7 replies to this topic

[jkat]

Today I saw my doctor and told him about how I was withdrawing from Cymblata. That initially I didn't mean to just stop taking it. Day 1 after not taking it I felt great, and able to get so much more done and had motivation. But the longer I have been off it the worse I have been feeling.

 

He said - sounds like a return of your general symptoms. Mood swings, irritability, anger. Well, the time I saw him I had been coming off Wellbutrin, which I now know turns me into a violent, self-harming, paranoid, horrible person.

 

I have no long history with this doctor as I just moved states 7 months ago.

 

So I tried to explain, I don't know how much of this is me or meds. He said it was hard to know. But he believed I was better on the Cymbalta.

 

 

So long story short - instead of getting back on Cymbalta I am now going to try Lexapro. Starting on 5mg today then upping to 10mg after a week.


I tried to mention to him how I felt the need to drink more on Cymbalta and couldn't seem to feel how the alcohol was effecting me. (I'm sure the Ativan isn't helping in that situation either...)

 

And he basically said he's never heard of meds causing or driving people to drink. When I told him I found out stuff online about ppl saying the same thing, he basically dismissed it all and doesn't believe that these meds could at all cause that.

 

Then he basically said that anyone with addictions looks for something to blame whenever they had a relapse.

 

I just don't really know who to trust or believe about this stuff. I've never been labeled an alcoholic, never had any addiction problems. Although I have had dependency problems with being on meds for prolong periods of times then trying to get off. Including tramadol.

 

I feel so awful and I'm getting ready to start back for my bachelors so I need something to stabilize. I thought I was doing ok cold turkey until yesterday. It is too much.

 

Hopefully the Lexapro helps. I'm going to do the recommended stay on a stabilizer for some time to let some normalcy enter my life and stability. Actually.. who cares about normal. I just want stable!

 

 

I'm still having a really hard time trusting that this is good for me. Or that being on meds is ok. I don't really trust doctors. But Idk that I should trust complete strangers on the internet either who talk about this stuff. How am I to know everyone simply isn't blaming their inability to function properly on the meds not doing their job? and then when they relapse or revert back to old coping mechanisms it's just not a part of the depression? and I'm not trying to say I am any better or above anyone here. I just don't know if I can trust myself even with this. Am I just acting this way cause I don't want to do the hard work and just want to cave into myself and moods? Or do the meds cause this? I have no clue.

[jkat]

OOOOOHHHHHHH......... check this out. When I was leaving the doctor's office.. guess what I saw at the front desk?? A pen holder that said Cymbalta on it and a Cymbalta Pen. Drug reps have definitely been making an appearance there! And how am I to trust these drug reps in a multimillion probably billion dollar making product?? I know all about the pharma companies and their schemes and drug companies pushing their meds. So how do I know my doctor is not a victim of their sales pitches??

 

 

Ugh.. who to trust and not!!!

[fishinghat]

This is a conversation we have had many times here. How much is withdrawal and how much is return of a specific condition? There are several things that have caught my attention. One the large number who took Cymbalta for pain, fibro, arthritis or other non-psychological condition and wound up with withdrawal just like the rest of us. And lastly, if you withdraw from the Cymbalta and develop severe symptoms they start getting better around week 3 or 4. If it was the return of your previous condition it would not start getting better after 4 or 5 weeks post Cymbalta. BUT on the other hand, when someone has been of Cymbalta 5, 6, 7 months or longer and is no longer improving then one begins to wonder about the return of the previous condition.

 

The only thing you can do is evaluate what the drs say (more than one), what us with the past withdrawal experiences say and what your gut tells you. The bottom line is that each of us has to make our own decision and choose our own path. Which ever way you choose I would wish you the best.

[jkat]

fishinghat, thank you. That gives me ground on which to assess if it's underlying condition or med withdraw. However, with getting onto something new I probably wont be able to make that assessment until I actually get off that med too. I think stability really is more important at the moment as I have more pressing life matters such as finances, getting a new job, and starting undergraduate school. I do feel relieved knowing that there is some indications that can help!

 

 

Also, I find if very interesting that people who are on it for pain have the similar withdraw. And relieving as well. I did say something to my GP about the fact that if it's used to help with pain - and he was very adamant that it was for peripheral nerve pain in diabetics - that couldn't it be numbing out feelings (non emotional) and sensations? He didn't seem to think or respond about this. But I do think it numbs emotions as well. Otherwise, why would some of us improve and also go to another extreme from caring so much and hurt by everything to almost the opposite?

 

 

Anyways, thank you. Hearing that has been relieving.

[fishinghat]

I am glad I could bring a little clarity. I think your dr is a little bit behind. It has been used for arthritis and fibro for quite a while. They even use it to treat pain from advanced cancer. Its effects on emotions (as with most ssri and snri) is quite puzzling. Some it helps with their anxiety or depression. Some it makes into a walking zombie and in others it generates anxiety or even suicidal depression. Those are some variety of effects for sure.

[ShadyLady]

Jkat...OMG, I just jumped through my IPad screen into a rage seizure after reading your post about your Dr. appt. I am soooo struggling with the after effects after 30 days off Cymbalta so I'm not one of the calm, wise sages who post with such eloquence & grace:(((

'Doing the hard work...' Is something I ponder regularly now off being off the C-word. What I do know, as painful as it is most days, I am gaining some mental clarity that was numbed by the 10 years of being on the shit!! Yup, I second your remarks about the alcohol while on the cooked crap!! Funny thing, or sad really, happened last week when I poured my daily Jack & Coke @ happy hour 5pm, control freak, right?, and it tasted so vile & foreign!! I was PISSED as that was what I looked forward to through the misery of withdrawal of the C!!! For me, this site has given me hope I am not alone in this mess where, otherwise I believe I would have checked myself into a rehab & knowing I would be put on some other 'wonder' drug to fix my broken brain was not an option I was willing to take. I AM getting better & I do not want to be put on another SSRI/SSNRI after the fall out I have experienced thus far.

Good for you that you are starting graduate school, yeah!! This site may well be a source of encouragement & hope for you where doctors, in my experience, have only exacerbated the problems for those of us who placed our trust in them!!

Sorry for this disjointed thoughts and words, I am glad you posted as it helps all of us trying to find our way to some stability!

[brzghoff]

what your doc said is unbelievable but so classic. he's suffering from MEDS. i've mentioned it here before: Medical Establishment Withdrawal Syndrome. unfortunately most docs say something similar. especially the one;s who prescribe it. why would they want to be complicit in medical malpractice?

[brzghoff]

CORRECTION! i meant to say that MEDS stands for Medical Establishment DENIAL Syndrome. we're the ones with the withdrawal <sigh>