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Almost There...ugh Anxiety Returns


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#1 waterandsun

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Posted 30 April 2015 - 06:38 AM

Hello! I am just about done weaning off of 60mg of Cymbalta over the past five months.  From 10 mg to the end, the worst symptoms have come about.  Terrible anxiety in the morning especially, heart palpitations, mind racing.  I am hoping that these symptoms are withdrawal and not just underlying anxiety that Cymbalta was masking this whole time.  I don't remember being this anxious before I took the stuff.

 

I am trying to exercise more to combat these feelings, but the endorphins only alleviate the anxiety for a little bit.

Has anyone on here experienced severe anxiety right when they came off, but then it subsided? How long did that take?

 

Thanks for any advice :).

 

Zoe


#2 thismoment

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Posted 30 April 2015 - 07:58 AM

waterandsun

Very often in withdrawal the worst is saved for last.

The tapering regimen should be altered toward the end as you approach the last 10% or so. There is no set procedure and surely everyone is different-- a place to start would be to extend the timeline by double what is remaining. In other words, reduce the number of beads you remove each day by half.

Adjust as necessary to retain sanity.

#3 lady2882Nancy

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Posted 30 April 2015 - 10:36 PM

Sometimes one has to stop at a dose level and wait until all symptoms, including anxiety, have gone away and then as thismoment said go slower to avoid side effects with the remaining beads.

It takes a little longer but is worth the extra time to avoid the problems of withdrawal.


#4 FiveNotions

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Posted 01 May 2015 - 08:57 AM

Zoe, congratulations on how far you've come!!!

 

TM and LadyNancy are absolutely right ... slow down your weaning pace, for as long as necessary to get a sense of stability ... I went cold turkey (no choice, long story), and did it the "quick" way ... quick in terms of getting off the drug itself, but the recovery from the "quick" has been -- is -- very long ...

 

As for the anxiety, you most surely are not alone ... I believe that it's one of the possible long-term "artifacts" of crapalta ... especially for those of us who are older, and the ones of us who quit cold turkey or dosed down too fast ...

 

I'd had anxiety/panic before, most definitely ... but the crapalta withdrawal stuff is of a completely different kind / quality ... my description, which I think I stole from Gail, is "worms in the stomach" ... :wacko:

 

The important thing, at least for me, has been to practice "not panicking about the panic" ... try to avoid "anticipatory anxiety" ... and, to come here to talk about it, and read what others have written. You are not alone, in any part of this process ... :)

 

"home remedies" -- a heating pad placed over your stomach / solar plexus area (very soothing), self-acupressure of the solar plexus area, and holding a pillow against your chest when you sleep ...

 

CBT is very helpful for some of us ... others, including myself, use yoga, especially the breathing exercises ...

 

be sure to take your supplements -- B complex, good multi-vitamin, and Omega 3 (eek, 6? brain fart here).... but, be careful if you take magnesium (it needs to be the chelated kind, and most importantly, it causes anxiety in some people....TFL discovered that!)

 

In terms of meds, there are other alternatives than benzos to deal with anxiety ... FH knows about hydroxyzine (sp?), and I use clonidine ... it's a bp med that also works on adrenaline ... stops the adrenaline "loop" that gets going with anxiety, a totally different way of working than benzos ... neither the hydroxyzine nor the clonidine are addictive ...

 

Hang in there!


#5 waterandsun

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 11:25 AM

Thank you all.  :) Just the boost I needed.  I think I will go back up to 10mg for a while and then work down.  Hope you all are doing well on this Saturday afternoon.  Here's a hug to anyone who needs it!  We will beat this thing.

-Zoe





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