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1 Month In - Chest Pains


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#1 waterandsun

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Posted 12 December 2014 - 06:53 AM

Hello!

I began weaning from 60 mg of Cymbalta one month ago using the bead counting method.  Thank you FiveNotions and everyone else who posted information about it, I would have never thought this was possible.  Here is my schedule:

 

60 to 30 mg in 2 months

30mg to none in 3 months

Total = 5 months

 

So far I am down to 45 mg and the side effects are worsening.  My main complaint is sleep disturbance, anxiety, and chest pain.  It feels like pressure around my heart, that I am attributing to the increased anxiety.  Did anyone else start to feel this symptom? I am stuck on this weaning schedule based on the prescriptions that are left from my doctor, so I am going to troop through until I reach 30 mg and then platform at that dose for a few weeks.

 

This is crappy to go through! I feel for everyone out there doing the same thing.  At the same time that the side effects suck, I am excited to be off the drug and to see how my brain feels in its normal state again.  I already feel less groggy and complacent.

 

:) Support is appreciated!

 


#2 brzghoff

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Posted 12 December 2014 - 12:17 PM

hey there, welcome to the forum!

 

the tightness and pain is very possibly due to increase in anxiety - pretty classic. HOWEVER, not a bad idea to run this by your doctor and see if your symptoms warrant getting checked out further.


#3 TryinginFL

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Posted 12 December 2014 - 06:27 PM

Welcome waterandsun!

 

First I would like to congratulate you on doing the bead counting!  It does seem that you are going rather quickly - are you able to stay at your current dose until you stabilize? ( Feel no more symptoms)  I would suggest that you do that before you start weaning again.  All of the side effects you have mentioned are all part of the withdrawal, I'm sorry to say - that's why I think it's a little too speedy...

 

Can you get 1 more RX from your Dr. to give you enough so that you will have time to stabilize whenever you feel the symptoms?  That is the reason for the bead counting - to put you in control and make your down dosing as comfortable as possible.

 

I have read of others complaining of chest pains - Kathy comes to mind first.  If you use the Search box on the upper right of the home page you can search "chest pains" and will probably find more info - I didn't have them, but I know that some did.

 

I wish you well  -  please keep us updated on your progress!

 

Liz


#4 gail

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Posted 13 December 2014 - 10:09 AM

Waterandsun, welcome to the forum,

Chest pains, well, not exactly pain, but Ill feeling in the middle of the chest is what I experienced. For many months, anxiety does that to me. It is very uncomfortable. I had it checked, nothing. Only big A.
Putting a hot heated pad, massage the area with lavender essential oil may help.

Any benzos to help with anxiety? Other solutions available, let us know if you desire to hear about it.

As Liz said, stabilize at the 45mg before dropping again. How many beads do you remove?

#5 waterandsun

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Posted 13 December 2014 - 10:47 PM

Thanks for the replies.  A heating pad sounds like a good idea Gail- and I am going for massage tomorrow.  I think if I put the beads that I have been removing into empty capsules, I can slow down on decreasing the dose.  Right now I remove 2-3 beads every day, from a 300-bead capsule.  Liz- I can try to get 1 more month of prescription, I have a new doc so she was reluctant to prescribe.

 

This week my anxiety was bad- I had an epic cry out in public last night, actually!  It was cathartic though.  At least it is the holidays and I will have two weeks off of work to relax.

 

Any other relaxation methods are appreciated as well.  Right now I tend to nap or eat chocolate, which don't seem like the healthiest options but they work the quickest.

 

-Zoe


#6 TryinginFL

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Posted 13 December 2014 - 11:09 PM

Zoe,

 

I'm glad you mentioned putting the removed beads into empty capsules...  I guess that was info that I thought would have been shared in the forum on bead counting.  Yes, you will need empty capsules - you can get them at the health food store or from a pharmacy.  You say you are removing 2-3 beads a day - do you remove, say, 2, then 4, then 6?  I don't quite understand how you're doing this...   Unfortunately, I went cold turkey from 60mg to 0 - no bead counting and I DON'T RECOMMEND IT!

 

Yes, the crying is horrible - being as uncontrollable as it is, it can hit at any time and really be embarrassing.  This symptom will fade as time goes on, however I still cry easily, but then I am very sensitive naturally. 

 

I also took and still do take, Alprazolam (Xanax) - first it was for the anxiety and now it is mostly for the sleep issues which seem to continue - hard to stay asleep! 

 

Please post often and let us know how you're doing - having 2 weeks off work will certainly be a great help!  And, any questions - just ask!

 

Liz


#7 gail

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Posted 14 December 2014 - 09:17 AM

Hi Zoe,

Heating pad, my best friend and also to Fivenotions.
Could not do without.

Same question from Liz, is it 3 6 9 and so on?

Relaxing techniques? A hard one here. Heat, teddy bear, music, naps,come and play the drop a word add a word with us, pray, write,read, being still, and let time pass.

You are lucky that you can nap, I barely could or can, bottom line, it is hard for me to relax most of the time. Always been that way.

Two weeks off, great! Go slow, you will make it, bumps here and there, we are here for you Zoe!

#8 iammiserable2014

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Posted 17 December 2014 - 03:41 PM

Welcome waterandsun.... I totally understand about the chest pains. I have them horribly, I've been off the cymbalta for only a month and a half now. I have the chest pains every day, it feels like there's something very heavy on my chest, makes it difficult to breathe sometimes. Have to take a lot of deep breaths. Also, the heart palpitations are very bad also. So far, I just try to stay calm and relax when I can, and just keep pushing through it. I know that wasn't very encouraging, but just wanted you to know you weren't alone in what you were feeling. : )

#9 FiveNotions

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Posted 18 December 2014 - 08:54 AM

IAM ... Katniss now, yes? ... are you taking chelated magnesium? If not, please start taking it ... it may help a lot with the heart palpitations and chest pains ... at least it did help me when I had them ...
 
but, before you take magnesium, be sure to check this list that Fishinghat posted a few months ago ...

https://www.cymbalta...-with-some-meds

it's a list of drugs/meds that interact with magnesium ... and they can be some serious interactions ... rare, but they happen ... TFL in fact discovered she can't take magnesium ... it causes / increases anxiety for her ... I think she said that only 2% (4%?) of people taking magnesium discover they can't take it for this reason ... and, she's one of them!
 
But, assuming no drug interaction issues, magnesium is very very helpful for the muscle aches and pains, brain zaps and heart palpitations we have during withdrawal/discontinuation ... I also used Epsom salt hot baths ... the Epsom salt is another form of magnesium, and it's able to cross the skin barrier and get right into the muscles ...
 
Another thing that really did help me, as TFL mentioned above, was a heating pad ... I would lie on my back and put the pad, on low, over my chest/heart area ... and sometimes, would put a small feather pillow over that ... the combination of the warmth and the weight of the pillow was very relaxing, soothing and comforting ...
 
The chest pains and palpitations didn't last very long for me ... if I recall, about 10 days - 2 weeks ... but they're really freaky/scary, aren't they? I would like awake at night, listening to / feeling my heart go wacky on me ... :wacko: :blink:

This, and just about every single other symptom we have during this process, is caused by serotonin ... rather, a lack of it ... serotonin is one of the key, perhaps the key, neurotransmitters .. and it's deeply involved in the CNS's regulation of every one of our bodily functions ... heart, digestion, bowels, urination, muscles, emotions, etc etc ...

When we reduce, or stop altogether, the Cymbalta there's an almost immediate effect on the serotonin level in the brain. (That effect hits so rapidly because Cymbalta has a very short half-life ... just 12 hours...in the blood/brain).... Cymbalta artificially elevates the serotonin level in our brain, so when we stop taking it, the brain has to learn how to regulate the stuff on its own again ... that means that the neuroreceptors and message pathways in the brain have to either heal/regenerate, or the brain has to develop "alternate routes" ... which, blessedly, it's usually able to do ...

But, of all the cells / organs in the body, the brain heals the slowest... this is why it's absolutely essential, if at all possible, to come off this poison very, very slowly ... to give the brain all the time we can to heal/regenerate/re-learn ...

Hang in there ... and please keep posting about the chest pains and palpitations ... we don't have a lot of info in the archives it seems, and whatever you learn and experience will be great knowledge to add to our "collective wisdom" here ... others who come after you will benefit from it! :)


#10 waterandsun

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Posted 18 December 2014 - 05:34 PM

Week 5:

Hello! Just an update as to my progress.  To answer the bead counting question of how many I take out each day, I created a schedule of alternating between 2 and 3 ADDITIONAL beads taken out every day.  So I removed 2, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 20, etc. I have removed enough beads that I can begin putting them in spare capsules.  I will stabilize at my current dose for a week and see how I feel! (at about 43 mg now)

 

My withdrawal symptoms have changed a bit since my last post.  I still have some chest pressure but it is not as significant as last week, so to anyone else experiencing it, there is hope that this symptom will go away.   What I noticed this week was major difficulty with divided attention, e.g. when driving I have a hard time focusing on the road when a thought pops into my head like, oh I should check something in my bag! It takes ridiculous amount of energy to remain focused on the road.  

 

FiveNotions, I may give magnesium a try.  Thanks for the suggestion!  Right now I take fish oil, a multivitamin, D3, B6 and B12.

 

Happy holidays, everyone.


#11 TryinginFL

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Posted 18 December 2014 - 05:55 PM

Zoe,

 

Congratulations on your bead counting!  Glad to hear that the chest pains are gradually receding as well.  Good idea to see how long till you feel stabilized before you count down again...

 

Magnesium is a great idea - just be sure to read the info FiveNotions supplied first!

 

All the best,

 

Liz 


#12 FiveNotions

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Posted 20 December 2014 - 03:17 PM

That's great progress, WaterAndSun! And thank you for posting your bead removal "schedule" ... Merry Christmas!



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