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Insidious – Cymbalta For Treatment Of Anxiety


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#1 BaltoSteph

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Posted 05 January 2015 - 05:07 PM

...an now getting off is making me *almost* as anxious as I was when I was totally depressed and unstable. I keep telling myself that what I am experiencing is not *real* anxiety, but it is very difficult at times to remember. I had been on 60 mgs of Cymbalta for 7+ years. I've been slowly going down to 40, the 20 since the fall. Lately I've been doing 20 mgs every 2 days, every 3 days, every 4 days. I'm trying to go cold turkey. Had my last pill on 12/31! It's been rough with the zaps, angry/anxious feelings, sensitive startle reflex, etc. etc. I am thinking of trying some of the advice here.

 

Since going down on the Cymbalta, I have increased my visits to my therapist from once every 3 months to once a month. My therapist specializes in stress and anxiety and is well aware of the difficulty of coming off of Cymbalta. My psychiatrist seems a bit dim on the whole process. She only works evenings prescribing meds and has a day job as a researcher at NIH...hey lady, I gotta research project for ya!! GRRRR! She just tells me my body will adjust, with no difference between tapering vs. cold turkey. Hummm....

 

I got married on 2/15/2014 and my husband and I are thinking of starting a family.The research on taking Cymbalta while pregnant is basically nothing...they don't know what it does. Wondering if switching to Zoloft (which has been studied and is pretty much ok during pregnancy) would help with withdraw. I have been stable and doing well in career, friends/family for so long! It seems as good a time as any to take the plunge! 


#2 brzghoff

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Posted 05 January 2015 - 05:15 PM

Balto,

 

welcome!

 

the taper schedule your psych has you on is jacking you into and out of cold turkey. the drug reduction must be gradual in the same direction - less and less. since you are already off the C, you can go back on a low dose, stabilize and then bead count down. cross tapering to another med like zoloft is another good method. can't advise with taking anything with pregnancy, not comfortable with that idea. 

 

forum member this moment outlines a bead counting reduction strategy here: https://www.cymbalta...-mental-health/

 

scroll to the bottom for his "reduction plan" cold turkey is never advised. it is painful and puts you through unnecessary trauma. you won't get through the process any faster. just makes it so you won't be able to function. everyone is different and the younger you are the easier it is to get off. i was a cold turkey at age 54, i am 7 1/2 months off  and life is much better, but the anxiety still rears its head. i recommend cognitive behavioral therapy for all - sounds like you are in therapy now. is it CBT? i get the impression you like your therapist - the fact that he/she understands withdrawal exists is great. hope the increased frequency of your visits helps! 


#3 fishinghat

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Posted 05 January 2015 - 06:17 PM

Listen to brzghoff. Your dr is an idiot. The half life of Cymbalta is only 12 hours. About the time you are nearly out of Cymbalta in the blood stream they jack it right back up with another pill. You are repeating the same withdrawal over and over again.


#4 BaltoSteph

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Posted 05 January 2015 - 10:06 PM

This bead counting makes much more sense. Yes, my therapist is an expert at CBT... much more effective than the talk therapy I was doing before.

This is the practice she is apart of...
http://www.anxietyandstress.com

Really great article my therapist recomended...always share with others who are struggling...
www.cfsgcounselling.com/download/The_Way_of_the_Worrier.pdf

#5 brzghoff

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Posted 05 January 2015 - 11:32 PM

balto,

 

sounds like you are in good hands and that your therp is real keeper. i like the web site for your therp's practice. i was checking out the section called "managing worry and rumination" and came across this example of anxious thinking that sounds just like me: Intolerance for uncertainty: "If I think about this enough, I should feel a sense of certainty." however, in my case its more like "if i frantically search the internet enough for an acceptable answer, i should feel a sense of certainty"

 

about two weeks after going cold turkey i broke down thinking my basement walls were going to cave in because of some stair step cracks in the mortar. i was finding all sorts of horror stories on-line and was sure it would happen to us and was desperately searching for something that would assure me things would be okay. we hired an engineer who said our walls were far from failing and advised us of some simple reinforcement procedures using sakrete. i continued to drive myself ( and my husband) crazy because i couldn't find anything on the internet to corroborate what he recommended - i was totally irrational. i wasn't seeing him at the time, but i know my therapist would have asked me "well, so what if the walls did cave in?" 


#6 FiveNotions

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Posted 05 January 2015 - 11:35 PM

Hi BaltoSteph! Glad to know you've got a good therapist who uses the CBT approach ... and thank you for sharing the link to the practice, and the article. My favorite line from the article is "embrace the awkward" ... that's going to be my new motto ... :P


#7 BaltoSteph

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Posted 06 January 2015 - 01:58 PM

My favorite from the article... "Stop bothering me, I am busy worrying!" My therapist likes looking at anxiety/worry in the context of OCD, doubt, perfectionism. There is always that voice in your head asking: Did you do that right? Is everything ok? Is it perfect? If I check it again, it will get better, if I worry more, everything will come to a perfect resolution. The context is helpful. I am a bit nervous about some of the exposures she may want me to do now that I lowered the meds and old habits start creeping up again...procrastination, social anxiety, grrr!


#8 thismoment

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Posted 06 January 2015 - 04:43 PM

I've always viewed anxiety as the extrusion of cognitive dissonance, living a lie.

#9 BaltoSteph

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Posted 08 January 2015 - 12:14 PM

Yes...but is *feels* so real. The mental and physical effects of anxiety can really be debilitating. I've lost jobs, ruined relationships with family and friends

#10 thismoment

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Posted 08 January 2015 - 12:43 PM

Oh it's real alright, and I've endured it for many years. Thankfully my anxiety is very rare these days.





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