I Think I'm Screwed

I'm not sure how long I have been off cymbalta..with your help..maybe two years. I may not be in the right place to ask this but I think there are wise people here that can either help or send me in a better direction. I will try to make this as concise as possible
After coming off the cymbalta I was put on Wellbutrin xl 300 and lyrica 50 x2. I'm a caretaker for my husband who is an invalid and has Alzheimer's. Not much else works for me. I have fibro and chronic fatigue and a myriad of other physical and possibly mental problems. My husband cared for me for years until he fell ill. Now I MUST be able to get up and do all day long. So in order for me to be able to function I was taking both of the lyrica 50 pills at the same time, the Wellbutrin and a Claritin-D in the morning. For many months this enabled me to function pretty well. The problem began in September when unbeknownst to me the pharmacy or the doctors office somehow changed my Lyrica 5o to lyrica 150. So instead of taking 100 mg in the morning I was taking 300 mg in the morning. I did not notice the change on the bottle but I did notice I was increasingly accident prone and unsteady on my feet and all I can think of to say is just high and goofy. I ran Into the carport I have been parking in for years and tore off my bumper trying to back up, I had a very hard time making any decision and In short thought I was going insane. I see things and read things that aren't there. I upped my life insurance and made changes in my will as I now thought I was going to die before my husband.
When I finally did notice what had happened I got just sick to my stomach. If I tell my doctor what is going on even if I lie about how I was actually taking the meds, I feel he will just cut my prescription back to fifty leaving me in pain and another painful withdrawal. Im familiar with doctor's perception of withdrawal symptoms. I am at a place where I no longer have the "luxury" of going through Another period like I had with getting off cymbalta. I want to get back to taking the 100 mg that was working for me. It's not possible for me now to take even the 150 in the morning and 150 at night and still be able to function. The pain and the fatigue makes getting up impossible,
My brilliant plan now (before I try to find and strangle whoever is responsible for this act) is to open those pills and split One of them by maybe by thirds. I tried by half and that was not doable. I don't know how long I should stay at one level before attempting to decrease. I even think this is worsened by some damage the cymbalta has done or I am going insane.
If anyone has any suggestions or knowledge of this particular withdrawal please tell me. Or, if not, please point me in another direction. It is very difficult to keep from totally flipping out.

The Lyrica can and certainly will account for the balance/focus and fatigue problems you have been suffering. Unluckily you will suffer some withdrawal as you cut back on the lyrica. You also need to find out about the screw up in the meds. Your pharmacy can tell you if it their fault or the dr ordered it. In either case you need the dr to prescribe you 6-50 mg tablets a day (3 in the morning and 3 in the evening). This will allow you to slowly cut back on the lyrica until you get to a dose that works for you and you don't suffer the side effects. Lyrica half life is only 6 hours so any withdrawal will kick in quickly but the side effects will fade quickly as well. The withdrawal from Lyrica is not near as bad as Cymbalta as well. As you have been on the increased dose a relatively short time this will help. 

 

Keep us posted and best of luck.

Brilliant. I knew I had come to the right place. Thank you so much. So much. I'll let you know.

Hi FH
This is jones/dba Ruth. I had problems logging on.
I finally got in to see doctor a few days ago. He wouldn't give me the six 50mg but did four 50mgs a day for a month decreasing by one hundred per month. He did say if I couldn't tolerate that to let him know.
While in there my BP was 220/190. Scared me and the nurse both. I was given a clonidine ? and sent home with a script. Doctor said it was due to the withdrawal attempts (from when I empty some of the pill out).
Also gained 13 pounds since September.
Honestly I haven't started this yet.
Thanks for listening.

Hi Ruth

 

Not bad. You might be able to handle the 200 mg/day and if you have some extra capsules you can always sneak one in here or there if things get too rough but it sounds like he will work with you.

 

Clonidine is an excellent BP med (which he is right, is probably from the withdrawal). It is also one of the most common anxiety medicines prescribed. Very effective. No withdrawal but a rebound effect. The BP will spike if you stop it cold turkey. wean off over a two week period (when the time comes) and you will not notice any effect. Good med. Normal dose is 0.1 mg once or twice a day. It can make you sleepy at the first so start with one tablet an hour before bedtime. After a week or two you can start the second tablet. (If he prescribed 2). It sounds like he is doing the right thing so you should be OK.

You're absolutely correct. He has prescribed 0.1 x2. I'm reluctant to take it as since the one they gave me in the office it reads very low, now 116/66. I did take only the 200 mg of lyrica this morning, im still kickin.
Is clonidine (generic version) PRN ? Or do I need to keep it in my system.
Thanks again for your help. I don't feel so desperate now.
Oh also hoping the last round of hair loss is due to the lyrica dosage and maybe it will grow back. I REALLY would love to have a chat with whoever did this to me. Am forgiving 70 x 7 Sort of

You can prn the med but don't exceed two in a day. It takes an hour and a half to kick in. If your BP is running in that range I wouldn't take it either as long as you can deal with the stress. It is nice to have it as a safety net.

So far so good, thanks to you again.

Ow

I'm back with more complaints. Started on the tenth with 200 mg in the am, was ok until yesterday or so. I was right I am screwed. I've just gone back to bed and giving it up today. I took an extra 50 about ten am and was able to get up and do a few things. Made it to about one. I'll try again tomorrow. Things I have to do but cantT. I can however, find energy to eat any and everything I can find.
Think,I should not post here and look for a lyrica withdraw board ? I have no one to tell this crap to. Feels good just to throw it out there,

Oh that is up to you Ruth. You are welcome to stay here for sure. We will always be glad to listen and help whenever we can. One thing you might do is a search on this forum for the word "lyrica". Many on here have come of it as well so that may yeild some further insight.

I'm back with more complaints. Started on the tenth with 200 mg in the am, was ok until yesterday or so. I was right I am screwed. I've just gone back to bed and giving it up today. I took an extra 50 about ten am and was able to get up and do a few things. Made it to about one. I'll try again tomorrow. Things I have to do but cantT. I can however, find energy to eat any and everything I can find.
Think,I should not post here and look for a lyrica withdraw board ? I have no one to tell this crap to. Feels good just to throw it out there,

Ruth,

 

Hi there. I am so sorry this is such a struggle for you, especially because you've already been through it with cymbalta. as fishing hat said, you are always welcome here to receive support. however you may want to check out surviving antidepressants also. it is a web site that is somewhat similar to this one but it is not run by the same administrator. it provides support for people coming off a variety of different psychoactive drugs. while lyrica is not officially an antidepressant, it has a lot of the same qualities and presents a lot of the same challenges in weaning off. 

 

i did find that there are posts/threads by people coming off lyrica who support each other on that forum. i recommend you check it out. i will say that it is way more structured than this forum, and is much larger, but the people there seem very encouraging and knowledgeable about weaning from a wide variety of psychoactive drugs. i don't participate in it but check it out from time to time. 

 

hopefully you can get some support from folks who've been through what you are going through now. 

 

take care

Ok. I'll go there thank you