3 replies to this topic

[Lewis54321]

Hi all,

 

I've been off cymbalta for the past 6 months and although things haven't exactly returned to normal (still have heightened axienty and some depression) things had been much more manageable.

 

The past couple of days things have taken a bit of a turn for the worse and I've felt anxiety levels comparable to the worst period with the initial withdrawl. I've had a diazepam prescription (2 mg) from the doctor which I have been using very sparingly but recently a little more than usual (i.e. maybe 7 tablets over the past week as opposed usually only 1 pill a week on average). My recent worsening has followed not taking diazepam after this period of increased use (due to running out of my prescription). I wonder if stopping the diazepam could be contributing to this worsening (and if it is possible to have developed some kind of dependence after such a short time) or whether it's more likely this is all just a coincidence and a temporary blip in my recovery.

 

Many thanks,

Lewis

[fishinghat]

Just an educated guess here but I would say a little of both. A 2 mg dose of diazepam every day for a week should cause only minimal withdrawal and that should last only a few days. If you combine that with the normal ups and downs with Cymbalta withdrawal at your stage you could easily get this kind of affect. I would think you should come out of it within a week, Just my opinion.

[invalidusername]

My thoughts are similar to that from Hat, but it really depends on how long you were taking the increased dose for and how long ago it was you stopped and what you are taking now.

 

But if you were taking one 2mg dose per day and then dropped back to a week then I would be a lot more inclined to say that your anxiety issues would be as a result of this, yes. 

 

As Hat said, this shouldn't take long to clear up if you only increased the dose for a week or so, but 5 days is sufficient to change the neurochemical levels in the brain, so after this period, they will be expecting the one a day and will not be getting that dose - hence a "mini" withdrawal.

[Lewis54321]

Hi,

 

Thank you both for the advice, I agree that a mix between slight withdrawal from the diazepam and continued recovery from coming off cymbalta is the most likely situation.

 

I still find the diazepam to be useful to have in emergencies but I think from now on I'll shift to taking it no more than once a week to avoid any withdrawal effects again.

 

Thanks!

Lewis