Update

I haven't posted here in awhile because I'm feeling so bad. I've been off the poison almost 6 months. In September and the beginning of October I went through a period of feeling pretty good, I was going out and doing things. Then all of a sudden I woke up one morning and the terrible depression and anxiety were back, I haven't had a good day since. Most of the physical symptoms have subsided except for hot flashes, but it seems the depression and anxiety are worse than ever. I take Klonopin, but have been on it for quite awhile and it doesn't work that well anymore. Hydroxyzine helps a little but makes me very tired. For the depression I was on Prozac for awhile but it didn't help. Then I was on Pamelor, it may have helped a tiny bit, but I gained almost 10 pounds, so about a week and a half ago my doctor switched me to Doxepin (an old tricyclic which can also cause weight gain). So far the anxiety and depression are worse. The doctor said it can take a week or more for your body to adjust to the change in meds, but I'm losing hope. I'm tired of being on the medication merry go round. Can't see any way of ever having any quality of life again.

He is right about the tricyclics taking a while to build up. Have you ever tried clonidine for the anxiety? I am suspecting that the reason the depression and anxiety have reared their ugly head is because you have become tolerant to the Klonopin. You may have to switch to another benzo but I hate to see that happen. That just brings us back to ssri/snri which is just replacing the Cymbalta poison with another poison from the same family . I sympathize and wish I had an answer for you.

Kathy, there's some research I've found recently that indicates that benzos, after they "poop out" (about 3-4 months for most folks, I think ... correct me here, FH) ... can actually "back fire" and bite us in the butt big time ... they can begin to cause anxiety and depression ... how much klonopin are you taking, how often, and how long have you been on it?
 
Also, by any chance have you reduced your klonopin recently? If so, did you wean down really really slowly ?If not, there's a chance that the anxiety you're experiencing is actually benzo withdrawal ... during the 2 years it took me to get off of Xanax, any time I tried to reduce more than a tiny amount (which I could only do once a week approx.), I would go into horrible anxiety ... plus heart palpitations, muscle spasms, and nausea ...
 
Also, don't forget that, depending on how long you were on the Prozac, even if you switched to the tricyclic ... if you stopped the Prozac cold turkey, there's a possibility part of this is due to Prozac withdrawal ... yes, it has a long half life (anywhere from 3-6 days, approx., I think ) compared to Cymbalta (12 hrs approx.), but you still need to wean off of it, or carefully cross-taper to the new antidepressant...

here's an article about Prozac withdrawal, symptoms and factors .... http://mentalhealthd...ptoms-duration/

Hang in there!

Kathy, I just read a post by LadyNancy in a thread I started with an article about the dangers of benzos ... she notes that " Benzos can also cause depression which will lead you back to needing antidepressants if not careful" ....

Here's the link to the article / thread ...

https://www.cymbalta...-tranquilizers/

Kathy, how are you feeling / doing today? We miss hearing from you regularly, and we're all rooting for you!!!