I have to go out

- absolutely no sex drive

- racing thoughts

- on and on and on!!!

 

After I found this all out, besides being wild at the Drs and pharmacists that NONE of this was told to me even when I asked for help, I decided I was getting off come hell or high water!

 

I forced my Dr. to give me the knowledge of how to do it and then I took all the REST into my own hands! I knew that just tapering was not going to be enough and I had come here, read all about the brain zaps and knew I just couldn't go there. I did my research from wonderful places I had access to and then away I went.

 

I have been withdrawing off Cymbalta since Nov and am close to being off. I am on 30 mg on one day then off the next (been doing this for 2 weeks now) In a couple of days it will be a day on and 2 days off for 2 weeks, then one on and 3 days off for another 2 weeks then I should be able to stop. (according to my Dr.) I'll continue to do 4 then 5 days off IF I have to, but by judging how I feel now, I don't think I will.

 

I still have all the above symptoms and some are better, some the same and some a little worse, but NO new ones.

 

I've saved the best for last.

 

I am not getting the brain zaps, the naseau and many others that everyone else is because I am doing something I haven't read anyone else doing (but I certainly haven't read everything in here as there is just too much).

 

I have Dr. Neil Nedley to thank for the success I am honestly having, not the Dr. that put me on this junk! I am giving you the web site so you can research everything you need (get all the DVD's, books etc like I have, it is worth it's weight in gold!). He has been an expert for many years in his field and I have given my local Dr. information from Dr. Nedley that makes my Dr. here look like an idiot and he's usually speechless when I have. He is now implimenting some of the things I have told him (he wouldn't take it straight from me but did some research and found out I was on the right track and he is the specialist and doesn't know these things so be sure your Dr. probably doesn't either!)

 

Anyways the KEY is the omega 3 in flaxseed oil - no, not fish oil but flaxseed! I am using the stuff religiously and don't have the other withdrawl symptoms the rest of you have. I've had NONE of them, especially the brain zaps!

 

I TBSP of flaxseed gives you 2 TBSP's ground - just remember it doubles when it's ground. You need to make your own FRESH! Buy a cheap coffee grinder (mine cost $10) and grind your own as you need it. DON'T by the pre-ground because of oxidization it's effectiveness is lost, plus it goes rancid really fast.

 

Make yourself a nice fruit smoothie and mix a ground TBSP in and enjoy - twice a day. Add it to whatever you want.

 

I am giving you a recipe for Dr. Nedley's Walnut Maple cookies because they are depression fighting cookies, they taste fabulous and someone I know who makes them calls them 'Happy Cookies', I call them 'Brain Food' and I don't know what I would do without them! The ingredients will surprise you but PLEASE try them but follow the recipe exactly. Don't try to improve on something that is already perfect, and don't substitue - there is a reason why certain things like carob chips are in there and NOT chocolate!!! If you get all his info you will understand, but for those of you that don't, these things will help you at least get through this horrible withdrawl! I have given these cookies to all kinds of people, kids, adults, men and women and everyone loves them! Walnuts have massive depression fighting ingredients as well as the flaxseed and there are many more but it is all in his information.

 

I am sharing just one of his recipes and I believe because of his desire to help others, he would want me to. So here goes.

 

WALNUT MAPLE COOKIES

 

2 1/2  cups  walnuts, ground in food processor

   2/3  cup    whole wheat pastry flour (I buy organic)

        1 tsp    salt

    1/3 cup    flaxseed meal (fresh ground flaxseed)

    1/3 cup    carob chips

    1/2 cup    maple syrup  (this is 1/2 cup plus 2 more tablespoons of maple syrup)

+ 2 TBSP

       2 tsp    vanilla (extract) 

 

1. In a small bowl add all the ingredients in the given order. Mix well.

2. Spray a large cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3. Drop dough on cookie sheet with a spoon and flatten with a fork.

4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, checking often to prevent burning.

5. Let cool before removing from the cookie sheet.

Makes one dozen.

 

NOTE: These cookies can burn easily and become hard if too dark. Use a double-insulated cookie sheet for baking and bake on the middle rack on the oven.

 

 

Yes, those are all and the only ingredients. I have checked and rechecked for accuracy. These are the easiest cookies you will ever make - you only need a spoon to mix it! They are so good that I have to make them constantly as we devour them.

 

I also have started making my own bread and I put 1/3 cup of the ground flaxseed plus the flaxseed oil in my bread also. I put a TBSP of the flaxseed in my smoothies. I end up with at least 3 TBSP of flaxseed everyday in what I eat if not more. For more reasons than I have time or space for, fish oil does not make the cut!!!

 

I have had absolutely no new side effects while going through my withdrawl and I KNOW I would because of things I will not be going into right now.

 

I have been told that if you eat too much flaxseed you can get the runs. So far it's no issue for me. There are also many more foods and other critical information that is imperative to fighting depression so if you want all the info here is your golden key!

 

I do not work for or personally know Dr. Nedley. I have known 'about' him for many years and it was only now that I came to the point I was so desperate that I finally did something about it. I can't believe I never did this sooner. With all the side effects that these medications have that only are a 'bandaid' and never a cure for an illness, heaven only knows what permanent damage I or any of you will have from taking these poisons down the road. I unfortunately already do have at least one. They all get rich and we get sicker and die - check yours stats guys, I did! Pharmaceutical companies always try to discount anything they can't get rich on and those are always the simple and natural CURES. Do your research, you will be just as shocked as I was when I did.

 

FYI there is one form of depression that can NEVER be cured by any medication. If you happen to have that one there is no medication that will ever help you! All depressions have a background of melatonin, seratonin or folic acid deficiency. Have you ever had a Dr. check your blood for any deficiency before they put you on a drug like this? I sure never had! If you have a folic acid deficiency the only cure is your diet! You can't get the folic acid into your system by anything but food - supplements always are missing things due to processing! You can also get the melatonin and seratonin by food and by lifestyle changes and they work!

 

PLEASE, if even only one person reads this and gives this a chance I will be rewarded for the amount of time this has taken me. Whoever you are, you won't be sorry.

 

God Bless and I know you will always thank yourself for trying this!

 

PS - I'm not sure how much flaxseed you need as I'm not a Dr. and our weight/heights and so forth will vary. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tofu, walnuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and almonds are just a few more items high on the food list that fight depression. All the best items are all vegetarian/vegan based. I have gone vegan and I will never go back! Nothing is worth being sick - all that pain and suffering - I'm well on my way out of it and I'm NEVER going back!

[lady2882Nancy]

I'm really happy for you that you are so free from the withdrawals but I really do think that the bead counting way is better as I can't immagine having to take 30mg of this stuff every 2, 3 or 4 days. That would be just feeding the dependence as the drug has a life of 2.5 days (12 hours is only the half life).

 

I already use ground flax in my diet and have for years. My hubbie is a farmer and we grow flax so I get fresh every year in a 2 gallon pail and store it in the cold and then grind it as I need it. I use it in pancakes, cookies, bread you name it, I bake it. I even add it to my yogurt if I'm in a hurry. It's a great additive for gravy so that I can get some into hubbie too.

I also tap my own maple trees and simmer it down to syrup so have lots of that too.

The only thing I see that is different for you that I don't do is the tree nuts and that is because I am allergic to them. Very allergic as in they could stop my breathing allergic.

 

Not everyone has the long term withdrawals that some of us on this site are experiencing so maybe you are just one of the lucky ones who are in the 80% who don't experience the long term withdrawals.

 

Good luck to you and thank you for the information and the time you took to get it to us. I'm sure it will be helpful and appreciated by many who visit this site..

[NOLONGERfightingforsanity]

Hi lady2882Nancy,

　

I wish I was in the 80% by I am far from it. Years ago when I first got an anti-depressants I was on Celexa. I hadn't even been on it for too terribly long but couldn't stand the side effects. We were leaving on an anniversay cruise and not really understanding how these drugs worked I made the horrific mistake of quitting cold turkey. On a Monday morning 3 days after we got home (THANK GOD) when I woke up I knew something horrible had happened. I was in a place so horrifying that all I could think about was dying and if I did not have the faith in God that I had/have I would NOT be here writing this today!

　

I quickly went to my doctor and he took one look at me and I didn't need to explain what I was going through. He doubled my dose and put me back on it. It was 5 WEEKS to the day before the drugs kicked back in (and I had hardly been off of them when this hit me) and I went through a hell that has no name!!! If someone offered me a billion dollars to go through it again I would die before I would touch it! I still to this day marvel that I didn't end it all! What I suffered was not depression like I had originally came to him with, but a horror that terrifies me even as I write this!

　

My Dr. told me that because of what I suffered it was a definite sign that I would be one of those that would probably never ever be able to get of these drugs for the rest of my life. Apparently some people can/have quit cold turkey and were/are OK. Then because of the sexual side effects of Celexa he switched me to this poison with absolutely no insite into this drug whatsoever. In the fall I discovered that so many awful things I was experiencing was all side effects. At that point I decided enough was enough. I got off the Wellbutrin reasonably (same way as I'm doing it now) and some of the side effects from that one went away, but, what I am going through right now is still terrible. Ask my poor husband! I didn't get any 'new' symptoms, but, some of the ones I already had like insomnia, anxiety, crying and the rage are worse! By evenings I start to crash and I can't stand being around anyone and no one can stand being around me!

　

By all the things that I had read about others experiences, I know I am not getting those brain zaps and others because of the diet and lifestyle changes I am doing. I left the link for getting all the info in my first post. PLEASE go there (link is below) and see what it's all about. I've known for years about this Dr. and his program but I had been wanting to go to the clinic for the help (3 week program) but just couldn't afford it (thousands $). I have been lucky that they are holding the course here where I live now so I got all the materials and have been able to watch all the DVD's plus there are also classes. A person will get all that same info (books and DVD's) by going to the site and ordering it and doing it at home yourself. Knowledge is everything! The things I have learned and am doing is preventing me from getting what the others have but I am still suffering, and I KNOW what I would be going through if I was not doing this!!!!! It can and does get worse than what I am currently going through. I hope others will go to that link and get the help you need that you can't do on your own!

　

As for the bead counting you are talking about I'm not familiar with that. I would like some information on it. After this Saturday I will be doing the 2 day skip as that is what my Dr. here advised me to do. It worked for the Wellbutrin but I'm aware the Cymbalta was still working and may have covered up any symptoms, but, Wellbutrin is also not the poison this drug is!

　

Also, I mentioned some foods besides the nuts that are crucial brain food that cut depression symptoms off. There are many foods and they are all plant based. I could list all of them but without knowing which ones do what, like turning tryptophan into seratonin etc., I know it would be better than what you are doing now, but the wealth of info in the book that goes with it is imperative. I am also using light therapy, exercising and so on. Basically, I'm doing everything that can be done to prevent depression but the food is the biggest item which is why I gave the cookie recipe (I also add fresh ground flax to my smoothies and everything else I can) but please also try the garbanzo beans, tofu, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, lentils, red kidney beans, and flax seed oil especially, as the oil is the highest in Omega-3 and I add that to my homemade bread etc.. The book will also give you recipes that fight depression. I know where I would be without this diet!!!

　

Once I am off these poisons I don't want to still be suffering with depression and all the info at this link will prevent me from suffering from it without drugs! That is my ultimate goal.

　

 

　

By the way, I called the cookies 'brain food' in the first post but I meant to say 'brain candy' because both my self and my hubby have found that when we've eaten them (especially if we've been in a bad mood or had a fight) that we honestly feel different and better and plus they taste so good!

Attached Files

•  cymbalta.txt   5.25KB   27 downloads

[lady2882Nancy]

I'm so sorry to hear that you are also suffering with depression. My depression was quite mild until my doctor put me on Cymbalta for nerve and chronic back pain. It was the cymbalta that made me almost end my life. Luckily I found this website that day that I was trying to find out how much I needed to take to end it.

 

I started to use more ground flax seed (figured I might as well get the benefits of the whole seed rather than just the oil) and also take a fish oil tablet when I first got hit with the brain zaps and I don't get them bad now and not very often. I'll see when I am closer to be fully off the drug before making a judgement on the final outcome.

 

The bead counting way of tapering off is to reduce the dose gradually which allows our systems to adjust back to being without the drug. The capsules of cymbalta have tiny beads inside them. You can carefully open the capsule and remove some of the beads, [the 30mg capsules that I have contain 280 tiny beads some only have 200 (I just had to find out how many were in there as I'm that kind of person. It took hubbie and I an hour to count all the beads. Was very frustrating)].

Basically bead counting works like this:

Day 1 - remove 5 to 10 beads from capsule

Day 2 - remove the same number of beads as day 1 plus 5 or 10 more so 10 to 20 beads removed

Day 3 - remove the same number of beads as day 2 plus 5 or 10 more so 15 to 30 beads removed

Day 4 - remove the same number of beads as day 3 plus 5 or 10 more so 20 to 40 beads removed

Continue on until you are completely off the drug

I had to make myself a chart to keep track of the days and how many beads to remove as this drug (which I call Crapalta) gives me bad brain fog.

I am on day 11 and removed 110 beads from my capsule so am getting approx. 19mg of the drug today so am well on my way to being off and with some symptoms but nothing like I had when I dropped from 60mg to 30mg.

 

This drug has a half life of 12 hours but has a active life of 2.5 days or 60 hours and can still be found in a blood test 6 weeks after your last dose (this information comes from the drug companies information sheet for pharmacies)

Further studies have found that because this drug likes to attach itself to fat, an overweight person can still have small amounts of the drug in their blood 6 months later. The skipping a day with a full 30mg dose just prolongs the withdrawal time due to the 2.5 day life of the drug. I think that you will find that going every third day will be very difficult. Tapering is much more gentle. If it is too much for you I would go on the tapering immediately if it were me.

 

 The biggest reason we have the headaches, mood swings and many other symptoms when getting off this drug is because it reduces the amount of serotonin our body makes on its own and so when we cut back or stop taking the drug altogether our poor brain is so low on serotonin. The different things that you are eating will definitely improve those serotonin levels that's why they are working for you especially the walnuts and other tree nuts.

 

I am able to eat some of the things you mention but not the nuts, beans, or tofu.

 

Everyone on this site is just making suggestions. We ask for help from each other and we share what works for us.

It also helps to vent your frustrations here as it is so hard on our families when we are feeling bad or angry or sad or whatever.

 

If you want to message some more you can here and I will watch for it or you can message me personally

 

Take care of you and be well

[fishinghat]

I am glad you mentioned weight lady2882Nancy. I know you don't have any problem with that  but I sure do! I have been walking once a day now for a week and have dropped a couple pounds. Not much but it is a beginning. It is always hard to exercise but really tough when you feel terrible. I can't say it helps my emotional problems but it doesn't hurt them either.

[NOLONGERfightingforsanity]

Boy, I have so much to tell you about the food that I just don't know how to do it all here. So many more pieces are falling into place for me!

 

You are so right about the serotonin in the brain but even if you eat the foods like flax seeds but are also eating foods that are high in tryptophan/amino acids ratio you will not be getting the tryptophan your body needs to convert it into serotonin! Foods that have the high 5 amino acids along with the tryptophan will prevent your body from getting the tryptophan!!! If you are eating a meat diet like steak and chicken with your flax seed the amount of the amino acids will block the flow of the tryptophan to the brain - meat in the diet BLOCKS the flow of tryptophan to the brain!!! I'm just reading this stuff and that's why you are suffering more than I am! I am vegan now so my body is getting all the tryptophan and if you're eating meat (I'm assuming your are) you are going to continue to suffer! I wish I could talk to you on the phone or some other way so I could explain this all to you. It's all in the book 'Depression The Way Out' by Dr. Neil Nedley. Milk will also block the tryptophan. If you can't use nuts, there are still many other things you can use like pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds etc. In your case you could use rice milk (I use almond milk or soy milk for those that can) where ever you are using milk.

 

There are also lifestyle things are are crucial to the production of serotonin as well. Once a person has enough tryptophan in the brain you still need the other lifestyle changes as well! There are lots of them, exercise is only one of them.

 

You mentioned getting back to you directly (message you personally) but I don't know how to on here. You'll have to tell me how.

 

Thanks for the help on the beads. I think I'm going to do that, but, I am still going to take it slower than you are. You are cutting down more every single day. After what I told you happened to me with the Celexa I am so terrified of going through that again that I will not/cannot do anything that would put me there again - I wouldn't survive a second time. I'm sure that what I am eating and doing wouldn't do that, but the fear is just sooooooo great for me to even try it! I would probably do each cut back for maybe 3 days then cut again on that dose for 3 days and so on. I have suffered so much in other things as well (injury related things) that I can't take much more.

 

I KNOW I can help you so much more! There has to be a better way than all this typing although others that read this will benefit too. My problem is that the withdrawls makes all the typing difficult (it ups my anxiety) and I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

I am really grateful that you replied in the first place. I have to admit it is so helpful to be able to talk to someone who knows what this is like. No one around me understands, especially my hubby and how do you explain this kind of 'pain'?! He has depression too and is really benefitting from this program we are doing, but he has never gone on the pills so knows nothing of the side effects or the withdrawls. I'm alone here. Everytime he picks up the main book and reads though, he has such a different perspective and understanding on depression, especially for himself and he becomes more understanding towards me. That helps but it's still not the same as talking to some one who is actually experiencing this horror.

 

Dr. Neil Nedley says in his book that Cymbalta is very difficult to get off of. He talks about all the different drugs but only says that about this one even thought none of them are 'good'. He says that these drugs are ONLY to be used (he NEVER uses Cymbalta) just to get the person into the right diet and lifestyle and then those take over and the drugs are gone (there is, unfortunately, a VERY small persentage of people that will have to stay on the drugs indefinitely). Drs that don't know or care and love the kickbacks from the drug companies will never tell their patients this and I know this first hand. When I am done I am going to have a looooong talk with the Dr that put me on this and I know he is NOT going to like it. I am so going to let him have it with the facts and watch how he shrivels up trying to answer me. He already knows some of what I know and I'm not going to just 'go away' after I'm done and continue to let him do this to others!!! I already know way more than he does and that's just wrong!

 

If you want more info on the other lifestyle changes I'll tell you what I know and what I am doing, but you really should get the book/s from the Nedley site and get all the info and not just the bits and pieces I'm able to type here - the book is absolutely amazing (and I'm not finished it yet)!

 

We are neighbors by the way. You live in Saskatchewan and I live in Alberta! Who knows, we may live closer to each other than either of us knows! I live right on the #1 highway and I'm sure you have been through here at some point. If you came into town we could maybe meet and share sometime. Just a thought. (sure be better than all this typing!)

 

For 'Good Friend', don't stop your exercising!!! I know how awful it is when you feel bad, but, apparently after awhile a change takes place in the brain from exercisizing that will produce more serotonin and norepinephrine, which are nerotransmitters in the brain that can reduce depression. Tests and studies have proven this.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reply - it really means a lot to me! Take care!

[lady2882Nancy]

To send a private message to me all you have to do is hold your curser or pointer up to my name at the top of my posting and it will open up a box with info about me. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to load. Go up to my name on the box and click on it and it will take you to information about me and there is a box that says 'Send Message'

If you click on that button you can send a private message which goes directly to me at my email address. It won't tell you what my email address is and it won't tell me what yours is either so if you want to give me your email address than put it in the private message. And tell me a little more about yourself to make it easier for chatting.

I'm going to read your last post again before I make any comments about it.

[shvarner]

How long did it take for the flaxseed to help? Also, anyone using prozac how long before it helped you? Im on day 12 & have missed work all last week & this week.. I started prozac on Monday.. please help!!

[lady2882Nancy]

Well I take omega3 from fish as well as the ground flax seed but as it was a few days before I started to notice the difference.

As for other medications, my doctor won't give me anything so I don't know about that.

What I have found works the best for me is Lemon Balm and Passionflower Teas and a supplement called L-theanine (just make sure it is suntheanine) that I got at the health food store. That with some antihistamine calms the brain down.

Take care of you

[Reindea]

Well it all makes sense now. I've frankly been wondering what you're all going on about, but I always take omega vitamins everyday anyways, and being a vegetarian for years I've always used flax. I'll be sure to double up now that I'm coming off my meds.

[miniskin]

Hi,

 

I also suffer from many of the above mentioned side effects. I am glad someone else has side effects like this, again this makes me not in the percentage that don't have any side effects after stopping. Im on day 5 and some of the side effects just seem to be getting worse. Have you got any advice/coping methods that i may find useful, especially with anger and moods, separation from family and sleep 

[Ape]

Can you please give more information about this diet ?

[thatstheoldme]

..

[Clara]

Wow! Thanks for all the info! Still learning how to cope on 20mgs.. down from 120!! Yay, me! BUT, looks like I have a long way to go! I tried Sleepy Time tea last night and it helped with the aches and pains. I'm not a fan of hot tea, herbal tea, etc. being a Carolina girl, I like mine cold and sweet... BUT if the hot herbal tea works I'll be drinking more!! Stay strong, peeps! Clara

[Ape]

What kind if herbal tea do you use?