3 replies to this topic

[fmimom]

Hello, I am brand new here and I haven't been able to read through all of the posts as my head is swimming and I have a headache. I'm hoping that someone can give me some advice and I really apologize if you have had to answer the my questions hundreds of times before.
Here is my situation. I am 38 years old and a mom to 3 kids from teenage to kindergarten. I have had lots of pain over the years due to a couple of car accidents and some problems with my posture. A little over a year ago, I started seeing a pain management doctor who prescribed Cymbalta for my pain. He started me on 30 mg a day and I was unable to wake up or stay awake, so he lowered my dosage to 20 mg. a day which I realize is a pretty small dose. The Cymbalta did seem to help the pain a little, so I stayed on it. Then, I moved and was having a hard time getting the doctors to give me the 20 mg. pills, so I tried going off of it. I was miserable! I was so dizzy I could barely make it up and down the steps. I was crying and very sad while at the same time yelling at my kids in rage. I also was suffering from more headaches and pain. I was able to convince the doctors to put me back on it. But, I have since started having a lot more headaches, what I assume are like migraines. When I have them I basically have to stay in bed because it is just too painful to do anything else. Plus, if I didn't have a completely debilitating headache, I at least had some level of one every day and was popping 800 mg of Advil every 8 hrs. My new pain management doctor gave me shots that were supposed to help the headaches and it made them even worse. He also prescribed Topamax to take with the Cymbalta which made my hands tingly and didn't help the headaches. In addition to all of this, my husband is deployed and my kids have been having some pretty major health issues which is difficult to deal with on my own. I felt as if the Cymbalta was making me depressed an unable to handle these issues even though it should help as an anti-depressent even though that isn't why I was prescribed it. Anyway, I have decided that I NEED to get off of all medications and see if I can be normal again. Sure, pain is bad, but I need to be able to handle my day to day situations and take care of my kids as I'm the only one that is here to do it right now.
So, I decided to take myself off of the Cymbalta. I talked to my pain management doctor about my previous experiences with trying to go off of it and he thought I was crazy. He said that with it only being 20 mg. there is no way that I could have such severe withdrawal symptoms. He said that if I wanted to go off of it just do it. I knew better, so I tried to taper off, but not a lot because I really have to get back to normal ASAP. So, I started by tapering to one pill every 36 hrs. vs 24 hrs, then I went to every 48 hours for 2 doses. Now, I have been off of it for 3 days and I'm going crazy! I truly can't think straight. I want to sleep all day, but can't seem to sleep at night. I am so incredibly dizzy, I can barely make it upstairs to my bedroom. I'm terrified of driving because of my dizziness, but have to because I have to get my kids places. If I just look from the right to the left, even while sitting down, I am overcome with dizziness. I have been screaming and yelling at my kids, even cursing, which I never ever do. I am crying because I feel so miserable. I have also been having headaches, but they aren't as severe as before. Plus, I have moments of lucidity in which I feel like I am thinking more clearly than I have in the past year. That part gives me hope, but also confuses me because the rest of the time I feel like I'm living in a fog.
What do I do? There is no way that I can stay on this drug and complacently accept that it has control of me for the rest of my life, when it has been making me so miserable. I feel like I don't ever want to take another pill, yet I'm scared of not taking it. My pain mangagement doctor is completely insensitive and useless and my family doctor doesn't know enough aobout it to help me. Do I need to go to a Psychiatrist? I am so completely confused and desperate because I don't want anything to happen to me or my kids but I really have no idea how to proceed and I feel like no one in my life understands how crazy it is to come off of this. Please, please help if you can!

[juliecorrine]

Is there anyone that can take care of you childre? I say this because you need to go to hospital to the Emergency department. This a dangerous medication and since you have other factors to do with your husbands deployment and your children. You cant think straight because this is what this drug is doing to you - plus you are on other medication. I think by what you have described you need to go on something like Aropax - I was on that for 10 years with NO adverse system because of Post natal depression. If you have noone to take care of your children take them with - you need to go to the hospital now - For your childrens sakes! this drug can cause you to do silly things if you are not thinking straight. When you see the nurse at the hospital tell her you need help because you cant think straight, your husband is deployed, you cant care for your children and you are suicidal. Please do it now!!!

[juliecorrine]

Look I think I should clarify myself, I am not sure if you are suicidal but in Australia to get the staff at the hospital to do anything for you, you need to say that. I just though I should say that so you dont start thinking about that (A huge foot in the mouth moment). Not sure where you live but though I better just add that. xx I am thinking of you and praying for you and know how tough it is; as my husband was in the Army and deployed overseas in 2002-3 (Afghanistan)- I only had one child then so I know it is tough!

[fmimom]

Thanks so much for your reply, Juliecorrine. Thankfully since I wrote this, I have been doing much better. My mom convinced me that I couldn't do this while I was on my own. It really wasn't safe for me or my kids. I now realize just how much this medicine messes with my mind and just how dangerous it is for me to quit cold turkey. So, I have started back on the Cymbalta for the time being. I still am determined to quit it, but I am going to taper down slowly and do it more safely. I found this great tapering plan here on this site: https://www.cymbalta...f-off-cymbalta/ . This plan makes a lot of sense to me and I'm going to give it a try. If this plan doesn't work, then I will talk to my dr. about seeing if there is another medicine that I can take that will help me to get off of the Cymbalta. But, the last thing that I want to do is start another medication after I have tried so hard to get off of this one. Thanks again for your caring and concern. I really appreciate it!