10 replies to this topic

[tired08]

Has anyone went back to cymbalta after this long because of severe feelings of depression? I am on day 73 and although the intense withdrawal has long sense subsideded I am experiencing depression far worse than anything I ever experienced before.

[Sarah J]

In your 73 days, how many of them did you feel well? Has this new feeling of deep depression been going on long?

I hope that this is a passing moment, but do take care of yourself right now and let your friends/family know how you are feeling. We are here for support, but your real life people are the ones who see you on a day to day basis.

You know what Cymbalta withdrawal is like - you have been through it once, so you may decide to try something else. Only you and your doctor can decide what the right thing for you is.

I haven't had a Cymbalta for 81 days, but 5 weeks ago, I was put on Celexa for "discontinuation syndrome" which was really improper withdrawal from Cymbalta - a drug I will never ingest again.

If you do decide that some medical help is necessary, please consider some of the older antidepressants, ones that have been on the market a little longer.

Let us know how you are doing/feeling and if you need to vent or let us know you are feeling better, please do so.

[jeff3298]

You have had 73 days off Cymbalta and you are feeling depressed but do not fall into the cymbalta trap and take it. There has to be something else you can take. I encourage you to go to the health food store and get some B complex and Omega3 and whatever else you can find. Take something natural and you will feel good that you helped your body and brain. If you take Cymbalta you will start the never ending circle and be down because you took it.
Please hang in there, I am many others are with you.
Jeff

[tired08]

I felt like both of you. I felt I would never ever take that drug again when at 4 weeks out it was suggested that I go back on it, but I don't know what else to do. I have 2 kids 9 and 12 and I cannot function. It gets worse everyday rather than better. I don't know what you guys were on Cymbalta for but I was taking it for depression related to neuropathic pain as well as Fibromyalgia and it did work but I wanted off of it because I was concerned about the long term effects. I have been seeing a M.D. who specializes in Fibro and Chronic Fatigue and have been on a whole host of supplements for the last two weeks including Omega 3, B-Complex, etc. and nothing is working. Each day is worse than the day before. I just need to be able to take care of my children.

Whoever it was that said they went on Celexa, did that help and are you still on it?

[bristen]

Hi,
I know exactly how you feel. I also suffer from fibromyalgia and restless leg syndrome - my doctor thought that the cymbalta would help. I had a horrible reaction to it when the dose doubled and hell now that I am off. I took 1 20mg prozac today because I knew I could not get worse! I am actually better tonight than even just a few hrs ago. Please read my "What a nightmare post" and my "I can't take it anymore" post. It explains all of my horrible symptoms and I cant believe some were just yesterday! Hang in there.

[schmb01]

If you were on Cymbalta primarily for depression, please be very careful now that you are taking nothing. I was placed on it due to a neurological disorder called Intracranial Hypertension, and MILD depression. It never did help with the pain, and I believe now that it was definitely not intended for mild depression at all, because I felt more depressed taking it.

You have to assess this with your doctor, and if your depression was mild, I would discuss taking something other than Cymbalta. Just my opinion based on how dead I felt while taking it.

Depression is an illness, and it does need to be treated, whether it is with talk therapy or with meds, you need to find what is effective for you.

Have you taken Lyrica for your fibromyalgia?

You can get through this, and if you are set on staying off of Cymbalta, just remember that the withdrawals can be fairly nasty, as you already know, but they do begin to lessen each day, even if just a little bit. The supplements that you are taking should start helping too, but Sarah J had luck with Celexa, and Prozac has helped others. We are here for you, even if just for moral support, and to reassure you that you are not losing it. Just be sure that family or friends are also aware of what you are feeling, so that they can monitor you too.

[Sarah J]

tired08 - I was the one that went on Celexa. Official diagnosis was "discontinuation syndrome". It helped me immediately and I felt really balanced again after the first week. So, I am still on it, but weaning off. There are several other drugs out there that have been on the market a long time that may help with your individual condition, I would consider some of those. But I am not too sure about fibromyalgia medications or the condition.

Started Celexa 5 weeks ago and with my new doctor's supervision, have been weaning off of it, dropping the dosage every two weeks. So, I started at 20 mg and I am now on 5 mg/day. My old doctor thought I was ready to get off of Cymbalta, my new doctor and therapist both think I am ready to be off antidepressants. I was not advised to wean correctly from the Cymbalta and my brain chemistry went whacko coming off of it. It was a bitter pill to take (pun intended) that I had to go to another antidepressant to get through this. I went 45 days - and I just felt like crap and it was not "the depression returning" it was withdrawal.

Was prescribed 3.5 years ago Cymbalta for situational depression. I also get migraines on a monthly basis (women you get my meaning here!). Cymbalta was the new wonder drug, and I was told that I would be able to stop with no problem and it would make the migraines go away! Cymbalta did help with the depression for the first year, years two and 3 were me being afraid to stop taking it because of the horror stories I found on the internet. Cymbalta did nothing for my migraines at all.

[tired08]

I am going to thre doctor today to discusss everything that is still going on. I can deal with the pain. I can't deal with the extreme anxiety. The heart palpitations and tightness in my chest are scaring me and the inability to do anything is more than I can take. I hate myself for not being able to take care of my children. I will ask for prozac today. I pray it works.

[Sarah J]

good luck with your doctor appointment. You are absolutely a strong woman to have dealt with this for 73 days, that is a huge display of your internal strength. Amazing.

Just keep in mind, the Prozac suggestion is one that many of us found on the web by a doctor regarding dealing with withdrawal. It may not be the correct thing for you and hopefully your doctor will be able to help you by leaps and bounds.

Just remember, Cymbalta was an SNRI, so is "Effexor" (equally as hard to come off of as Cymbalta). The older SSRIs are supposedly easier to come off of and Prozac is one that I know people in real life that have taken it, come off of it and were still normal people. We all have learned now that research is necessary, and the newer stuff is really unknown.

Let us all know how you are doing.

[tired08]

I am back from the doctor and I feel better about him today. I was really upset with him for weaning me the way he did but today I felt like he had my best interest at heart. He sat down and really listened to me. He also told me that in the future if he ever weans a patient off of cymbalta he will do it much more slowly, not the 60mg to 30 mg one week and then nothing. That made me know that he has taken to heart what happened. After we talked, we decided that a low dose of 20mg of Celexa would be best and then he also referred me to a Psychiatrist because he said they have much more experience in dealing with anti-depressants than he does and that when the time came they could probably wean me better than he could. I truly believe he had no idea that this kind of thing goes on, but I could tell he had done some research since I saw him last. So prayerfully I'm on the right road. Thanks so much for everyone's encouragement. I'm praying that I will get some relief soon. I feel so stupid though for trying to tough it out and causing myself so much suffering, but I was so afraid to take anything else. I pray that each of you has much more success than I have had. I would not wish this on my worst enemy. I'll keep you posted on my progress. One day too, I will graduate and feel some sense of normalcy again, I'm believing God for that.

[Sarah J]

The other day, schmb01 PM'ed me and reminded me to stop focusing on being a "graduate", to focus more on feeling good, being able to function and living your life. I was so happy to see all of the people starting to say they felt good on this forum, but feeling a little sad that I did not go through this and come out without resorting to more medical help.

Please, don't feel stupid for being strong of conviction after coming off of Cymbalta - I don't believe that anybody else here, especially if they had never been on this type of medicine before, wants to take another antidepressant just to feel "normal" again and function.

You did not fail, you recognized that after 73 days you felt really depressed, reached out for help and went to your doctor to take care of matters. You sound like a big winner to me.

Of course, we all want to be "graduates" but as I was gently reminded the other day, we do need to focus on our health and well being first. Stay strong.