I have been following the forums since I joined in February 2013. Although I did not keep posting due to my own health issues I did continue to "follow" all the forums and often visited to see the replies to new forums. I know that during my time of actively posting that many of us did search for natural remedies to our problems and some of us were forced to used other medications in order to cope with the fall out from having been on Cymbalta or from discontinuing using it.
Keep in mind that only 20% of people discontinuing Cymbalta experience Withdrawal Syndrome - that means that 80% don't have any problems at all.
The next point is that only 2% have severe Withdrawal Syndrome - that means that for 98% of people there are no problems or the problems are over within 2 to 6 weeks.
With that information in mind, how and why would anyone expect every Psychiatrist to have seen a case like ours when most if not all of their patients haven't had any problems with using or discontinuing Cymbalta. People give your heads a shake and get real. If you watched 98 people do something with little or no problems wouldn't you expect the 99th and 100th to be able to do it too????
There have been a number of posts lately where Psychiatrists have given the new member a plan to get off Cymbalta, a plan that is reasonable and sound but the reaction from other members has been to shut it down before the newbie has even tried it.
How do we know that the plan may not work perfectly for this new member?
What if we are scaring them unnecessarily?
How do we know that this very plan would not have worked for us???
Of course there is some tweaking that those of us who have been there already want to add although I haven't seen the recommendations for Omega 3 showing up (omega 3 calms the neurotransmitters in the brain reducing brain zaps) or for drinking lots of water to flush the liver of the toxins so that the body and brain can begin to repair itself. And what happened to B vitamins, has that information been lost in the shuffle?
Hydroxyzine was originally suggested for the itchiness that so many get, the calming effect is only a result for a few that find this medication to cause sleepiness.
Not all Psychiatrists are out to lunch on the problems of antidepressants or "brainwashed" by big pharma. I have found that you may have to do some homework but that you can find a good one that will work with you. I told my Psychiatrist that I was med sensitive and when we discussed some of my reactions to different meds she put a plan in place that has been slow but has steadily improved my problems.
I was 51 years old when I was given Cymbalta by my family doctor. I had lived my life and supported myself with what I considered normal emotional ups and downs. Within 5 weeks of starting Cymbalta I was suicidal but the family doctor I had didn't get it and wanted me to stay on it for another 6 weeks. I almost killed myself and would have if a young pharmacist hadn't realized that there was something wrong.
My point in all of this is that we have to quit blaming Psychiatrists for what has happened to us and to realize that they are only human like us and are doing the job they were educated to do. Sure there are some not so caring ones but try being a little more open-minded and maybe you to will get the help you need to deal with life after Cymbalta.
A final note in the way of a suggestion. Go to the Cymbalta site and read the warnings included with the packaging (I know that some of this was added in recent years so was not available for all who started years ago). Do you find anything that applies to you? I didn't think that I did when I started it but it turns out I was mildly Bipolar. I will type up my story about that another day.
Everyone seems to look out for each other and have the best of intentions, but we surely want to keep newcomers optimistic. It is not sunshine and rainbows but many of you still seem to live fairly happy lives and its important to share that too.
