I don't know what to do anymore. I've read some personal stories on here and it's made it a little easier emotionally. The physical pain is the worst, I just feel like punching myself or something (as crazy as that sounds). I was on Cymbalta for about 4 weeks, 30mg first week and 60 the rest. The side effects were really bad but only for a day because after that I took nausea meds. A quick "why I was put on Cymbalta"...
First off, I'm 19, female, struggled with a bit of depression because of anxiety. have never taken any medication for depression or anxiety. The first meeting I had with my doctor he gave me 4 little bottles with no information on it. We were talking about my issues with anxiety, and acne history.. which had me crying because it was emotional. I guess that's why he gave me Cymbalta. It seemed strange because it felt like he was more interested in giving me anti depressants than helping me with what I really came there for, like my struggle with acne wasn't a big enough deal? He just told me how much to take, I was naive and didn't even think of asking questions.. he's the doctor, I thought to myself. The first week or so was great, I went to see some people I hadn't seen for awhile and was able to feel as comfortable as I could. Then after that I started getting panic attacks, I didn't know what emotion I was feeling and felt distant from myself. I lost creativity, had nightmares night after night, and couldn’t understand anything but happiness, every other emotion was.. seemingly unavailable. I told my doctor I wasn't sure if I wanted to still take it, but I was feeling less anxious around people, so he gave me more. (Oh and also, I'm wondering why it said it was 67.3 mg in little writing on the back but in front said 60mg) I took it for 5 more days after the new bottle was given to me and decided it wasn't working anymore. I stopped cold turkey, which was a bad idea. The first 2 days without Cymbalta was good, I had energy and slowly felt myself coming back to "normal". Then all of a sudden, I started feeling the side effects (withdrawal) all over again, but the nausea medication was no longer working. NOTHING seems to be working, all that helps is ridiculous amounts of sleep, but once I get up and start walking around it comes back again. It's like everything from my stomach up aches like crazy. The nausea is so bad, and this feeling of wanting to throw up in my throat, as well as aches in my neck and shoulders. I'm so frustrated.. at myself, at the doctor, at Cymbalta! The funny thing is, after the fourth day of withdrawal I was feeling great. I was laughing, being around my family, and even had strength to do some yard work and wash my dog. Then out of the blue two days later it came back full force. I have no idea why, I've been taking vitamins and ibuprophen but seems like I'm wasting my time with that. I feel like I have a permanent hang over. I am trying so hard to keep my mind off of it but its impossible at this point. Since I'm sleeping all day and night I've asked my dad to call in and ask for anything I can take to stop the pain. What are you guys using? Is there anything to take (without its own side effects) that will help in any way!? I'm going nuts here, I would appreciate positive feedback, personal stories regarding Cymbalta and withdrawal struggles/success. Thank you all so much for reading this, I just needed to get this off my chest. I can't vent to my family, for all they know I could be exaggerating. I feel like I'm trapped in my own personal hell because of this medication that was supposed to help me! Well, again thank you and I hope to hear from some of you soon =)
Withdrawal making me hopeless! Anyone??
Started by sailor07, May 19 2008 09:20 AM
10 replies to this topic
#2
jeff3298
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Posted 19 May 2008 - 06:05 PM
Sailor07
You came to the right place. Vent here, your family has no clue what you are really going through but we do and you are ok, it is this drug it is not you that is causing this pain and reactions. It takes time for our bodies to recover and rebuild from this killer drug. Drink plenty of water to help flush it out, eat as best you can of good foods, fruit and veggies. Your body is trying to rid itself of this stuff so you need to help it any way you can right now. Water, vitamins, healthy foods, rest. Little stress, be kind to yourself during this time and do not blame yourself.
DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF. We are trained in this country to do what the doctor says without question. I am 49 years old and I did the same thing as you, the doctors handed it to me and said take it, I did!
Read the other post on this website and learn as much as you can from the others. I have learned so much from everyone. I thought I was wacko until I found this site. I was close to ending it several times but this site has helped. I am on a slow taper now and I have pain but I know it will end and so far it is manageable. Take it ONE day or ONE hour at a time if you must, it's ok.
Keep plugged into this site and vent, scream at us, yell and cry if you want, it is ok we understand.
There are answers for you ache, there are natural ways to help but first get your head clear.
Take time to meditate or pray, relax and count your blessings and all the good things in your life. Write them down; make an ongoing list of everything good. This is your list; you don’t have to share it with anyone but yourself. Put any little thing down you like. You are smart that you found this website, that’s one, you are good because you made the choice to get off this med, another, you are overall healthy at 19, I could go on but you do it.
I am proud of you for admitting all that you did and all that you have done, it takes a lot to do it and you did it, YEA!
Blessing and I will be praying for you, I understand and it is not you it is the drug that has caused this.
Jeff
You came to the right place. Vent here, your family has no clue what you are really going through but we do and you are ok, it is this drug it is not you that is causing this pain and reactions. It takes time for our bodies to recover and rebuild from this killer drug. Drink plenty of water to help flush it out, eat as best you can of good foods, fruit and veggies. Your body is trying to rid itself of this stuff so you need to help it any way you can right now. Water, vitamins, healthy foods, rest. Little stress, be kind to yourself during this time and do not blame yourself.
DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF. We are trained in this country to do what the doctor says without question. I am 49 years old and I did the same thing as you, the doctors handed it to me and said take it, I did!
Read the other post on this website and learn as much as you can from the others. I have learned so much from everyone. I thought I was wacko until I found this site. I was close to ending it several times but this site has helped. I am on a slow taper now and I have pain but I know it will end and so far it is manageable. Take it ONE day or ONE hour at a time if you must, it's ok.
Keep plugged into this site and vent, scream at us, yell and cry if you want, it is ok we understand.
There are answers for you ache, there are natural ways to help but first get your head clear.
Take time to meditate or pray, relax and count your blessings and all the good things in your life. Write them down; make an ongoing list of everything good. This is your list; you don’t have to share it with anyone but yourself. Put any little thing down you like. You are smart that you found this website, that’s one, you are good because you made the choice to get off this med, another, you are overall healthy at 19, I could go on but you do it.
I am proud of you for admitting all that you did and all that you have done, it takes a lot to do it and you did it, YEA!
Blessing and I will be praying for you, I understand and it is not you it is the drug that has caused this.
Jeff
#3
kooky
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Posted 19 May 2008 - 06:47 PM
sailor07,
first, listen to jeff, he has some good advice for you there, you need to take care of yourself and talk with people who have been there.
a quick background: i'm a veteran; clinical depression my whole life (i'm 47) and been playing musical meds the last 5-6 years. rule no. 1: do not take psychiatric advice from a GP. psychiatry is a highly specialized field that most GP's are not trained or familiar enough with to be casually prescribing them out to tearful patients. if you are suffering from depression (and if you weren't before this, you are now!), you need diagnosis and treatment from a trained professional that knows what they're doing. this is not to say all psychiatrists know what they're doing; on the contrary, some are a few fries short of a happy meal themselves. but they will at least have a greater knowledge than GP's, who have little to no familiarity with the complexities of chemical imbalances in the brain. listen to your gut, and do your homework. if something doesn't feel right to you, it probably isn't.
I was on zoloft for several years which worked like a charm for my depression...at first. unfortunately there's a little thing called "poop-out" which refers to the loss of a drug's efficacy over a period of time. since then i've been trying to find another with the same effect the zoloft had initially, without success. my last try was with cymbalta, the drug from hell. i don't know which is worse, being on it (stomache ache, apathy, gnarly nitemares, fatigue) or getting off it (more gnarly nitemares, brain shocks, fatigue). i threw the pills away 3 days ago, mostly because had i known what a colossal mess this stuff is i never would have started it. what you're experiencing is very painful and very real and a lot of other people are going thru it too. if your loved ones don't understand it's because these things are hard to understand unless you've experienced it firsthand. talk to people who have, and remember, it's only for a season. you'll get thru this, and when someone you love goes thru it, you'll be the friend that understands.
first, listen to jeff, he has some good advice for you there, you need to take care of yourself and talk with people who have been there.
a quick background: i'm a veteran; clinical depression my whole life (i'm 47) and been playing musical meds the last 5-6 years. rule no. 1: do not take psychiatric advice from a GP. psychiatry is a highly specialized field that most GP's are not trained or familiar enough with to be casually prescribing them out to tearful patients. if you are suffering from depression (and if you weren't before this, you are now!), you need diagnosis and treatment from a trained professional that knows what they're doing. this is not to say all psychiatrists know what they're doing; on the contrary, some are a few fries short of a happy meal themselves. but they will at least have a greater knowledge than GP's, who have little to no familiarity with the complexities of chemical imbalances in the brain. listen to your gut, and do your homework. if something doesn't feel right to you, it probably isn't.
I was on zoloft for several years which worked like a charm for my depression...at first. unfortunately there's a little thing called "poop-out" which refers to the loss of a drug's efficacy over a period of time. since then i've been trying to find another with the same effect the zoloft had initially, without success. my last try was with cymbalta, the drug from hell. i don't know which is worse, being on it (stomache ache, apathy, gnarly nitemares, fatigue) or getting off it (more gnarly nitemares, brain shocks, fatigue). i threw the pills away 3 days ago, mostly because had i known what a colossal mess this stuff is i never would have started it. what you're experiencing is very painful and very real and a lot of other people are going thru it too. if your loved ones don't understand it's because these things are hard to understand unless you've experienced it firsthand. talk to people who have, and remember, it's only for a season. you'll get thru this, and when someone you love goes thru it, you'll be the friend that understands.
#4
Lori
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Posted 20 May 2008 - 09:50 AM
Sailor, you have been given some great advice by Jeff and Greybeard. I am so thankful for these guys, espeically if you read some of their early posts. I dont want to apologize too much for not being able to relate to those of you who have physical pain, because I am afraid the Lord might say, Well, here you go, here is some pain for you, now you can relate to them.....and I do not want that, but I am so sorry for the ones that do deal with it. I just cant imagine what you go through.
Here are some good ideas, along with the Omega 2, B12 or B Complex, NO comfort foods, eat plenty of fresh veggies, tuna, salmon, eggs, honey with decaf tea, versus sugar or coffee, no caffine. Yoga, meditation or prayer, relaxing stretch exercises and a nice walk. Music, easy listening music, but there was a time I could not even turn on my radio, I could not bear to listen to ANY music...just this weekend we have not even had the radio on cuz I have been singing my heart out in the truck...LOL (I will take that as a good sign that I am getting better) avoid alot of violence on tv, if you must keep up with the news, read it in the paper versus looking at it on TV. Avoid alcohlic drinks to help you calm down or to be able to hande the stress better, even though sleep was my best friend, sleeping to escape life should be avoided, but plenty of rest and the proper amount of sleep is very good for you, drink plenty of water, soft light or candles versus full light, and I read somewhere in another post, when she was angry, this person would go to her bedroom due to her not wanting to take it out on her children and husband.....I could have used that one, I wish I had done that one. I used to take my rage out on my boyfriend, THEN in shame retire to my bedroom. The damage was already done, and even though, going somewhere by yourself to have your temper tantrum seems like a good idea, it is a very hard thing to do, I am sure. So if you do yell and scream at your family for no reason, it is NORMAL. But I wish I had handled it differently, just not sure how I would have done it.
We have to learn how to have a sense of humor, learn to bounce back from things life hands you, dont back down from things that may frighten you, face a challenge and dont let fear of rejection overcome you. Find the 'senseless' beauty in things. God has given us so much beauty in life. I can sit on my porch and listen to the birds chirp all day, I love watching them come to my feeders, I will see a new flower and I try and take the time to welcome him/her to my flower garden, I took pictures of my granddaughter yesterday, looking at my birds. The simple beauty at watching her watching the birds is actually a profound beauty. We went to my parents house yesterday and hearing my dad call my boyfriend 'son' would cause my heart to sing. Watching my boyfriend help my dad in the garden, watching him look over to where I was just to smile at me, watching him help my Mom water her flowers, watching my parents interact with each other.....all these things made me realize that God is so good to me...I have to hang on to these 'little' things that mean so much to me. I am beating this crap, but from reading my other posts, you can see I have not always felt this way.
Everyone hang in there, Greybeard, Sarah J and Schmb01 kept telling me it would get better....BULL, I wanted to scream at them somedays....I would always manage to think "thats easy for YOU to say"....BUT ITS TRUE!!!!!! All of our situations are alittle different but in a sense, they are all the same. Am I crawling out of my wormhold, Greybeard? 8-)
God bless all of you, you are in my thoughts and prayers all the time.
We will get through this, slowly but surely, we will.
PS For those of you who know my boyfriend and I are struggling, I wanted to say that when my dad called him "son" yesterday, it made me happy because my dad has a younger 'buddy' who is able and willing to help him do anything he needs doing. Which ever road my boyfriend and I decide to take, I dont think it will interfere with my dad and him.
Here are some good ideas, along with the Omega 2, B12 or B Complex, NO comfort foods, eat plenty of fresh veggies, tuna, salmon, eggs, honey with decaf tea, versus sugar or coffee, no caffine. Yoga, meditation or prayer, relaxing stretch exercises and a nice walk. Music, easy listening music, but there was a time I could not even turn on my radio, I could not bear to listen to ANY music...just this weekend we have not even had the radio on cuz I have been singing my heart out in the truck...LOL (I will take that as a good sign that I am getting better) avoid alot of violence on tv, if you must keep up with the news, read it in the paper versus looking at it on TV. Avoid alcohlic drinks to help you calm down or to be able to hande the stress better, even though sleep was my best friend, sleeping to escape life should be avoided, but plenty of rest and the proper amount of sleep is very good for you, drink plenty of water, soft light or candles versus full light, and I read somewhere in another post, when she was angry, this person would go to her bedroom due to her not wanting to take it out on her children and husband.....I could have used that one, I wish I had done that one. I used to take my rage out on my boyfriend, THEN in shame retire to my bedroom. The damage was already done, and even though, going somewhere by yourself to have your temper tantrum seems like a good idea, it is a very hard thing to do, I am sure. So if you do yell and scream at your family for no reason, it is NORMAL. But I wish I had handled it differently, just not sure how I would have done it.
We have to learn how to have a sense of humor, learn to bounce back from things life hands you, dont back down from things that may frighten you, face a challenge and dont let fear of rejection overcome you. Find the 'senseless' beauty in things. God has given us so much beauty in life. I can sit on my porch and listen to the birds chirp all day, I love watching them come to my feeders, I will see a new flower and I try and take the time to welcome him/her to my flower garden, I took pictures of my granddaughter yesterday, looking at my birds. The simple beauty at watching her watching the birds is actually a profound beauty. We went to my parents house yesterday and hearing my dad call my boyfriend 'son' would cause my heart to sing. Watching my boyfriend help my dad in the garden, watching him look over to where I was just to smile at me, watching him help my Mom water her flowers, watching my parents interact with each other.....all these things made me realize that God is so good to me...I have to hang on to these 'little' things that mean so much to me. I am beating this crap, but from reading my other posts, you can see I have not always felt this way.
Everyone hang in there, Greybeard, Sarah J and Schmb01 kept telling me it would get better....BULL, I wanted to scream at them somedays....I would always manage to think "thats easy for YOU to say"....BUT ITS TRUE!!!!!! All of our situations are alittle different but in a sense, they are all the same. Am I crawling out of my wormhold, Greybeard? 8-)
God bless all of you, you are in my thoughts and prayers all the time.
We will get through this, slowly but surely, we will.
PS For those of you who know my boyfriend and I are struggling, I wanted to say that when my dad called him "son" yesterday, it made me happy because my dad has a younger 'buddy' who is able and willing to help him do anything he needs doing. Which ever road my boyfriend and I decide to take, I dont think it will interfere with my dad and him.
#5
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Posted 20 May 2008 - 02:09 PM
Wow your story breaks my heart and makes me so mad and I see so much of myself in it. I was 17 when I was first put on anti depressants and I was the same as far as not asking questions and just doing whatever the doctor said. 11 years and many different drugs later, Cymbalta being my last, I am going through withdrawls for good. I had the same experience with my doctors, they wanted to give me drugs and didnt really help me deal with what is bothering me in the first place. The last 10 years of my life have been really apathetic. It makes me so so sad. Ive just been going with the flow doing whatever was suggested. The drugs have put me on a crazy rollar coaster. I thought I was crazy. We just need help dealing with what is upsetting us, not drugs. I have been going through all the same withdrawls as you. Zaps, aches pains. i have also had nightmares and felt like I couldnt breathe. I even had a day last week where I said , "Hey Im back!" I felt so good and had so much energey. In the last couple of days I have crashed and become an emotional wreck. I have all these emotions I dont know how to handle. I keep reading other's stories saying they had that too and they got through it. I just want to tell you to keep pushing through this . Dont become like me and do through this for another 10 years. I am so happy you are getting off the drugs and getting healthy when you are still so young. I have been taking the vitamin B, calcium, magnesium, fish oil. although they havent made the withdrawls go away, I am sure they are helping my body.
#7
jeff3298
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Posted 22 May 2008 - 05:14 PM
Hey everyone,
I recieved an email today from Sailor and she is doing better and will update us this weekend. She thanks everyone for the understanding and caring she found here. Keep her in your prayers and thoughts.
Jeff
I recieved an email today from Sailor and she is doing better and will update us this weekend. She thanks everyone for the understanding and caring she found here. Keep her in your prayers and thoughts.
Jeff
#8
Lori
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Posted 22 May 2008 - 06:42 PM
Ianhansen81, keep taking those supplements and vitamins, they will continue to help you manage the withdrawal. I have some really low, scary posts that should be removed from this site BUT leaving them will let others know that they too will get through this. I am 45 years old and this has not been an easy thing for me. I hope when I turn 46 in November, I will be in a much better frame of mind and Cymbalta will just be an ugly memory.
Thank you Jeff for letting us know about Sailor. I do worry about those who stop posting. As we have worried about YOU TOO!!
Thank you Jeff for letting us know about Sailor. I do worry about those who stop posting. As we have worried about YOU TOO!!
#9
sailor07
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Posted 24 May 2008 - 11:43 AM
Hi everyone, I wanted to post again once I started feeling better. The last two days have been alright, I've been taking advice from you all as well as eating healthy. I've been sitting down more just to be able to communicate with my family but also relax. I'm almost positive my days of sleeping for long periods of time are over. I'm not getting too excited though, since this has happened before to me and others on here. I guess I'll start thinking of this as just a memory once I feel better for at least a week. Sitting outside.. appreciating nature.. listening to the birds and watching the squirrels chase each other has even lifted my spirits a bit. I just have to count my blessings and realize I can make it through this. I'm sort of hesitant to see my doctor again, sometimes I imagine him asking "how are you doing?" and me attacking him like a wild animal! Unfortunately, I'm still a bit irritable and get frustrated easily but I'm sure that will fade in time. Thinking positively, I am so glad I found this site, you all have been so helpful. Comments are still welcome and I'll be reading and posting more once this is behind me. I really want to help others who feel hopeless and in pain they can't explain to others who haven't been put on this drug. Thank you so much to Jeff as well, and everyone who has given me advice. Actually, I was so desperate to feel better at a point in time that when I read somewhere that tuna might help, I went to get some. It took me an hour to eat but I did! For some of you who are wondering why that's a big deal, I'm a proud vegetarian =p Thanks again to the kind people on this forum, regardless of how I feel in the next couple days I certainly won't feel as "hopeless" as before discovering this site.
All of you who are still trying to beat withdrawals, you are in my thoughts and prayers. I love to read updates about how others who feel like me have recovered, those make my day.
Best wishes,
Sailor
All of you who are still trying to beat withdrawals, you are in my thoughts and prayers. I love to read updates about how others who feel like me have recovered, those make my day.
Best wishes,
Sailor
#10
sailor07
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Posted 24 May 2008 - 03:44 PM
Hey Greybeard, thanks I'm sure everyone can benefit from that information. I'm about to get results back from a recent blood test. I'm not sure if that will have results for what you said I should be looking for though. I'll ask my doctor if there is anything else we can do. Fortunately dairy products are in my diet, vegans have more of a limited diet I guess you could say but I eat more than plants, thanks a lot for the info!
=)
-sailor
=)
-sailor
#11
Lori
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Posted 25 May 2008 - 08:50 AM
I too get lost in the birds and squirrels, anything dealing with nature, anything dealing with OUTSIDE, sunshine calls my name all day every day. We stopped to look at a house for sale yesterday, and we walked around the place, but I was not interested in the house itself, I was looking at all the plants, trees, fruit trees, flowers, they had a pond, horse stalls way in the back....the yard had once been awesome but had run down.....and just the work it would require to get it all weeded and beautiful again excited me. I never realized how much being outside and listening to sounds of nature were so good for me until I experienced Cymbalta withdrawals. As much as I am angry and upset about the withdrawals, and how cruel and destroying it is, sometimes God will allow things to happen to bring us back to Him. To help us appreciate and enjoy the little things in life. I am definitely not saying the Cymbalta is of God, but I am saying He can take something bad, and turn it around. It is great to hear from you again, Sailor. It gets easier each day. Very glad to hear you are getting better.
PS Sarah J, this place was FULL OF PERENNIALS!!! GORGEOUS!!!
PS Sarah J, this place was FULL OF PERENNIALS!!! GORGEOUS!!!
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