26 replies to this topic

[wayne]

hi iv been on cymbalta for 6mths and im having alot of side affects. iv dessided to go cold turkey this the 3rd drug the shrink has tryed and im getting sick of this rollercoaster ride. im not worriy about my deppression im also mood stabilizers and endep. is there an aternitive to cymbalta thats not pristq or zoloft. so what should i expect and haw long should it take? i know cold turkey isnt the best idea but when it comes to getting off drugs its the only way that has worked for me in the past. its been 4 days and my head is spining so whats in my future please tell

[fishinghat]

Wayne, Welcome

 

A bad 6 to 8 weeks of withdrawal. After that another month or more of slow improvements. Now that is just a general average. It can take a year or more to get rid of all the effects. I do wish you the best and keep us posted.

[wayne]

hi fishinghat thanks for the reply. well i now know what the term brain zap means. day 5 and i wont be driving any time soon iv seen the doctor today when i told her about going cold turkey and why she wos inpressed it never dawned on her the cymbalta could affect me in those ways. she wants to see me on a weekly basies and no gym untill she gives me the go ahead. i sugest to anyone who are being treated by both doc and shrink to make shore you tell both of any side affects i wos just telling the doc and i think thats haw it wos overlooked. iv left my shrink a message last night about stopping cymbalta i think she'll have kittins should make for a good phone call. the doctor was positive and thats left me in a good mood. i wouldnt sugest going cold turkey if cymbalta is your only treatment for depression (im on a mood stabilizer and endep so i'll probly have mild mood swings and ill have to work hard to keep my daily routine and not give in to sleep). if you work full time this methard will impear you life and probily not for you. i;ll keep doing dayly post and hopefuly i can help others thru this nightmere. in tips would be greatly apprisheated      bring on day 6

[wayne]

id like to know when having a bad brain zap is it normal to have a tingaling sensashon in the lips and tounge and sumtimes in the hands?

[thismoment]

hi wayne

 

Yes, the tingling in the lips, scalp, fingers, and other extremities is consistent with SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome. Sit back and relax with your popcorn and Coca-Cola, the show is just beginning!

[wayne]

thank god well if you belive in that if he's so great why'd he create deppreshion or my bad spelling lol. love you head's up thismoment you make it sound like the worst is yet to come. and i wos happy in my little bubble telling myself this is not happaning. denile is a great friend of mine and tells me all the things i want to hear but in the end it bite's you in the butt.

 

well it's day 6 and i wos suprize by haw eger i was to start the day im finding with a good night's sleep (and a lack of can be a big part of the problem) im focused in my thort's but like last night im feeling the mode swing the more tyerd i get the brain zap's begin and buy 6pm i just want to sleep and nothing would please me more but i have pain problem's due to a car crash and more then 7 hours in bed and iv gotta get up.

that to can realy get me down and is a trigger for me. so i have to stay ontop of my sleeping and as much as i love a nana nap during the day it will throw me out of wack.so aslong as the mood swings stay the way thay are and not from one extrem to the other or 20 times a day. sum book's have been recomendid and i look forward to reeding them thank you all for the advice's and keep battling the blue's

[wayne]

just sumthing i was thinking about to day at the doctor's. dont you love it when you go to the doctor's for a script of anti depressent and thay say to you with a careing smile just stay positivei

i sit there with a smile thinking haw great it would be to grab her by the shirt slap her silly wile screaming spend one day in my shoe's. p.s dont slap your doctor.

 

i have friend's that i trust to tell them about my depresion. it is so hard to explan it. for me i tell them its like waking up every day dissapionted about waking up and i start my day just wishing i wos dead. and i say dont you ever feel that way. and im just as shocked when thay say no (that must be nice)

 

iv found i hide my depresion behind my dark humor and diffrent out look on life. it's strange i can make a group of people laugh yet steel feel like im the only person in the world. any way just rambaling hope my thorts can be helpfull in sumway

[fishinghat]

Actually Wayne, drs are one of the biggest users of antidepressants for anxiety.Many drs go through detox each year.

[thismoment]

Wayne

I feel that you have a more positive attitude than you think! I really enjoy your perspective and your sense of humour! Thank you!

Hang in there!!

[wayne]

i new it fishinghat doctors are pill poper's and thay give me a hard time when i ask for a couple of valium's. thank's thismoment i find the feedback im getting is the best mood booster and it's drug free thank's heap's

we all know what it's like to stop a med thats not working to wait 2 week's to try a new one or to be deep in a self hateing life hateing pit of dispare where day time is sleep time night time is your best friend and when you look in a mirror there's this a--hole looking back at you ( i realy hate that guy) and you know what people are going to say BE POSITIVE. if your like me you try wishing so badly that this time is going to work but 3 days later nothing has changed and the dude in the mirror is a bigger a--hole then befor.

so instead of thinking positive i take one day at a time and try to think better and not reliy just on positve.what i like to do is just set little goals for me to do the next day say im wakeing up 1pm evry day and just sitting around feeling sorry for myself ill say to myself ok tomorow get up at ten have brakefast tinker around the house go for a walk talk to a friend and say the next day i get up at ten eat talk to a friend but i dont go for a walk i just think to myself well you didnt go for that walk but hay i got up and did sumthing and next day aim for 9am and try to get the walk into the routine it work's for me i do have slip up's and realy beat mysely up over it atlest with little goal's it's ok to miss a couple. aslong as you did one you did sumthing positive and you didnt have to think about it

 

and the main thing we all have bad day's it's a evil we go thru being humal (the human condishon gotta love that)

plus people who suffer depression have a greater respect and injoyment of the good time's when we have them

 

give it a go and good luck

[wayne]

 is it normal to feel like i have a double personality and both of me have bipolor with one up and the other down at the same time. i thort i had a good grasp on my moods but as you can see im all ova the place today. think i may of over dun it today (good mood + gym - brain zap = bad idea) all the best people will wright tomorow

[FiveNotions]

Hi Wayne, I'm up because I overdid today, well, now it's yesterday....did a huge amount of apartment cleaning....because I have building maintenance coming in to day for the annual inspection and I'd really let my housekeeping go to hell in a hand basket during the cymbalta years...

Anyway, yes, I think I know what you mean about feeling two you's each one with the bipolar, and one up at the same time the other is down....I'd have something like that occasionally during the first months of hard withdrawal...it faded, went away...and then I was just one me again....but I still felt the sort of bipolar stuff...I could feel up one moment and then hit bottom crying the next moment....that also faded...again, it just took time...it's the brain chemicals sloshing around all out of whack....they do settle down and stop sloshing...just takes time....

And yes, I do think you may have overdone it...the gym workouts might be a bit too much for your body and brain to handle for the time being....if you try to do a challenging workout, or overdo in any other way, there's often a rebound or relapse the next day or the second day afterwards.....an increase in the zaps would be typical....

Try to keep your activity level at about the same level each day, especially on the good days...that's when the temptation to get right back into action hits...we think we're all better again and that we can return to our old schedule and level of activity...if you must go to the gym, keep the exercise light...less reps if it's weights, and less weight...less of everything and a much lower level....

Also, I found that steam baths were incredibly helpful....just be sure you drink lots of water...getting dehydrated will be a total bummer....

I'm seven months off now, well, will be in a week....and I still overdo, like with the cleaning binge yesterday ;-)

Ok, let's see if I can get to sleep now....

Keep posting, I love your comments and humor!

[wayne]

Fivenotions good to see youve got my back. house work is the first to suffer with me aswell the stupid thing is it bug's me the thort of a friend poping in give's me nightmere's i work my self into a tizzy but it still dosnt get done but the real kicker is if i put 1 thenth of that energy it to doing it at be done but no the brain dont want to work that way. that agrevats me to i can pinpoint the problem fixing it well that must be the real problem.

thats why i love car's (i dont have kids i have car's face it the way i throw my cars around yeh for the best lol)  old are the best iv got this 79 ozzy tank a ford ltd no less.last of the  ozzy mussel if sumthing snap's brakes or flys off i can fix it with my two hands i have changed evry moving part in or under it the bodys 35 years old evrything ells is 5. i have a 79 escort (79 wos a great year for ford) love that thing the body is one pce. Man the doe iv spent i know i can slam it back a gear throw it into a corner and it will go where  i point it

me on the other hand back firering sputtering oll over the place i think only two spark plugs are firering and theres probly crap in the fuel i just dont know if i wos a car id sell me for $50 scrap metal

but sumtimes you do get that diomond in the rough.

 

f.y.i. i have a pre accident and post accident life so bear with me. so before i wos working with glass 12 14 hrs a day then 2 to 3 hrs at the gym those days i haddent been diagnosed with bipolor so my day would be eat .work. work out. sleep. repet on weekend s/faced the gym wos great all that anger energy frustrashon id mite have that day id focuse it into the weights or the bag when doing a set it would always be 1 more 1more 1more go princess go just burn it all away. iv now realised that was the over hyped side of bipolor so it can be good for sumthing but there is a thing called testosteron rage very similer to roid rage and no iv never touched that stuff suplements and diet all natural.

 

and with the other med's the one's that help i still find my self slipping into that 1 more 1more it just so frustrating post accident n opps i feel good sum days great others crap days ti i just get so angry i think frustration is a big triger aswell paceing myself has never been a strong point with me as you can probley tell

 

i know i have the ability to change myself for the best lets just say med's arnt the only drugs iv been on and now in 3 years clean (a note to people out there  dont juge me for the things iv done but juge me on the things im going to do. p.s if it ellegal is a deppressent eccept alcohol thats legal)

 

your right fivenotions pase myself dont over do the good it could krigger the bad hae'd you get so wise

 

the same way as me by doing evrything wrong first???????? have a good thursday

[wayne]

hi people's hope all is well

the warning lights are flashing (but i did get sum good hews today cheers fishinghat)

had a bad nights sleep mind is raceing a 100 miles a minite didnt want to get up had a lot of excess energy at the gym normaly when im there i do alot of thinking to clear the mind not today wos all about the weights a couple of times the brain zaps where that strong my arms and leggs felt like a electrical curent wos runing thru them and i wos getting tunel visson i feel like im on the edge of a episode

im worreyed

am i having the early stages of weaning off cymbalta

should i go to the shrink asap to adjust the med's im all ready on

and is it possable for a bad brain zap to make me pass out

i must admit i do have dips after 5 to 7 day good run could the weaning highten my low's

i thort i had a good grasp on this but im getting douts

 

help

[wayne]

ive had a read of what others have gone thru.

 

im over reacting its the early days more to go .

 

but i would still like to know can a bad brain zap make me pass out could thay corse brain damage not that a life of drinking and partying would be of any help

[wayne]

yesterday wos a wild one

got little sleep and wos up at six today im tyred but positive wos hungry today and had a great steak for lunch be salid for dinner

 

brain zaps where light and my joints are feeling good hope i sleep tonight

[youngnanaoftwo]

Wayne...I have had numbness and tingling in my lips and arms and hands and my taste buds are all screwed up and I'm on day 4 of cold turkey..I was prescribed this medicine to help with ny lower back pain due to my 3 prior back surgeries and to help with my nerve pain and it was starting to seem as if it was no longer helping...if I would have been told or even been told in the booklet from E Lily company that came with the meds that withdrawal was like this..I would have never taken this medication..I have been on narcotics also due to my surgeries and coming off them has never ever been horrible like getting off of cymbalta..I wish us all luck in this journey together

[xman]

Hang in there, Wayne. It is indeed a journey of epic proportion.

[wayne]

cheers xman a rough road ahead indeed

 

hi joungnanaoftwo so your on day four. i remember day four all wos ok and problems where little

im day 11 now the first week wosnt that bad then day 8 hit me like a bus as you can see by my post i went from worryed to flipping out back to worryed sleep i feel wos the trigger well lack of. im finding now im sleeping but with the dreams its not a full rested sleep i have stress related sleeping problem's as it is like sleep talking walking (its ether smile or cry its like im living with a flat mate whos only there at night moves my stuff around and leaves the tv and lights on)i also have times i wake up in shock and now the dreams are back latley there more vivid and i have been told by others on this forum that thay will be around for awile

 

iv read there can be some real nasty side affects like seeing things that arnt there deep depression suisidal thorts i havent seen or been there yetbut fingers crossed

i desided to stop becouse of high heart rate and blood perssure weight gain lack of sex drive and i realy felt that thay just wosnt doing anything for me im still feeling anziety problems and to is drug 3 the shrink wos trying so iv detox off pristq and zoloft but as withdrals started i wos on the next med so that why i thort this time ill go cold turkey it will be ok ooooo boy but now no point going back

 

i had bad brain zap's now iv noticed im fine during the day back at the gym (the brain zaps stopped me at first) and in the arvo thay start

as i get tyerd thay get worst. i to have had fussions in my neck i have 3 fussed vertibry im on endep to help with the pain and no side affects with i wos also on oxeycotten mersodole forte at 1 point i wos on the naspan patches.

i found  detoxing off the opiets wos alot easyer then the cymbalta a mide you i didnt go cold turkey of the pain killers and im still on a very low amont

 

i havnt spoken to my shrink yet who put me on cymbalta but will in to weeks

my docter knows and has been great day one of detox i went to see her she did al the test sead it wosnt a good idea to go cold turkey but she knows me to well plus with my other happy pills im on she wosnt to worryed so tomorow is my second checkup and figers crossed

 

keep me posted youngnanaoftwo hang it there im going too put up hopefully dayly post and everone in these forums are very helpfull

 

so good luck evryone keep the fire's burning and the sun will be up tomorow   I HOPE????

[wayne]

well good news up date. i can say after 11 to 14 days my body has gone back to normal heart rate down to 86 from 102 still a little up put it dropped in 11 days so no worrys

blood preasure perfict energy level's pumped

had blood test today just to see haw the liver tiroid kidneys you now the usal also checking testosteron level's whitch iv found out thru this forum can be greatly reduced or stopped by the devil drug cymbalta and wos a major side affect i wos having lack of lobido man cans (manboobs) lack of mussel gain even tho im at the gym dayly with rehab.

plus befor trying testosteron supplaments ill need a base line to compare and my docter nows me to well shell say not a good idea wayne and ill say well you'll have your work cut out for you then wont you.

when i tell my shrink in two week's she will s*#t a brick iv talked about testosteron supllements befor with her and becouse of deppression and bipolor i could have rage problem's there has to be a more natural way to control a natural body hormon and ill also be seeing a counsillor to learn ways of handaling strees and straterge's theres so much to learn and in finaly at the age to do it

it hurts me to say but men realy dont grow up untill thay hit mid 30 well mature ish

 

im still having brain zaps in the arvo and the dreams im having are so real and clear. im the type of person who beleives there are hiden meanings in them so i find it fun to puzzal them out no nightmeres yet but i know its just a matter of time owell.

 

well giving up cold turkey i have to say the first 4 days wos hell 2 great days 2 freckout days 5 bad nights of sleep and the last 4 days are awsome im also more confident that there will be a longer run of good days and nights inbetween the bad spells i hope the dips wont be extreme im thinking to myself this is so easy but i keep forgeting i wos on 4 diffrent meds to keep evrything level and now iv drop the 3rd the last 2 are the first's and work well with no side affects so next 2 weeks will tell and im shore the shrink will have her opinon

 

so evryone out there good luck you dont have to go thru it alone help is just a post away

[thismoment]

Wayne

 

It's all slowly coming back! Fantastic!

 

Yeah, the testosterone is an issue, and there are supplements you can take to get it up, as it were. It's important to get T levels checked regularly and get off the supplements as soon as your T factory is up and running-- testosterone supplements are linked to prostate cancer; therefore keep an eye on your prostate (not literally of course), but once a year you will have to endure the finger up-the-old-wazoo!

 

To manage stress consider Mindfulness therapy- your pdoc or psychologist can point you in the right direction. 

 

The zaps will go away. And yes the message in dreams is right there, nothing hidden!

 

You have a good attitude Wayne and that's half the battle. The other half is to just put in the time- find a comfortable seat and watch the show!

[FiveNotions]

Wow, wayne.....wonderful wonderful progress report!

I think the facts that you're young (well, younger than me, for sure!) and have been working out are a huge plus for you in this process....you also have a total "can-do, will-do" attitude, and a doc and a therapist you've been working with....

Enjoy the dreams....that's the one thing I miss about being on the poison...the amazing, often lucid, dreaming it did.....now that I'm off, I don't get that much anymore....and don't be so sure you'll get the nightmares.....they aren't something everyone gets.....

And,don't you dare get all well and head out to chase the girls, leaving us here behind....we need you around here .....we've got lots of estrogen here on the forum, and we need all the testosterone we can get to balance us out! Your experience and outlook can help so many others get off the poison!

[wayne]

o thismoment i havent laughed this hard in age's almost pissed my pants thats a ripper

thay also do the old finger test to check for spinal injureys and this is haw i found out!!!!!!!

 

ill never forget that night car crash strapped to a gurnie for 6 hours than 4 complet strangers all hospital staff and one doctor who went buy the name dr mintie with a twisted sence of hummor took me to a little white room the staff carefully moved me to my side im thinking ok so far so good. have you ever seen the movie rush hour 3 they get to paris and the scene where the guy puts the latex glove on

oooo yeh it wos happening right be for my eyes and im thinking no f@&*ing way this is not happening.

he dosent dive right in o no he gave a tiggle and sead did you feel that my answer wos yeh and you could off bort me dinner and a few drinks first(there where sum swear words in that reply) and that wos it we all did have a good laugh and the rest went ok

 

it turns out that loss of sfinker reflex is the first sign of spinal cord damage lucky for me it still work's

well there wos two opp's on my neck and

3 fussed virtabrey latter.

im 80% better then what i wos at the time thats why the gym is so inportent to me

(hope i didnt goss out to meny people but hay such is life)

 

im gonna have to wright a book one day ill call it     "this carnt be happening"  the life of a nutter

 

hi fivenotions im not going any where iv still got a long way to go and this forum is realy helping me to stay focused it feels so isolated when the dark beast is sucking the life force from my being. the good friends who have stuck buy me thru the rollercoster ride

realy do try to understand and i love them for it i realy do but it can make me feel so gillty that im ignoring them and that it makes it worse

but here its great to know its normal to feel that way(i do hope)

id dare say we all know deppression well and the pharmisutical game of russian roulet the doctors make as play and the pill's sum shrinks can be payed to push (but not all shrinks)

 

to be able to read other people having great days, ok days, bad days trying hard,the wins, the loses and taking the time to share so others can be motevated and others can be inspiered to return the help 

its opened my eyes to a world i thort wos long dead gone with the inicents of youth the tooth fairy and saint nic

 

if it wosnt for the support i get hear the people and excersis at the gym there would be no way id get this far

other times ive detoxed of other meds by week three well the thort of those times the hate anger self pitty and pure internal self destroying ways and supplementing meds mith substince abuse the ups thay where wild but the lows a pitt so deep the devil wouldnt have the stregth to servive

(i do have a habit of over reacting but i swear thats haw it feels)

 

but now im doing sumthing positive even tho im detoxing iv still been able to complet 90% of a cource in certifict 3 patiant care assistant and i start two weeks job placement (jobs in the bag)yep iv dessided that the amount of time iv spent in doctors,shrinks and surgens waiting rooms hospital wards and under the knife that working in a hospital is a natural progresson there isnt alot that will shock me i know to well what its like to be in that situation and iv seen sumtings that have unsettled me and  can never be unseen and iv volinterd time to work with sick kid thats sumthing that touched me deep it wos the sadist thing iv ever done and im so glad i did and may have to do again gladly and as you all can tell my heart is always on my sleve im a open book i say what i think(iv found sum people dont like that strange i respect it) even tho iv dun sum dum ass stuff moraly iffy things and i do brake road rules all the time im finaly a fuctionl member of society

                                      (and if you havent figerd it out by now with my posts i can talk the ears off a deaf man)

so i plan on helping others here with the crap life can offer

 

ill finish on a bad note tonight im noticeing im having high moods during the day lake of sleep at night the mind just wont stop raceing good bad dosent matter but i have been able to control the anger its hard but i see the shrink i know shell put me on a new pill or up the others and befor i fill the script ill be asking you guys n girls what you think

 

dose anyone have any sugestons on meds that have worked for you with nill side affects (belive it or not there are sum out there) and not zoloft that crap sent me loopy(er) or pristq 50mg ok but thats it i bett she dose that

 

can hearing scrapping noises in one spot in my wall. not be there at all and just a side affect or is the mouse back i dropped rat sak in there and the noise stopped for 3weeks         its back and drives me nuts

[thismoment]

Wayne

 

They do the finger-wazoo to check for spinal injury? Oh dear, I have to get my thyroid checked next week . . .

 

That's a funny gurney story! Good to hear healing from your spine surgery is coming along. I like your idea for a book!

[wayne]

you no haw it go;s laugh or cry so ether your up early or im up late o its me its now friday i better crash

injoy thursday

[wayne]

hi all im going to do weekly reports life has gotten bizzy in a great way its been three weeks and zaps have gone nightmers ar still with me iv got to say bizzy has be great and i think the key iv started job plasment as a psa in my local hospital and loving it

so it can be done my other meds are kicking back in and im getting pain reliff again which helps the mood so dont give up and hang on

[wayne]

it's alive yes im back been awile sorry people

i can safely say my body is free from cymbalta zaps are gone weight is slowly dropping off {hurry up dam you}

all heart blood back to the norm blood test went well thort i had a hormon issue but no i just have a me issue

i now feel the same way i did befor any depression meds which sucks becose im still on two

 

session with shrink wasnt wat i wos hopeing for but iv been given the go ahead for the mindfullness theropy [yeh] thankyou fishinghat

im looking forward to it and hope to start soon

 

saying for the day i wos in the middle of a dream when i realised i wos awake and in the middle of a nightmare

 

thats pritty much where im at im up down flat and all over the place but i know its just my mind doing what it has to do to reajust i hope

i wish there wos a reboot button but sadly no life is hard and nothing is free and hard work has to be done i have to learn to pase myself

i always thort go hard or go home wos the key to life but its not which sucks becose now i need a new answer to life

 

dose anyone out there have the key can you cut a spare for me???????????????????????????

 

be well and safe its a bad world out there and its getting smaller