11 replies to this topic

[Ramona80]

I am not doing well. The past few days have been really rough. I spoke with my psychiatrist today and she said it could be in the normal range of ups & downs. She wants me to monitor it over the next few days. 

 

She said if I don't end up stabilizing on the 60 mg of Cymbalta (to which I was reinstated), then we'd need to talk about what to do next. Her first thought was increasing the dose of Cymbalta. 

 

I am so distressed today. I know I need to wait longer & see if this is just a "wave" I will come out of. I don't want to be on a higher dose of Cymbalta, but neither do I want to feel like this indefinitely.

 

What usually gets done if reinstatement didn't end up being successful? 

[fishinghat]

Well first of all re-instatement almost always returns the individual to their original condition on Cymbalta. If there are complications then they will begin slowly lowering your Cymbalta and at the same time put you on a different ssri or snri and slowly raise it. This usually takes 6 to 10 weeks depending on what they put you on. I stress the slowly part because too many people get into a very erratic emotional state if the change is too fast (like you did last time). If it is done slowly any emotional issues that develop will usually develop slowly and the dr can adjust meds before things get too bad. For right now just hang on. at least 4 to 6 weeks if not more to stabilize back on your Cymbalta. I know it is tough but by the 4th week you should start seeing improvements.

[lady2882Nancy]

FH is right you need to hang on for 4 to 6 weeks to get back to where you were. With what happened dropping down to 40 mg you were withdrawing and then jumped back up to 60mg so it was like any dose increase it has caused start up symptoms again and so you are dealing with both at the same time and this has to cause some turmoil with your emotions.

In my humble opinion the I would not want to add more Cymbalta as I think this would just add to the problems. I could be wrong of course but that is just my opinion. Maybe your psychiatrist is right but if you want to be off this med then it will make the process of getting off much much longer.

 

Are you able to go out and walk or do you have some sort of exercise you can do? I know it helped me immensely to be able to go for a brisk walk. Or do something that makes you laugh. I mean a really good laugh. Laughter releases a lot of tension that we hold in our bodies.

 

I know it is frustrating right now but you can do this and you will get through this. It just takes time.

 

Take care of you because we care.

Be well

Nancy

[Ramona80]

I know what you're saying, my first reaction to her was, "MORE Cymbalta?!" That doesn't sound like what I want. 

She said that would be her first course of action (as opposed to introducing another antidepressant). 

 

The things that are worrying me are:

1) Horror stories online of people's reinstatement not working, and they never "stabilized". 

2) The fact that in the middle of the 4 weeks at a lower dose of Cymbalta, my doctor also had me on 10, and then 20 mgs of Celexa, (for about 10 days total I think), so now I wonder if that's screwing me up worse. I was also taking Omeprazole at the time, which carries an interaction warning of increasing the amount of Celexa in your system. I just wonder if I'm having Celexa withdrawals too.

[fishinghat]

definite possibility Ramona. But either way it will simply take a great deal of time for the nerve calls to get stabilized. With a little Celexa withdrawal added in you might need 6 or 8 more weeks. The good thing is that things should slowly improve during that time. Keep us posted please.

[Ramona80]

Ugh, really? 6 or 8 more weeks?

 

The last Celexa I took was 5.5 weeks ago.

My Cymbalta was reinstated to full amount 3.5 weeks ago.

[thismoment]

Ramona80

It's important to understand that these drugs physically alter your cells, and it takes time for the body to heal and/or otherwise adapt by seeking equilibrium via physical trial-and-error at the cellular level.

These changes occur when starting, altering, stopping, and re-starting these neuro-toxins; stabilization takes lots of time.

I know it seems like forever for changes to occur, especially positive changes. And it's extremely tempting to jump between drugs when they don't appear to be working. While it's not easy to do, finding distractions-- something to take your mind off the symptoms-- can help pass the time while medications become effective.

I know you are seriously troubled, concerned, and fearful.

I wish I could give you peace; I wish that you find peace with all my heart.

[fishinghat]

TM is right. Just remember there will be improvement and probably soon but stability will take time.

 

God Bless

[Ramona80]

So I was actually reading about vitamin use while taking Cymbalta (after I was looking at fishinghat's post about Vitamin C), and I bumped into something interesting - Caffeine can increase the blood level of Cymbalta. I didn't know this. Before being lowered on my dose, I used to have extremely strong coffee every morning.

 

I gave up the coffee when I went into withdrawals, because I was so shaky and anxious.

Now I'm back on my original 60mgs, but I don't have caffeine anymore...so I wonder if that's like having a smaller dose of Cymbalta every day, as there is no caffeine to bump up the level as it may have been doing before. 

 

Grr. 

[fishinghat]

Makes sense to me. With time you should still settle down though. I know I keep saying with time but it just takes time for nerves to recover. As you noticed in that literature that vitamin C helps neurons heal so maybe a little vitamin C would help out? A thought.

[Ramona80]

Yes, that sounds like a good idea!

 

(And I can't believe that doctors prescribe these medications without advising patients on things like caffeine intake, etc.!!)

[ZappAlta]

How are you Ramona ?